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New cable products take 'Internet evolution' to next level (video)Jul 08, 2012 (New Haven Register - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Cable TV operators are pushing the fiber-optic and broadband Internet evolution into a futuristic level of products, as evidenced by the new Skype offering by Comcast's Xfinity and by others' iPad apps to watch live cable TV via Wi-Fi connections. Several of the new offerings involve mobile devices, which can be used to control DVRs, view outside the home or even monitor home security. But there are new choices for the family large-screen TV, too. Demonstrating its new Skype service, which is available to Comcast's Triple Play customers, officials at Comcast's new Xfinity Service Center in Cromwell chatted with an intern at Comcast's Berlin office via the showroom's main flat screen. Using the Skype kit's remote, they also were able to send text messages while viewing live Wimbledon coverage; the texts appeared in a stream to the right of the tennis action. More Headlines * THE PERFECT JOB: Finding a job quickly is a skill * DOLLARS AND SENSE: How much lower can bonds go? * DATEBOOK WEEK OF JULY 9-13 * New cable products take 'Internet evolution' to next level (video) * Cheshire family enters beer business with Abner Weed Amber Ale "You can have a conversation with someone while you're watching that game, a show, whatever," says Brian Ferney, Comcast marketing director. Ferney calls the new products part of a "cool evolution of where we're going." "It's taking things to the next level. ... So you're able to interact with your entertainment content as well as interact with your friends and have this convergence of everything," he said. There's been talk of convergence for years, but such providers are now really seeing that mix of TV, voice, text and digital data. "This really is ... the next evolution of that (convergence)," says Ferney. "This is bringing you TV, the Internet, your phone and how to communicate. It's not just entertainment, but full-scale communication." The other person in your video call can be in front of a TV or just have a regular (free) Skype account via computer webcam. To use the Xfinity webcam or other Comcast features, customers need to sign in with their Comcast password. AT&T's U-verse, which has had on-screen caller ID for awhile, came out with an iPad app in February that allows U-verse customers to get extra content about shows, watch hit shows on the tablet (from a library) or program their DVR remotely. Other apps allow family mapping (you can locate and connect with family members via TV screens), a customizable bar for weather, sports and traffic and using your iPad as a remote control. Cox Communications, which serves Cheshire and Meriden, has newly expanded video content available via Cox TV Online (mostly for PC or laptop). And, "We're very excited about Cox TV Connect," says Eric Wagner of Cox, "which is an iPad app that allows customers to view more than 30 channels live on their iPads and in HD. Yesterday, we added FX and Nat Geo to the TV Connect lineup. It's a free app that works anywhere you can pick up your home WI-FI network. ... It essentially turns the iPad into another TV, one that you can use anywhere in your home or yard that your WI-FI network reaches." Comcast's Streampix (enabled by a new storage system) is an expanded service that (like Netflix or Amazon Prime) lets you watch full seasons of archived shows ("Lost," "Battlestar Gallactica") and movies. "I've always heard 'Friday Night Lights' was great but I never saw it. I can go in and watch all five seasons ... on my iPad, on my laptop (or on TV) for $4.99 a month," Ferney said. The service is included in some premium bundled packages. Fairfield County cable provider Cablevision was quick to have live TV on iPad, but some users weren't overly impressed because it had to be used within your home wireless network. People always want more. "The holy grail of all this is to be able to watch live TV (on mobile devices)," Ferney says. "(Otherwise) all this stuff is archived footage ... movies, everything sitting on a server. The dream is you're able to watch live TV on your iPad. If you're a big Red Sox fan, you could be sitting at the airport and say, 'I want to call up the Sox right here.' And we're getting there ... but there's just a lot of contractual issues that go with that." To that end, Comcast recently cut a deal with ESPN and Disney channels to stream live network feeds via Wi-Fi. There's a serious cost to all of this, of course. Triple Play means you're a Comcast cable, Internet and voice customer, which means you're probably paying well more than $100 a month. And the Skype option costs $9.95 a month additional and works only with high-definition signals (via HDMI cable). But Comcast recently upgraded its servers to offer 75,000 hours of content instead of 10,000, says Ferney, and much of that is free. Ferney's answer to the complaints about cost is to call it a "better entertainment value" than other options. "If you think of taking a family of four to the movies, you're looking at 60 or $0 bucks for a two-hour movie. ... For almost the same number, you're going to get a month's worth of video content, thousands of choices, On Demand access at the press of a button to watch what you want, when you want, on the platform you want." Comcast oversees NBC Universal, business broadband services and Xfinity, which is the brand name for products and services delivered over the coax cable to homes. Ferney says Xfinity's promise is to give the consumer "more choice, more control" in a complex digital world that includes mobile phone, Xbox, iPad or home TV. As part of that, Comcast is having to respond to younger, digital-savvy consumers -- some of whom have ditched expensive cable TV lineups for broadband Internet hooked up to TVs via boxes such as Roku while they watch content over Hulu or Netflix for a smaller monthly fee. (Local broadcast channels are available free through a home antenna.) Comcast's Blast Plus offers "lightning fast" Internet speeds (30 Mbps) and a smaller selection of cable channels for an introductory price of $49.99 ($79.95 later). You can add Streampix onto that ($4.99) for a Netflix-like experience, but you can't just have Blast's fast Internet service plus Streampix with no channel package attached, Comcast says. That would be too much like cable admitting you don't need cable TV service in the first place. ___ (c)2012 the New Haven Register (New Haven, Conn.) Visit the New Haven Register (New Haven, Conn.) at www.nhregister.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |