Hasta La Gadget!

According to the infamous “people with knowledge of its plans,” cable TV giant Comcast will move from renting video on-demand movies to selling them, in rumors reported by Reuters and The Wall Street Journal. Hollywood studios love pushing the digital sales of movies and have recently expanded efforts to release flicks early for purchase on internet services, weeks before they come out on disc. Any offering by Comcast will probably be similar to what’s already out there from stores like iTunes, Walmart’s Vudu and even Target, except that instead of just digital access through the Xfinity website and apps, viewers could watch movies right on their cable boxes as well.

According to the WSJ, the offering will not be tied to other stores using Ultraviolet authentication, at least at first, so any digital collections will have to start fresh — something that may not appeal to end users who could find access restricted if they switch service or move to a non-Comcast neighborhood. Verizon FiOS TV already sells movies to end users through Flex View, while Dish Network is mentioned as considering a similar move. One thing that could make Comcast’s dive into movie sales more interesting however, is if it follows up on a 2011 patent dug up by Fierce Cable, describing a Groupon-style method of adjustable prices that lower if more people rent or purchase first-run movies while they’re still in theaters. Unfortunately, what we’ll probably see is just another video store indifferent clothing, but we’ll know more once it’s officially announced.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Reuters, Wall Street Journal

Movie studios are betting you’re crazy impulsive when it comes to picking what movie you want to watch. Apparently, many movie titles are selected purely on alphabetical prioritization, so that they’ll pop up higher on your on demand menu. If your movie isn’t good art, you’ve got to make an art out of the business side of filmmaking.

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Sure you’d like to watch On Demand content on your computer, but there’s that whole tiresome logging-in thing you have to do first. If you subscribe to both Xfinity TV and Internet services, however, that would no longer be an issue thanks to a new feature called Home Pass. As long as customers access the Xfinity website within their home network, they’ll be automatically logged in, and will be free to access TV Everywhere content from then on, no password required. Xfinity ran a trial of the service during the London Olympics and March Madness 2013, and have decided Home Pass is robust enough to handle Xfinity’s entire video library. While this will initially be available via the web, it sounds like other platforms like iOS, Android and (maybe?) Xbox could get it later as well.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Comcast

Comcast’s Xfinity Wi-Fi network could result in free connectivity for everyone.

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Well, Comcast’s idea to charge users $10 a month for set-top Skype hardware went as well as you could have expected. If DSLReports’ sources are correct, the offering will be quietly retired on June 1st due to, surprise surprise, “low adoption.” If you were one of the few triple-play customers who ponied up for the gear, fear not, as the leaked internal e-mail says that existing users will continue to be supported. Given that you can snag subscription-free gear from Logitech, Biscotti and others, it’s no surprise to see Skype on Xfinity joining Cisco’s Umi on the island of misfit telepresence devices.

Filed under: Cameras, Internet

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Source: DSLReports