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Cablevision next to get HBO Go
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment, Internet
Days after Time Warner Cable announced they'd be getting HBO Go, Cablevision announced yesterday that it too had secured an agreement to offer its customers access to HBO GO streaming content.
The cable provider said customers should have access to TV shows and movies from HBO and its sister network Cinemax in the next few months.
"Given the success and popularity of our own Optimum App, we know our customers want the flexibility to watch the programming they receive as part of their cable television service in new ways, on a variety of devices, so we are very pleased to have reached agreement to offer HBO GO and MAX GO to our digital cable customers," John Trierweiler, executive vice president of product management," said in a statement.
HBO GO is accessible online via HBOGo.com and via the Roku set-top box, but subscribers can also watch on mobile devices, including the iPad, iPhone, and Android devices.
Click to continue reading Cablevision next to get HBO Go
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Comcast demos new 1 gigabit per second broadband and Xcalibur DVR interface
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Broadband, Corporate News, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Internet
Comcast chief executive Brian Roberts showed off a demonstration of a 1-Gbit/s broadband connection Thursday, as well as the company's next-generation DVR interface.
At the NCTA Conference in Chicago, Roberts characterized the demonstration as the next generation of Xfinity, the company's hybrid cable-based video/phone/data service. The company launched it two years ago as "Project Infinity".
First, however, Roberts showed off the future of the Comcast interface.
"What I want to show you today is not the future, but right here, right now," Roberts said, showing off the "Xcalibur" interface that is currently in trials in Augusta, Georgia.
Xcalibur is based on cloud computing - not clpoud storage, but cloud-computing. The guide actually resides in the cloud, Roberts said. Users can see a traditional channel view, or view programs by genre or for different users. An On Demand view also uses a similar format. The Xcalibur's new remote also uses RF technology, which is not limited by line of sight. Users can also type in "HBO" using numbers - like a phone number - and pulls in additional information via the cloud.
Comcast to bring Skype video calls to Xfinity
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment, Internet
Today, Comcast and Skype announced a partnership that will let Comcast customers make and accept wide-screen, high-definition video calls (as well as communicate via instant messages) through their television sets.
Skype on Comcast will let users identify incoming Skype calls via caller ID, accept incoming calls while watching TV, and import friends and colleagues' contacts from Facebook, Outlook, Gmail, and smartphone address books.
The Skype service will be delivered to Comcast customers via a combination of an adapter box, video camera, and a special remote that will let them input text as well as control their televisions. The other party does not need any special equipment beyond what is normally needed to use Skype.
Click to continue reading Comcast to bring Skype video calls to Xfinity
TiVo announces Premiere Q and Preview boxes, but won’t sell them to you
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment
This morning TiVo has announced their new TiVo Premiere Q and TiVo Preview boxes, alongside an update for the TiVo iPad app. Unfortunately for TiVo fanatics, the new hardware won't be available for direct sale, which is a shame. The Premiere Q is a four-tuner device that can also stream video to up to three other TiVo boxes on the same network, including the new TiVo Preview, which lacks a built-in hard drive and only functions as a TV viewing box and streaming client. The new TiVo app will hook in to your cable providers video on demand services, and will let you flick that over to your TiVo for viewing. This is all well and good, but the fact that the Premiere Q and Preview will be relegated only to cable company rollouts, coupled with the fact that there will be only two of those partnerships at first (RCN and Suddenlink,) mean that this is more of a non-announcement from where we sit than anything else. It's like they're teasing us!
TiVo and Comcast set to integrate Xfinity On Demand library into Premiere boxes
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment
If you're a TiVo Premiere owners with Comcast Xfinity service, you've got one more reason to be excited, as the companies have announced that they're bringing Xfinity On Demand programming directly into the TiVo Premiere interface. One of the main gripes many have with TiVo is that, if you want to enjoy On Demand and Pay-Per-View content, you still need a cable box from your provider, since the TiVo can't access that stuff. This agreement changes that a bit. Soon, if you are one of the many Xfinity customers out there, you'll be able to browse the On Demand content right on your TiVo. They don't make mention of PPV specifically, but even if that isn't a part of this, you can always order those by phone as well. Given those two facts, this will make it possible for a TiVo Premiere box to serve as your only cable box, which can knock off as much as $20 per month from your cable bill, depending on your location.
Of course, since both TiVo and Comcast and two of the slowest moving companies in existence, this is going to be a slow, gradual rollout. They are going to start with the largest markets, with the first expected to be the San Francisco Bay Area, with additional markets to follow. No timeline or anything has been given.
Any Xfinity customers excited about this?
Read More 
| TiVo Blog
Wi-Fi reduces broadband speeds by 30 percent
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Broadband, Wireless / WiFi
Wired broadband is nearly 30 percent faster than wireless broadband within the same household, an Internet research company has found.
UK-based research firm Epitiro surveyed 2,761 U.S. broadband consumers between November 2010 and February 2011. Forty-five percent used a wired connection to their broadband routers and 55 percent connected via Wi-Fi. The respondents were asked to embed a speed test application on their computers in order to measure download times.
Wired download speeds were 29.7 percent faster than Wi-Fi connections. The average actual speed was 7.4 Mbps for wired connections, compared to 5.2 Mbps for wireless ones. Furthermore, latency was 10-20 percent higher over Wi-Fi. Packet loss and jitter were also detected.
Why is Wi-Fi so much slower than older wired technology? According to Epitiro, wireless speeds are degraded because most wireless routers, by default, are set to the same channel, which causes "radio congestion." Signal strength is also hindered by physical objects like walls, doors, floors, furniture, even people. Other common radio-based devices, like microwave ovens and baby monitors, also hog your home's wireless spectrum.
With more consumers now using wireless connections than the technically superior wired connections, Epitiro concluded that consumers prioritized "quality of experience" over the "quality of service." Put another way, consumers still prefer the convenience of mobility over the extra minutes of download time saved. Furthermore, Web browsing times were roughly the same between types of connections.
Click to continue reading Wi-Fi reduces broadband speeds by 30 percent
Comcast’s 24-hour Xfinity 3D channel now live
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment
Comcast has launched its long-awaited (by some) 24-hour 3D channel, Xfinity 3D. This adds to Comcast's other 3D offerings like ESPN 3D, the 3D events channel, and the 3D on demand movies. The channel launched with broadcasts of a Kings of Leon concert and the NHL Heritage Classic 2011 hockey game.
You can expect 3D nature documentaries, animated features, concerts, sporting events, and performances, although the schedule doesn't look to include too many hit movies or concerts at the moment. That said, this could be similar to years ago when a few HD channels were first lit up with nature shows and soccer games, giving HDTV owners something to watch. What do you think? Will dedicated 3D channels spur sales of 3D television sets?
Verizon FIOS TV adds 3D movies on demand
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Movies
If you're a Verizon FiOS TV customer, you'll be getting access to 3D movies on demand starting next month. Starting on November 16th with the premiere of Cats & Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore, you'll have eight 3D movies to watch in November:
- Chicken Little
- Bolt
- Meet the Robinsons
- Journey to the Center of the Earth
- Under the Sea
- Deep Sea
- NASCAR
Then, December bring two more to the lineup with A Christmas Carol and Step Up 3D. Of course, in addition to having an HD set top box, you'll also need a 3D-compatible television and glasses to take part in the festivities.
List of services Verizon FiOS customers will lose in Frontier transition
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment, Internet
Frontier Communications has officially acquired all Verizon and Verizon Fios wireline assets in Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. They’ve also acquired several of Verizon’s exchanges in California, including those bordering Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon. Customers in those regions have been told they would get the same level of service that they’ve been paying for, but as it turns out, it’s simply not true. We did some digging, and we’ve found that Frontier customers have completely lost access to the following services, with no Frontier equivalent being offered:
- Verizon TV Central
- Online TV Listings
- Remote DVR Access Online
- FiOS Mobile Remote
- FiOS TV Online
- HBO Go access
- Epix Online access
We are going to try and get word from Frontier as it pertains to the feature loss experienced by customers in the acquisition, since it seems like there’s a lot lost. Service level has decreased, but prices are certainly remaining the same.
What is Google TV? Straight from Google
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Google, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Internet
Earlier this morning at the Google I/O event, a major portion was dedicated to the announcement of Google TV. Google TV is basically a software layer that lets you find content to watch on your television. It’s build on Android, Chrome, and Flash, and lets you control things like live TV, as well as giving you the full power of the Internet. You can throw TV into a picture-in-picture box to fire up a web browser, search YouTube, pull up Hulu, or really just about anything else that you can do in a browser. Google Search sits on top of everything, and can be pulled up at any time. When you do a search, it will pull results from the web, as well as from TV listings, giving you the ability to find whatever you want to watch. If you like a show, channel, or search, you can save that as a bookmark for easy access later.
The interesting thing here is the integration with Android. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are mandatory in the Google TV hardware, which will be built by partners. That means that you can use an Android handheld device, pull up a website, and just beam it right over to Google TV. You can also perform a voice search on the device, and have that search carried out on the TV. Eliminating the frustrating tap-typing that we are all so tired of when it comes to searching on a big screen like a television? That is fairly awesome. Oh, and since Google TV runs Android, that also means that it runs apps as well. You get complete access to the Android market.
Take a look at the video above for a simple explanation of what Google TV is all about. You can expect to see devices shipping, like a Logitech set-top box, that will give you Google TV capabilities, later this year in the fall.
Read More | Google TV
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