Hasta La Gadget!

We’re still not sure if we believe in the promises made by the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) yet — buy a piece of content once in physical or digital format, and gain access across all formats and devices via a cloud based account — but we’re closer to finding out for ourselves now that it has a new name, UltraViolet. In case you haven’t been paying attention over the last couple of years, the DECE group is already home to most of the biggest names on both the content and consumer electronics sides of the business, with the most notable holdouts being Apple and Disney, which is backing its own competing system, Keychest. The latest additions to the UltraViolet team are LG, LOVEFiLM and Marvell, while key members like Comcast, Microsoft, Intel and Best Buy are quoted in this morning’s press release. Check it out for yourself after the break and keep an eye out for that grey and purple logo on movies and players later this year when it begins testing.

Continue reading DECE’s ‘digital locker’ take-anywhere DRM dubbed UltraViolet, launches later this year

DECE’s ‘digital locker’ take-anywhere DRM dubbed UltraViolet, launches later this year originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 01:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve had the megahertz and megapixels races, now how about a megabits per second contest? A Comcast customer has posted a note from his latest bill online, showing a new Extreme 105 service that will puportedly be launching on June 1. You’ll need to obtain an Arris WBM760 cable modem to make it work, while also ponying up $249 for installation and $200 each month thereafter, but such is the price for sailing in the mostly unexplored 105Mbps downstream and 10Mbps upstream currents. Guess that will have to do until Google rolls out that gigabit fiber network later this year.

Comcast to offer Extreme 105Mbps broadband package starting in June? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 May 2010 08:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Comcast CEO Brian Roberts just hit the stage at The Cable Show and displayed the company’s prototype iPad app, the Xfinity Remote. At least so far it doesn’t appear to let you stream television programs directly to Apple’s media consumption device, but it does let you turn it into a TV guide browser and remote for your set-top box that outpaces even its already released iPhone prog. They pulled in G4’s Kevin Pereira for the quick video demo (embedded after the break) highlighting not only the remote DVR scheduling but also a social feature that lets you invite friends to watch live TV with you — as long as they have Comcast, and the app, and an iPad. Of course, the innovation we’d like to see is a new UI for our cable boxes like the one shown on the iPad… or the one we saw a few years ago. So far the reaction to Facebook and Twitter chat on the screen via widgets has been mild at best, but social tie-ins to another screen could be just what our Real Housewives of New York viewing parties need.

Continue reading Comcast Xfinity iPad remote app changes channels and invites friends to watch RHONY

Comcast Xfinity iPad remote app changes channels and invites friends to watch RHONY originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 15:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Internet customers in the tri-state region will be delighted to hear that three of the biggest providers – Cablevision, Comcast and Time Warner – just announced a deal to share Wi-Fi networks between each other.

If you are, for example, a Time Warner user in New York, you will now be able to connect to any of the thousands of Wi-Fi access points all over the city. Simply use your existing login info, free of any additional costs, regardless of which cable provider operates it.

“Cable providers interconnecting Wi-Fi services so customers can roam freely across networks is an extremely meaningful development,” John Bickham, president of cable operations at Cablevision, said in a statement.

For now, this is limited to customers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. But there’s hope it may be extended to other areas.

“This agreement is the first of its kind, and, we believe, the first of many,” said Bickham.

The real significance of the deal is the possibility that such agreements could cover an entire area, thus allowing us to walk around and use Wi-Fi instead of 3G on our smartphones and tablets.

It’s not the first time the Wi-Fi market in that region has undergone a certain amount of liberalization. Less than a month ago, Time Warner Cable announced that New York cable customers would be able to join any of its Wi-Fi hotspots for free, using their Road Runner login information.

But the new Time Warner, Cablevision and Comcast deal dwarfs that and turns New York City into one giant hotspot. Unless you’re using AT&T and Verizon, that is. Hopefully, the trend will continue beyond these three states and providers.

(Photo: nicolasnova / Flickr )

And Comcast makes three. Two years after Cablevision started rolling out hotspots in the Big Apple and less than a month after Time Warner joined it, Comcast has gotten buddy-buddy with the pair in their efforts to blanket New York City with WiFi. If you subscribe to any one of their data services, you now get free access to all three, and can use your existing login at any Optimum, Time Warner or Xfinity hotspot across the city. In a press release, Cablevision executive John Bickham said the agreement might be “the first of many.” We wonder if by banding together, cable might one day compete with the telcos on wireless connectivity, the way they now do with home internet and television services. Still, the best laid plans… Full press release after the break.

Continue reading Comcast, TWC and Cablevision make friendly, team up for NYC-wide WiFi

Comcast, TWC and Cablevision make friendly, team up for NYC-wide WiFi originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 07:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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