OnMail was a TV based email service run by OnDigital via their set top boxes. It was launched on 7th March 2000, and required the user to purchase a new remote control with a slideout
keyboardIn computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
to type on. It used the built in 2400bps
modemA modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
in the box to connect the ondigital mail center. The service continued until 22nd May 2002 when the phone line access stopped accepting incomming calls following the collapse of the now rebranded ITV digital on the 3rd May 2002.
Service Launch
The service became available via an Over The Air Update to the STB which added the OnMail interface to the box. This was in addition to the already existing 'Inbox' which could be access via the main menu, which was in the end never used due to limitations of the existing software.
Interface
The onscreen interface was accessed via the onDigital menu system (as opposed to the system menu which access the 'Inbox' described above). The interface was in a purple colour as opposed the standard green that the rest of the onDigital software used, so that the user could distinguish it form the TV part of the box, and also because the contrast in colours made it easier to read.
Limitations
The system was obviously limited in many aspects. The main one was that it would only access onMail accounts, which had the addresses @onmail.co.uk. Also and with increasing importance there was no way of accessing attachments via the STB interface, this was not only because of the limited interface, but also because of the slow inbuilt modem.
Move To onNet
With the launch of the onNet Service in June 2000, and the replacement of the 2400bps modem with the plugin 56,000 modem in the onNet plug in box the onmail service was then accessible with the onMail web page which allowed access to the subscribers onmail accound via the website www.onmail.co.uk. This caused most users to switch to access the system via onNet, however to its end many people still used the original interface as not all users had purchased an onNet box, especially with the impending launch of broardband services, and the limited modem built into this new box
External Links
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