The cloud is the future of television: new DVR Comcast service moves into San Francisco
Marcien Jenckes – Comcast EVP Consumer Services
Spreading cloud-connected television across the U.S., Comcast’s X1 DVR with Cloud Technology is now available to customers in the San Francisco Bay Area, joining Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Houston and Washington D.C. The new service allows users to record their favourite shows and movies in the cloud, and subsequently stream those recordings to their computers and mobile devices. Customers are able to download recordings or watch TV any time they are connected to Wi-Fi or mobile networks. Essentially what Comcast is offering is a personal TV, anytime, anywhere.
The company states on its own website, “X1 is a first of its kind entertainment platform that seamlessly merges entertainment with the rest of your life… It is not just a new way to be entertained, but a giant leap in delivering a smarter, richer and a more personalized user experience that will revolutionize TV.”
Comcast plans to render the home DVR set-top-box obsolete in the future, making the cloud the only place where recordings are stored. What this could potentially mean is that users will not only have ubiquitous TV, but they will also have unlimited storage, making the traditional home DVR hard drive something of a relic. The new technology is also replete with an online store where customers can buy digital versions of movies and shows.
Speaking at a recent demonstration for Comcast’s new service, Marcien Jenckes, executive vice president for consumer services said, “The X1 box still delivers cable TV to the home, but with it Comcast can offer more cloud-based services and add additional features in the future.”
To access content via mobile customers are required to download the XFINITY TV app, which is available on iOS 7.0 or Android 4.0. Existing X1 customers can upgrade to DVR with Cloud Technology by applying for the new function.
In a public statement Comcast said that it expected most of its 22.4 million X1 customers to be using Cloud DVR by the end of the year. The company added that it is currently installing around 20,000 boxes a day.
photo credit: Let.Book via Flickr
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