Cox Communications is one of the largest cable providers in the US. The company has an interesting application that works along with its DVR that features the Contour Guide and the only DVR that can record six shows at the same time. Cox originally launched the Contour app for iPad users. Cox has now rolled […]
Cox Cable is the latest pay-TV company to relaunch its viewing experience, putting features formerly branded as Trio and Cox TV Connect under the new Contour umbrella. Contour is the new name of its guide for TV and accompanying iPad app, all focused on creating a personalized experience for each user, with tailored suggestions and favorites for up to eight individual profiles. This comes along with the “Record 6” 6-tuner DVR, featuring 2TB of space for up to 300 hours of HD storage and whole home DVR support. The tablet app also allows for viewing live TV from 90 or so channels and video on-demand (while the user is at home), plus the ability to search listings and schedule DVR recordings, or push a program they’re watching on the tablet to the TV. It even includes shortcuts to other TV apps on the device like HBO Go, ESPN or CNN.
Much of the TV watching functionality has been available via the Cox TV Connect app which is still shipping for the iPad 1, Android, Mac and Windows platforms, although Contour is currently iPad and iOS 6-only. The Contour app is available for subscribers with most Cox TV or Contour TV service, plus Preferred Internet or higher, while the guide and DVR are out in all markets. Check after the break for a preview video of how it all works, or hit the links below to download the app or see if the service is available in your area.
[Thanks, Tom]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
While everyone tries to figure out what the future of TV looks like, Variety reports Cox Cable has crossed over to offering internet TV service to customers in Orange County. flareWatch beta testers can buy a Fanhattan Fan TV set-top box for $99 (up to three per household) and sign up for a TV package that features 90 live TV channels (60 in HD) and includes the usual favorites like ESPN / ESPN2, AMC, CNN, Nickelodeon and TNT, with video on-demand coming soon. DVR recordings take place in the cloud, with 30 hours of storage available for each subscriber.
There is one notable limitation however, as with cable company provided TiVo DVRs, streaming services like Hulu and Netflix are not available. Cox already cloud based storage under the MyFlare brand name, and Variety also mentions the company plans to expand it with music and game services. Other providers have hinted at offering IPTV options and Comcast launched an IPTV test at MIT, but this is the first one publicly available from a major company. If you live in the area, demonstrations are available at several locations, check out the site at the link below and a preview video after the break.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Variety, watchFlare
Cox already debuted its live TV streaming app on iOS and Android, and now it’s ready for computers. Available as a downloadable app for Windows and OS X, it offers access to 90 cable TV channels, but still has the same restriction as the mobile version in that it only works when the user is at home. Also as usual, users will need the right mix of cable TV and internet packages for access, check for details after the break.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Cox
We’re still waiting to see Cox’s next generation cable TV-to-mobile streaming app, but right now it’s released a version of its existing Cox TV Connect app for Android. Available on iPads since the end of 2011 and on iPhone / iPod touch since the end of last year, it’s finally made the trek to a “select” group of Android tablets, consisting of the Nexus 7 and Samsung Galaxy 2 / Galaxy Note slates. A support document also mentions Amazon’s Kindle Fire family, however the app isn’t in its store as of this posting. For those not familiar, it’s a free app for subscribers that lets them watch a selection of live TV channels while connected to their home wireless network, and view listings anywhere. We’ll be interested to see if the list of compatible (Android 4.0+) hardware grows quickly, or if users will need to wait for a port of the new app which adds personalization features tied into Cox’s Trio DVR platform.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD
Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, Orange and Time Warner Cable are already using DLNA to deliver premium content around your house, but perhaps not exactly the way you had in mind. The dream that DLNA promises has never really lived up to expectations, but we still can’t help but hold on to the dream of accessing our favorite shows on every device in the home. The DLNA premium content guidelines announced last year at CES seemed to be the most promising yet, but a year has passed and evidently we didn’t notice.
According to the press release issued by the DLNA, the aforementioned TV providers have already deployed products implementing the guidelines. Unfortunately, those implementations haven’t made the content universally accessible in our home — yet. There is hope however, in the FCC IP interface requirement intended to facilitate such access. For example, Steve Necessary, VP of Cox Communications expects “more than 500,000 subscribers (will) have DLNA premium content functionality” through its Trio guide within the next year. How useful that access will really be, though, remains to be seen.
Continue reading DLNA already in use by TV providers, but not exactly what we had in mind
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Cox Communications continued to build on its investment in live TV streaming, unveiling its latest mobile app at a CES presser. Developed in partnership with Cisco, the yet unnamed app will feature 90 live channels, On Demand content and personalized video recommendations for up to eight household members. Folks who don’t quite feel the recommendations they receive will also be able to “like,” “dislike” or “suspend” them. Cox apparently plans to place its proverbial eggs into this one basket, eventually integrating all its mobile applications into the app. Cox has been busy releasing all sorts of digital offerings in the last few years, including the Cox TV Connect app in late 2011 as well as its Cox Mobile Connect apps. The new app is slated to debut on the iPad first but will be available on more devices by the end of the year. For more details, check out the PR after the break.
Continue reading Cox doubles down on live streaming with new TV app
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD
Source: Cox Communications
The next generation of consoles from Sony and Microsoft haven’t even been announced yet but their best competition may be from your cable TV / internet provider, according to a report from Bloomberg. The only-too-eager-to-talk people familiar with the matter named AT&T U-Verse, Verizon FiOS and Time Warner Cable as services preparing tests before the end of the year with general availability planned for 2013. Comcast and Cox were also name dropped as potential candidates to bring console-quality HD games directly to customers, based on tech from startups like Playcast, CiiNOW and Agawi. Of course, while we’ve seen this sort of setup before (as seen above, check out an awesomely 90s Sega Channel ad after the break) and recently from OnLive and Gaikai, cloud gaming has yet to catch on in a major way. Whether this potential approach is all smoke or will actually turn into reality has yet to be seen, but after TV Everywhere we wouldn’t be surprised to see providers toss in gaming as another incentive for subscribers not to cut the cord.
[Image credit: Sega Retro]
Continue reading Cable, IPTV providers reportedly testing cloud-based HD gaming for launch next year
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Cable, IPTV providers reportedly testing cloud-based HD gaming for launch next year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 07:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Cal and Stanford fans away from home no longer have to huddle around their laptops if they want to learn who’s one-upping who. The Pac-12 Conference has just launched an iPad app for its authenticated Pac-12 Now service: as long as you’re with a TV provider that carries the college sports division’s games (sorry for now, DirecTV customers), you can tune into 850 live matches spread across a myriad of sports. As you’d hope, going the digital route allows for some on-demand viewing, a dedicated program guide and the social sharing you’ll want to rope friends into watching. Only Bright House, Cox and Time Warner Cable subscribers can use the iPad viewer at first, although support should come to BendBroadband, Comcast, Frontier and Suddenlink this fall, right alongside Android- and iPhone-sized apps. Hopefully, they arrive in time for a little ego padding around the Big Game in October.
Continue reading Pac-12 Conference streams come to iPad, fuel that Big Game rivalry on the road
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD
Pac-12 Conference streams come to iPad, fuel that Big Game rivalry on the road originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 01:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Go ahead and put a bow on it, as Verizon Wireless and Leap Wireless (the parent company of Cricket), have announced a successful spectrum swap. The agreement follows the recent stamp of approval from the FCC, which was issued as part of a larger deal between Verizon Wireless, SpectrumCo and Cox. For its part, Leap will divest itself of excess AWS and PCS spectrum across the US; in exchange, Verizon will pay $120 million to Leap and provide it with 12MHz of A Block 700MHz spectrum in Chicago. Leap will use the new holdings to supplement its existing 10MHz of the A Block within the Windy City, and will use the cash to build up its LTE infrastructure across the US. The company currently expects to provide LTE coverage to at least two-thirds of Cricket’s current footprint over the next three years — or, maybe sooner. Just check the PR to watch the company waffle.
Verizon and Leap Wireless announce $120 million spectrum swap in wake of FCC approval originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Aug 2012 18:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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