Comcast and BitTorrent Form Collaboration to Address Network Management, Network Architecture and Content Distribution

PHILADELPHIA and SAN FRANCISCO, March 27 /PRNewswire/ - Comcast Corporation and BitTorrent, Inc. announced today that they will undertake a collaborative effort with one another and with the broader Internet and ISP community to more effectively address issues associated with rich media content and network capacity management. While BitTorrent and Comcast are talking directly, they are also in discussions with other parties to help facilitate a broader dialogue and cooperation across industries.

The Comcast and BitTorrent discussions have already produced meaningful results. On the one hand, Comcast announced that it will migrate by year-end 2008 to a capacity management technique that is protocol agnostic. "This means that we will have to rapidly reconfigure our network management systems, but the outcome will be a traffic management technique that is more appropriate for today's emerging Internet trends. We have been discussing this migration and its effects with leaders in the Internet community for the last several months, and we will refine, adjust, and publish the technique based upon feedback and initial trial results," said Tony Werner, Comcast Cable's Chief Technology Officer.

In turn, BitTorrent acknowledged the need of ISPs to manage their networks, especially during times of peak congestion. "While we think there were other management techniques that could have been deployed, we understand why Comcast and other ISPs adopted the approach that they did initially. Recognizing that the Web is richer and more bandwidth intensive than it has been historically, we are pleased that Comcast understands these changing traffic patterns and wants to collaborate with us to migrate to techniques that the Internet community will find to be more transparent," said Eric Klinker, BitTorrent's Chief Technology Officer.

"Earlier this year, Comcast announced its plans for the aggressive deployment of wideband Internet services using the DOCSIS 3.0 standard, which we project will be available in up to 20% of Comcast's households by the end of this year," said John Schanz, Comcast Cable's Executive Vice President of National Engineering and Technical Operations. "Additionally, we plan to more than double the upstream capacity of our residential Internet service in several key markets by year end 2008. We plan to take advantage of multi- carrier technology to further increase upstream capacity for all of our broadband customers in advance of the full DOCSIS 3.0 roll out."

BitTorrent and Comcast have also agreed to work with other ISPs, other technology companies, and the Internet Engineering Task Force, to explore and develop a new distribution architecture for the efficient delivery of rich media content. "In the spirit of openness and fostering innovative solutions, BitTorrent will take the first step in enhancing our client applications to optimize them for a new broadband network architecture. Furthermore, we will publish these optimizations in open forums and standard bodies for all application developers to benefit from," said Ashwin Navin, co-founder and president of BitTorrent, Inc.

"This new architecture would enable many new and emerging applications and will be based upon an open, non-discriminatory framework that could interface with or support multiple technologies. We believe that P2P technology has matured as an enabler for legal content distribution, so we need to have an architecture that can support it with techniques that work over all networks," said Werner.

Both BitTorrent and Comcast expressed the view that these technical issues can be worked out through private business discussions without the need for government intervention.

"BitTorrent and Comcast can serve consumers best by working together along with the broader ISP and Internet community to jointly develop more efficient networks and applications. This should prove to be a productive partnership that will provide consumers with a better Internet experience," said Doug Walker, CEO of BitTorrent.

"We appreciate the recent dialogue that we have had with BitTorrent and the progress that we have made in addressing our respective concerns. Working together, we can deliver a truly superior experience to all of our customers," said Steve Burke, President of Comcast Cable.

About BitTorrent
BitTorrent is the global leader for delivering high-quality files over the Internet. Millions of users worldwide are using BitTorrent's leading peer- assisted content delivery platform to publish, discover and download digital entertainment content quickly, easily and securely. Founded in 2004, BitTorrent is a privately held company backed by venture capital firms, Accel and DCM (formerly known as Doll Capital Management). The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information, visit http://www.bittorrent.com.

BitTorrent is a trademark of BitTorrent, Inc.

About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (http://www.comcast.com) is the nation's leading provider of entertainment, information and communications products and services. With 24.1 million cable customers, 13.2 million high- speed Internet customers, and 4.6 million voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.

Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One, ten Comcast SportsNet networks and Comcast Interactive Media, which develops and operates Comcast's Internet business. Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast-Spectacor, whose major holdings include the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and two large multipurpose arenas in Philadelphia.

bittorrent.com

Comcast to Stop Hampering of Internet File-Sharing, Will Treat All Data Equally

Comcast Corp., an Internet service provider under investigation for hampering online file-sharing by its subscribers, announced Thursday an about-face in its stance and said it will treat all types of Internet traffic equally.
Comcast said it will collaborate with BitTorrent Inc., the company founded by the creator of the peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol, to come up with better ways to transport large files over the Internet instead of delaying file transfers.

Since user reports of interference with file-sharing traffic were confirmed by an Associated Press investigation in October, Comcast has been vigorously defending its practices, most recently at a hearing of the Federal Communications Commission in February.

Consumer and "Net Neutrality" advocates have been equally vigorous in their attacks on the company, saying that by secretly blocking some connections between file-sharing computers, Comcast made itself a judge and gatekeeper for the Internet.

They also accused Comcast of stifling delivery of Internet video, an emerging competitor to the core business of the nation's largest cable operator.

It was not immediately clear what effect, if any, the move will have on the FCC's ongoing probe, but Net Neutrality groups remained skeptical.

"This deal is the direct result of public pressure, and the threat of FCC action, against Comcast," said Marvin Ammori, general counsel of Free Press, a media reform group. "But with Comcast's history of broken promises and record of deception, we can't just take their word that the Internet is now in safe hands."

Shares in Comcast rose 29 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $20 in midday trading Thursday.

Comcast has said that its practices were necessary to keep file-sharing traffic from overwhelming local cable lines, where neighbors share capacity with one another.

On Thursday, Comcast said that by year's end, it will no longer target files based on the type of protocol used, such as BitTorrent's, and will instead explore alternatives.

"The outcome will be a traffic management technique that is more appropriate for today's emerging Internet trends," Tony Werner, Comcast's chief technology officer, said in a statement.

One option is to delay file transfers for the heaviest downloaders, regardless of protocol, the Philadelphia-based company said.

Comcast said it also was monitoring Time Warner Cable Inc.'s experiment in placing explicit caps on the monthly downloads for new customers in Beaumont, Texas. Subscribers who go over their allotment will pay extra, much like a cell-phone subscriber who uses too many minutes in a month.

But Comcast may be wary about charging certain users more because of competitive pressure, especially after rival Verizon Communications Inc. said recently that such traffic is legitimate and that its FiOS network can handle the flow, said Harold Feld of Media Access Project, a nonprofit advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

Comcast has been hampering the BitTorrent file-sharing protocol, which together with the eDonkey protocol, accounts for about a third of all Internet traffic, according to figures from Arbor Networks. The vast majority of that is illegal sharing of copyright-protected files, but file-sharing is also emerging as a low-cost way of distributing legal content -- in particular, video.

On Thursday, Werner all but embraced peer-to-peer file transfers, saying the techniques have "matured as an enabler for legal content distribution."

The company initially veiled its traffic-management system in secrecy, saying openness would allow users to circumvent it. Werner said the company now would "publish" the new technique and take into account feedback from the Internet community.

Comcast and BitTorrent said they want to work out network management issues privately, without the need for government intervention.

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell agreed as much, saying in a statement that "the private sector is the best forum to resolve such disputes."

For its part, BitTorrent acknowledged that service providers have to manage their networks somehow, especially during peak times.

"While we think there were other management techniques that could have been deployed, we understand why Comcast and other ISPs adopted the approach that they did initially," Eric Klinker, BitTorrent's chief technology officer, said in a statement.

Comcast also said that the issue is larger than BitTorrent. It said it was in talks with other parties to find solution, although the cable company might not have much of a choice.

Verizon recently announced that by sharing information with Pando Networks, another file-sharing company, Verizon was able to speed up file-sharing downloads for its subscribers while reducing the strain on its own network. AT&T Inc. has been looking at similar collaboration.

However, phone companies are in a better position than cable companies to deal with file-sharing traffic, since neighbors don't share capacity on phone lines.

Associated Press Business Writer Barbara Ortutay and Technology Writer Peter Svensson in New York contributed to this story.

biz.yahoo.com

Cable Firms Join Forces to Attract Focused Ads

In an effort to slow Google’s siphoning of advertising dollars away from television, the nation’s six largest cable companies are making plans for a jointly owned company that would allow national advertisers to buy customized ads and interactive ads across the companies’ systems.

For the last six months, executives from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Cox Communications, Charter Communications and Bright House Networks have been meeting monthly, alternating between New York and Philadelphia.

Quarterbacking the initiative — code-named Project Canoe to emphasize that the companies must all work together — has been Stephen Burke, president of Comcast, and Landel C. Hobbs, the chief operating officer of Time Warner Cable.

Getting the right advertisement to the right person, based on that individual’s own tastes and lifestyle, has been the promise of cable television for years and the reality of the Internet.

The allure of online advertising is that it can be directed to individuals and that advertisers can quickly measure its effectiveness. After all, a bachelor living in a Manhattan high-rise surely does not need a pickup truck or a box of diapers. And a retiree living in Florida probably does not drink much Red Bull or venture online to find a date.

Cable companies and even Google — which has a deal with the satellite TV company EchoStar to sell television ads — see customized features in television as a potential gold mine.

But such newfangled advertising models are something the cable industry has promised for years, and until they see them on a large scale, advertisers and investors will remain cautious.

That is why the industry has not made a more public splash about the initiative and why executives involved with the project asked not to be identified.

Collectively, the cable companies will initially put about $150 million behind the effort in order to build a national service that can sell targeted advertising across all six cable systems.

Cable companies have the ability to compile better data on users than Internet companies can glean, which could make focused ads on television more effective, according to Craig Moffett, a senior analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company. It also makes the data that Project Canoe will collect from set-top boxes a valuable asset.

“Addressable advertising on television is in many ways the holy grail, because it can offer ever more targeting ability than Google,” Mr. Moffett said (“addressable” is the industry term for targeted ads).

While much ink has been spilled over the rise of Internet video and the decline of television, about 90 percent of all video consumed in the United States last year was done the old-fashioned way — watching shows as they came on TV — according to Starcom USA, whose clients include General Motors and Procter & Gamble. About 7 percent was via digital video recorder, 2 percent was online, and 1 percent was through video-on-demand services.

Here is what is at stake. Combined, the nation’s cable operators generate about $5 billion in revenue from selling local advertising in markets where they own the infrastructure to people’s homes, a small slice of the $70 billion television advertising pot. They largely compete with local newspapers and radio stations. But Project Canoe will allow the industry to sell ads on a nationwide basis through a joint platform.

For each hour of programming on a cable network, the cable operator owns about two minutes that it can sell to advertisers. The network, say ESPN or TNT, owns about 15 minutes that it can sell.

Because the only way to deliver custom television advertising is through a cable set-top box, Project Canoe is also a way for the cable companies to get a piece of the advertising revenue. This is done by allowing cable networks like ESPN or a broadcast network like CBS to sell ads on Project Canoe’s platform and direct those ads using the vast amount of data collected from set-top boxes.

The executives involved in Project Canoe think that, by working together, they can increase the cable industry’s take from $5 billion a year to $15 billion a year, according to an executive briefed on research compiled by Project Canoe.

Another component of Project Canoe is interactive advertising, which allows television viewers to use remote controls to, say, request a brochure or call up more information about a product.

“The investment community has been waiting for addressability for a generation,” said Mr. Moffett. “This has been hoped for for the better part of a decade. “But it was never going to happen without a coalition of the cable operators. This is a critical step forward.”

Last spring, industry executives began discussing how they could devise a joint advertising platform to offer up to big national advertisers. But only recently, after prodding from media buyers for General Motors and Procter & Gamble, did the cable executives become more serious by deciding to establish a separate company.

“As an advertiser, as an agency, it is so necessary that the cable industry act collectively,” said Tracey Scheppach, senior vice president and video and innovations director at Starcom. “Because they didn’t have a formal group before, they just threw stuff against the wall and some stuff stuck.”

Ms. Scheppach has been involved in consulting with the cable companies on the project. “Starcom has been working with the cable industry for several years to drive advertising standards,” including video-on-demand, tailored ads and interactive advertising, she said. “To me, this is an outgrowth and a formalization of that.”

The group recently hired the recruitment firm Spencer Stuart to search for a chief executive, according to executives briefed on the plans.

“They’re trying to figure out, do they want someone from inside the cable industry, or do they want someone from inside the advertising industry?” Mr. Moffett said.

nytimes.com

Comcast has Calif. project on line

Comcast Corp. said Friday it will establish a customer-service and operations campus in Livermore, Calif., that initially will employ 200 but could hire more over time.

The campus has three buildings with 220,000 square feet among them. Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA,CMCSK) will use one building for a call center and the other two to house its Livermore technical operations team and its regional office staff, which now is based in San Ramon, Calif.

Comcast plans to renovate the empty buildings and construct a new parking lot on the property. It expects the call center to be opened in August and to have the other two buildings occupied by December.

Comcast is based in Philadelphia. It is the nation's largest cable-television company with 24.1 million customers. It also has 13.2 million Internet customers and 4.6 million phone customers, and owns stakes in networks and sports teams.

Comcast offering TiVo recorder in Boston

Comcast began offering a digital video recorder with TiVo's programming services in the Boston area. The partnership reflects a new strategy for TiVo, which is facing competition from satellite and cable-TV providers in the digital video recorder, or DVR, market. San Jose-based TiVo is trying to "divorce" itself from hardware by developing software for other set-top boxes, Chief Executive Officer Thomas Rogers said earlier this month at a Citigroup investor conference in Phoenix. The software for Comcast includes a new function to search cable-TV and On Demand listings, said Jeff Klugman, head of TiVo's service provider division. The new software won't have broadband features that exist in TiVo's retail products, Klugman said. Those features allow users to stream Rhapsody music and download movies directly from Amazon.com.

Bloomberg News

Broadband Gear Report Products for January 11, 2008

Cisco at CES: New Set-Top, Modem, IP Services Gateway

Cisco used the Consumer Electronics Show 2008 in Las Vegas to roll out the latest additions to its 8500HDC DVR set-top series. The three new models in the 8500HDC DVR Series offer a range of capabilities such as the ability to support features such as whole-home content, richer navigation, Internet and premium content services, device docking and storage, social networking apps and instant messaging across multiple devices.

The new members of the 8500HDC series offer 800 mips (million instructions per second) of application processing power; dual 400 MHz processors for MPEG-4 advanced video compression decoding; 1 GHz tuning; and optional OpenCable features. Additionally, the 8552HDC DVR model set-top offers Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) whole-home connection. MoCA adds Ethernet-over-coax support, enabling the transport of digital video and entertainment through existing coaxial cable in the home to other consumer home network devices.

Cisco also announced it is taking its ultra-high-speed channel-bonding solution -- designed to facilitate broadband services in excess of 100 Mbps -- to the next level with a new channel-bonded cable modem, the Model DPC3000. The modem is designed to meet DOCSIS 3.0 specifications, which feature support of four bonded downstream channels and four bonded upstream channels. It is designed to be backward-compatible for use as a single-channel cable modem with DOCSIS and Euro-DOCSIS 1.1/1.0 and 2.0 networks.

Additionally, the company unveiled its IP Services Gateway (Model DRG2800), which is designed to expand consumers' entertainment and personal content choices and bring network-based and home-based applications together in one device. With this product, consumers can use their set-top and large-screen, flat-panel TVs to watch videos, listen to downloaded music in surround sound and view photos accessed from their PC.

The Cisco IP Services Gateway provides consumers with a single device that connects to the in-home PC via Ethernet and to a digital set-top using coax. Then, to multiple devices throughout the home, this all-in-one product is capable of managing and delivering a variety of services including high-speed Internet, wired and wireless home networking, file and data storage (including video and music) from its 160-gigabyte hard drive, and voice/telephone service.

Moto Highlights MPEG-4 Boxes, Digital Voice Modem

Motorola unveiled a new generation of MPEG-4 advanced video compression set-tops, the DCX series, which support the increasing deployment of high-bandwidth apps with HD decode capabilities and MPEG-4 advanced video compression (AVC) support. The all-digital, MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) series includes: DCX3400, a dual-tuner, high-definition DVR host set-top; DCX3200, a single-tuner, high-definition host set-top; and DCX100, a single-tuner, standard-definition (HD in /SD out) host set-top.

The boxes include 1 GHz tuners that enable ops to expand the number of available channels to deliver increased content for consumers. Other features include DOCSIS downstream channel bonding and fast IP connection to handle future services, support for the full range of interactive applications including SDV and VOD and choice of software solutions based on legacy software and OCAP. The series supports MoCA, HTML, DOCSIS, MCard, OCAP and Dolby Digital Plus

Motorola also announced the SURFboard SBV5422 digital voice modem and integrated DECT cordless phone system. The product enables IP telephony, high-speed data and new cordless phone technology that can be easily installed by consumers.

Real-time information including weather forecasts, news briefs and sports scores can be viewed on the screen of the cordless phone handset. In addition, the Motorola SBV5422 IP-based handsets, together with the Casabi network, enable unique customer experiences including e-mail access from anywhere in the home with no PC required, and sending and receiving SMS messages from the home phone.

Calix Cuts Through the RFOG

Calix announced the availability of the first gigabit passive optical network (GPON) optical network terminal (ONT) that utilizes standards-based radio frequency over glass (RFOG) technology for two-way communication with RF-enabled consumer devices. The Calix 725 ONT reportedly supports all of the current and emerging cable RF return path standards, including SCTE Standards 55-1 and 55-2, and CableLabs DOCSIS and DOCSIS Set-Top Gateway. According to the company, ops can seamlessly deploy the 725 ONT and ensure interoperability with their video headends and conditional access systems.

At the subscriber premises, by incorporating RFOG technology into the 725 ONT, Calix says it has eliminated any additional packaging or powering requirements. This approach simplifies craft training and installation time. At the headend, ops can use the same return path receivers commonly used in the cable industry, such as those from Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta.

DVR-a-Go-Go: Panasonic and Comcast Debut AnyPlay

Panasonic and Comcast unveiled a portable DVR/DVD player powered by tru2way technology at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show. The co-branded AnyPlay portable DVR (P-DVR), which is set for availability in 2009, will let Comcast subs record programming at home and take it with them wherever they go.

The AnyPlay P-DVR Model TZ-LC100 incorporates digital video recording functionality into a Panasonic portable DVD player platform. The product features 60 GB of digital video recording capacity, an 8.5-inch folding LCD display screen, and integrated stereo speakers. Dual audio headphone jacks are included. When placed onto a companion docking station that functions as a standard DVR set-top, the AnyPlay P-DVR lets viewers watch and record programs from their TV sets. However, unlike a traditional set-top, it can be taken out of its docking station, so recorded programs can be watched anywhere in or out of the home on the AnyPlay P-DVR. It also can play back DVDs and audio CDs.

Lindsay, Omnitron Team for NEBS/MEF-Compliant Media Converter Solutions

Lindsay Broadband and Omnitron Systems Technology announced a strategic development and sales partnership wherein Lindsay will incorporate Omnitron Systems' iConverter network interface devices and media converters into its FLEeX LM carrier class, integrated, last-mile architectural product family for commercial services delivery. Lindsay Broadband will now offer a complete family of wired and wireless, MEF 9 and 14 compliant broadband delivery platforms that all terminate on a common, NEBS level 3 certified, Omnitron Systems media converter platform.

The new solution provides cable operators the ability to offer T1/T3/OC3/OC12 TDM services as well as fully managed, carrier-class Ethernet and wireless services to business customers. When combined with the Lindsay Broadband FLEeX LM passive CWDM and wireless product family, cable ops can target enterprises with fully managed, carrier class broadband services offerings.

Privacy Please: RGB Networks Offers Privacy Mode Encryption Technology

RGB Networks announced that it offers Privacy Mode Encryption licensing and technology for VOD applications, enabling cable ops to easily encrypt their VOD programs to ensure they can only be viewed by authorized subs. Accomplishing this on the scale necessary for major VOD deployments requires the simultaneous bulk encryption of hundreds of VOD programs.

RGB will enable this capability on two of its key products - the Universal Scalable Modulator (USM) and Dynamic Bandwidth Manager (DBM) - and will apply privacy mode encryption to the VOD programs as they are processed. The company's USM is a high-density universal QAM modulator, capable of processing more programs than any competitive offerings. The RGB DBM is a VOD bandwidth optimization platform that reduces VOD bandwidth requirements, enabling cable operators to deliver more standard and high definition VOD programs without the need for increased bandwidth.

Ciena Announces Ethernet Aggregation and Switching on CN 4200

Ciena unveiled the new G10 and G10X Ethernet Service Modules that deliver Layer 2 Ethernet aggregation, switching and transport capabilities as simple plug-and-play upgrades to the company's CN 4200 FlexSelect Advanced Services Platform family. The new modules are said to simplify IP/Ethernet service architectures and optimize the cost and efficiency of network resources by reducing the number of router ports, metro WDM client ports and wavelengths and standalone Ethernet switches-often resulting in CAPEX savings of more than 50 %.

Targeted applications for the CN 4200 with new Layer 2 Ethernet aggregation and switching capabilities include Metro Ethernet Forum-based Carrier Ethernet services, broadband aggregation for triple-play and IPTV services and 3G wireless backhaul. Key to the enablement of these applications is the ability of the G10 and G10X modules to ensure QoS and to support connection-oriented Ethernet for deterministic, reliable and manageable IP/Ethernet services and transport. For connection-oriented Ethernet, the G10 modules initially support provisioned VLAN cross-connects and will support Provider Backbone Bridging-Traffic Engineering (PBB-TE) as it gets closer to standardization by the IEEE.

Sling Media to Market SlingModem as OEM Device to MSOs

Sling Media announced the development and CableLabs certification of the first cable modem that fully integrates the place-shifting capabilities pioneered in the original Slingbox. With the SlingModem, customers reportedly can easily watch and control their TV programming on any Internet-connected computing device just as they would in front of the living room TV. "We are working with MSOs both in the U.S. and worldwide, and we expect to deliver the SlingModem through OEM customers in 2008," Blake Krikorian, co-founder and CEO of Sling Media, says.

The SlingModem provides the cable sub with both a broadband connection as well as placeshifting functionality. Connecting a SlingModem is said to be as simple as a traditional modem, with the only required input being the coax. Upon set up, users will instantly have access to their analog cable channels on a PC, Mac or compatible smartphone. In addition, customers with a digital cable set-top can connect SlingModem to the box to access live or recorded TV programming, premium content and VOD.

Gefen, Pulse~LINK Roll Out HDMI Over Coax Product for HD Connectivity

Gefen and Pulse~LINK introduced a product at CES that incorporates Pulse~LINK's CWave UWB HDMI-Over-Coax technology that allows consumers to extend the reach of HDMI from room to room over their existing in-home coax cabling.

The Gefen HDMI Over Coax Extender provides an infrared back channel that enables consumers to use the same remote that controls their set-top box, DVR, Blu-ray or HD DVD player, in all rooms throughout the connected home. The no-new-wires solution offers Gigabit data rates and is capable of simultaneous delivery of high quality, visually lossless video along with multichannel digital audio.

• Accedian Networks, which offers network assurance solutions for Ethernet service providers, was selected by Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) as one of Canada's Top 10 technology companies. An independent expert panel of Canadian and US venture capitalists picked winners.
• APA Enterprises combined its business operations with its wholly-owned subsidiary, APA Cables & Networks, and subsequently changed its name to Clearfield Inc. The company, which provides fiber connectivity systems for independent telephone, cable and municipal networks, has its Web site at www.ClearfieldConnection.com.
• BigBand Networks was awarded the telecommunications sector-specific TL 9000 certification. TL 9000 defines a strict set of standards for the design, development, production, installation, and maintenance of telecommunications products, software, hardware or services.
• JDSU acquired the fiber division of Westover Scientific, a provider of fiber optic inspection and cleaning solutions. The company will be integrated with JDSU's Communications Test and Measurement (CommTest) business.
• Pace Micro Technology entered into a conditional agreement to acquire the set-top and connectivity solutions business of Royal Philips Electronics. The Philips STB and CS Business employs approximately 335 staff predominantly based in France and is a designer and supplier of a range of digital TV products including satellite, cable, terrestrial and IPTV set-top box products.

broadbandgear.net

Comcast in early 2009

Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) used this week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to talk up an expanded library of hi-def VOD content, but the operator is also gearing up to offer the beginnings of a network-based digital video recording service starting in early 2009. (See Comcast Launches 'Project Infinity'.)

A company spokesman confirmed a report that the MSO plans to begin testing "Start Over" this year, with initial deployments to follow in early 2009. While Comcast has openly discussed its interest in adding the service, until this week it has not provided much specific information about the timing of deployment plans.

Start Over, an application championed by Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC - message board) that originated out of the MystroTV project, allows users to restart TV shows, at least those with copyright clearance, that are already in progress. Time Warner Cable is also exploring next-gen versions that extend the VOD availability window.

Time Warner also owns intellectual property linked to Start Over. A Comcast spokesman also confirmed that the operator is in licensing discussions with Time Warner Cable. Bright House Networks , which branched off from a Time Warner cable system venture in 2003, is already offering Start Over in markets such as Tampa Bay, Fla.

Here at the show, Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO - message board) demonstrated an Comcast "RNG" set-top outfitted with tru2way technology running an app with the Start Over label. (See Slideshow: On the Hunt for 'tru2way' at CES .)

Functionality for Start Over will be included in the next iteration of the Comcast guide, an MSO spokesman said, but declined to say where or how rapidly Comcast expects to deploy the service.

Start Over, which disables the fast-forward function to prevent ad-skipping, is considered a subset of a full-fledged network-based digital video recorder. Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC - message board) is trying to take a different approach with its Remote-Storage DVR. Cablevision's concept, which is facing a legal battle with studios over copyright infringement claims, would rent out storage on its network servers to customers, who, in turn, would manually set their own recordings. (See Inside Cablevision's 'RS-DVR' and Cablevision to Try, Try Again.)

by Jeff Baumgartner Cable Digital News

If something goes wrong with HDTV by $100+, Comcast starting up WebTV

WILL TV CONSUMERS ABANDON CABLE systems for Internet-capable TV sets? This all seems like a big jump; but remember, entertainment consumers saunter.

Cable operators used to fear that the satellite distributors would be their biggest threat. To a lesser extent, the immediate threat comes from phone companies-backed IPTV and IPTV-like programming services.

Now, for some cable customers there are too many programming choices that aren't used often enough, and high monthly prices -- $100 and more. All this has forced some angry people to consider options like leaving the traditional TV distribution system behind.

At the CES, many companies indicated they would like to take up the slack. SlingMedia talked up technology that would take content from the Internet and send it to any TV screen. Sony, Sharp and Panasonic are making televisions where you can directly plug in an Internet connection.

What does this sound like? A revolution? No, just some swirling and turning.

Cable operators aren't rolling their eyes. Instead they are beefing up set-top boxes. Some, like Comcast, are going high quality, saying it'll have 1,000 HD on-demand options soon. But just in case all this doesn't work, Comcast is starting up a broad-reaching entertainment Web site offering movies, TV shows, and other content -- covering all bases.

While high quality is desired, quantity seems to win the day at the moment, something the Internet has in abundance.

Right now a specific price/pleasure/useful factor exists. If a consumer is only watching nine of 600 cable channels, and there's a budget crunch in the household, out come the wire cutters. I haven't even mentioned a possible recession.

Now all those cash-crunched customers need to buy is that new $2,000 42-inch Internet-enabled Plasma screen.

Cable Customers Leaving For Internet TVs? If Price Is Right

Fun Comcast = Fancast

Comcast today is set to enter the growing field of companies offering online streams of TV shows online with the launch of Fancast.

Like AOL’s two-year-old In2TV, Fancast is offering a host of old programs like “Hill Street Blues” and “Remington Steele.” The site also has a slate of current programs including “Bones” and “The Office” from NBC/Fox’s Hulu.com, CBS and Viacom.

The new Fancast site also will let users program their DVRs online — a service that Yahoo has offered to TiVo users for more than two years.

The move seems to position Comcast as a direct competitor to the portals, which offer TV shows online, and niche services like Joost, not to mention file-sharing sites like BitTorrent. For that reason, the decision to start streaming video also calls into question the motives of Comcast — which also is an Internet service provider — in slowing traffic to BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer sites.

After the Associated Press reported last year that Comcast was impeding traffic to peer-to-peer sites, the company said it was just taking steps to manage its own network. Apparently, however, Comcast also has a vested interest in giving people reason to watch video at Fancast as opposed to BitTorrent or any other sites. And that should concern legislators and regulator who are facing questions of net neutrality and whether companies like Comcast should be able to block traffic at will.

In a market soon to be flooded with new ways to get movies fast and cheap over the Internet, companies that deliver films over cable and satellite systems risk getting nudged aside. Not so with Comcast (CMCSA). In a move designed to keep its subscribers away from the "download" button on their favorite new site, the cable industry's largest company on Jan. 8 announced a massive upgrade of its video-on-demand offerings. Project Infinity, unveiled by Comcast Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, boosts the number of on-demand movies to 6,000, from 1,300 a month.

The move comes days before Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs is due to announce a new video-rental component to help boost the fortunes of Apple's video business (BusinessWeek.com, 12/28/07). Comcast executives hope the enhanced on-demand service will Apple-proof an already hefty movie offering. The cable operator says its video-on-demand services account for roughly 275 million viewings a month.

To bolster Project Infinity, Comcast is making the most of existing deals with movie services including Time Warner's (TWX) HBO, CBS's (CBS) Showtime, and Liberty Media Corp.'s (LCAPA) Starz. That gives it a leg up on Jobs, who is currently out trying to add content on a deal-by-deal basis. He's making headway, but has a long way to go (BusinessWeek.com, 1/7/08). "We're already here," says Derek Harrar, Comcast's senior vice-president of video. "If anyone else wants to enter the video-on-demand business they'll have to follow us."

Fan Base

Indeed, while Comcast executives won't talk about it, it is clear that as Jobs and others work to launch their own services, the cable giant enjoys the kind of influence with movie services like HBO that will let it cut deals that are as good, or better, than those Apple can sign. Jobs is said to be trying to get studios to give him their movies for release at the same time they are available at video retail stores like Wal-Mart (WMT). Studios like to hold off on other releases in hopes of securing more lucrative DVD sales. But Comcast is already testing so-called "day and date" releases with Warner Brothers; if Jobs gets them, the cable operator would surely muscle its way into getting them as well, according to well-placed cable executives.

Comcast's Project Infinity announcement comes during a busy day for the cable operator. Comcast also announced the formal launch of Fancast, an online service that would give its subscribers the ability to go online to fancast.com to watch more than 3,000 hours of streaming videos of TV shows from the likes of CBS and Fox (NWS) while using the site to order videos, get iTunes downloads, and even manage their digital video recorders to record TV shows at home while they're at work.

Comcast says it expects to cut deals with other cable operators to offer the same service to them, and would make much of its money from free advertising, or affiliate fees in the case of DVDs or download sales. Some of the DVR functions won't be available until later this year, although the Fancast site is available now.

According to this Reuters story, Comcast said it has licensing deals for more than 50,000 TV shows, 80,000 movies and information on 1.2 million actors, directors, and others for Fancast (which it is licensing from Baseline, owned by NYT, AMG and others).

The key, it hopes though, is that the site isn’t just about hosted video, but points and aggregates other sites/video services. Also, Comcast plans to move some Fancast features to the set-top box so users check up-to-date information about actors etc. This is more interesting in light of the portable and inter-operable DVR service that it announced yesterday along with Panasonic.

This is among the most ambitious online service Comcast has launched till date out of its interactive division. It of course has the Comcast.net portal for its broadband subscribers (even though it is open to anyone), and has launched couple of smaller sites including online video site Ziddio.com and GameInvasion.net, and it bought movie tickets site Fandango last year. But it would be tough to make Fancast a destination, what with tough competition from everyone including portals and the TV networks themselves.

Press release:

Comcast Interactive Media Launches Fancast.com

Site Enables Consumers To Create a Personalized Entertainment Experience

LAS VEGAS, NV - January 8, 2008

Comcast Interactive Media (CIM) today launched www.Fancast.com, the first online destination that enables users to watch, manage and find entertainment content wherever it is available – on Fancast, on television, online, on DVD or in theaters. On Fancast, users can view an expanding free library of full episodes and clips from top networks and movie partners, find the content they are looking for across multiple platforms and create a personalized entertainment experience.

Watch It
• Want to watch a previous episode of your favorite series that you missed? On Fancast consumers have instant access to over 3,000 hours of streaming free, full-length content from networks - including CBS, NBC and Fox (provided by Hulu), MTV Networks and BET Networks - movie trailers, short videos and interviews.
• Can’t find what you want to watch on Fancast? The site’s “Watch it” tool will tell users where they can get it, on Fancast, on television, online, On Demand, on DVD or in the theater.
• Fancast shows you what is on the TV line-up in your area no matter who your provider is.

Find It
• Need to decide what to watch tonight? On Fancast users can search for video content and entertainment information they’re looking for on over 11 million web pages including information on more than 50,000 television shows, 80,000 movies and 1.2 million people combining multiple sources of entertainment information.
• If users don’t know exactly what content they’re looking for, they can visit Fancast and discover new content through the site’s personalized recommendations based on what they have chosen in the past.
• Want to know who your favorite movie actor married or what TV show he appeared in before he made it big? Explore the connections between TV shows, movies, cast and crew on “Six Degrees.”

Manage It
• Want to control your DVR from the road? Coming soon in 2008, Fancast will enable users to program their DVR recordings in advance, from their computers, ensuring that they will never miss a show again.
• Want a more personalized viewing experience? Fancast’s “Watch List,” will organize and catalog upcoming programming, set a personalized play list and send reminders to users about what they should watch in the future based on previous preferences.
• In 2009, users will be able to mark and add content to a folder in their video on demand menu, directly from their computers.
• If a movie is playing in the theaters, Fancast will link users to Fandango one of the Web’s top movie destinations to purchase tickets online.

“Our goal with Fancast is to make entertainment consumption amazingly simple,” said Amy Banse, President of Comcast Interactive Media. “In this new age of interactive media where entertainment is available everywhere, Fancast helps consumers find what they are looking for and manage their entertainment experience across multiple platforms. For people who want their content and information immediate and easy to find, Fancast is the ultimate one-stop shop.”

Fancast will continue to add new features and additional content throughout 2008 and beyond.

For a webcast of Chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts’ CES keynote address and for additional press information on Comcast announcements at CES, please visit www.comcast.com/ces.

about Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (http://www.comcast.com) is the nation's leading provider of entertainment, information and communications products and services. With 24.2 million cable customers, 12.9 million high-speed Internet customers, and 4.1 million voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.

Comcast + Panasonic = tru2way ?

Comcast: Cable to Standardize Technology

Facing pressure from regulators, the cable TV industry plans to make good on a promise to standardize its technology and open the door to televisions and other gadgets that don't need cable boxes to receive video-on-demand programs and other interactive services.

An industry initiative, to be renamed "tru2way" after a decade in the works, is expected to allow electronics manufacturers to make TVs and other gear that will work regardless of cable provider. By making devices compatible, the standard also could encourage the development of new services and features that rely on two-way communication over the cable network.

Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable provider, will roll out the platform in all its markets by the end of 2008, Chief Executive Brian Roberts said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of a speech Tuesday at the International Consumer Electronics Show.

Time Warner Cable Inc. is even closer to completion, Comcast executives said. A spokesman for No. 3 provider Cox Communications Inc. said the company will have "widespread deployment" this year.

"Our business model has changed completely, from a closed, proprietary model to an open architecture that will work across cable companies — not just across Comcast," Roberts said. "That was a Herculean job to accomplish."

Craig Moffett, senior analyst at Sanford Bernstein, said the industry is sending a hands-off signal to the Federal Communications Commission. Last summer, FCC officials said they would soon take on the issue of two-way compatibility between consumer electronics and cable systems.

"They don't have a lot of friends at the FCC right now. The cable industry has every reason to be nervous," Moffett said. "I suspect a lot of this is trying to beat the FCC to the punch."

CableLabs, the cable industry's research and development arm, which Roberts leads, was to announce Monday that its OpenCable platform, which began development in 1997, will now be branded as "tru2way."

Cable providers and device manufacturers have long disagreed over the technical specifications for two-way communication among their devices. There are TVs and set-top boxes in the market that can receive digital programming, but they can't talk back to the network, which would allow advanced interactive services. That leaves consumers with having to rent a box from the cable company.

And even with the new standards some discord remains.

Though the cable industry has inked separate deals with electronics companies, including Panasonic, Samsung and LG, consumer electronics giant Sony isn't on board.

The FCC — where Chairman Kevin Martin supports a more open and competitive environment — is also considering a different standard put forward by a group of consumer electronics companies.

CableLabs said it has inked licensing agreements with Intel Corp. and Broadcom Corp. to develop chips to run the software. And Microsoft Corp. is expected to integrate the standard into future versions of its Windows operating system for personal computers.

Comcast foresees "tru2way" branding on TVs, set-top boxes, PCs and other devices to signal their compatibility with cable systems.

On Monday, Panasonic and Comcast plan to unveil a slew of products that will be compatible with "tru2way," including a plasma high-definition television, high-definition digital video recorders and a portable DVR.

"You'll see a number of new 'tru2way' devices, and this is just the beginning," Roberts said. "This is Day One."

The Panasonic Viera Plasma HDTV with "tru2way" will go on sale this year. Panasonic's portable DVD player and recorder, called "AnyPlay," lifts off a docking station and allows consumers to watch the programs they've recorded anywhere they like, on its 8.5-inch LCD screen. It is to go on sale in early 2009.

Other products are expected to reach retail stores as early as the end of 2008. The timeframe gives cable leverage over the competing standard proposed by consumer electronics makers, whose devices might not make it to retail until 2009 at the earliest.

Moffett said cable operators are telling the FCC that the industry can work with consumer electronics makers on two-way cable-compatible products.

"That could tip the scales in their favor," Moffett said.

Cable's consumer electronics makeover

Historically, cable has been left out of the gadget circus. But at this year's CES, Comcast's Brian Roberts is trying to boost the business's presence.

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Comcast CEO Brian Roberts says he remembers walking around the Consumer Electronics Show five years ago with Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt. He recalls seeing a big presence from his rivals in the satellite-television business. His own industry, by contrast, was nowhere to be found.

"So we met with the board of [industry research arm] CableLabs and decided to go to Japan and Korea to visit the CEOs of the major [consumer electronics] companies," Roberts told me in a conversation over the weekend. "And we asked them, 'What do we need to do to work better with your industry'?"

This week, at CES 2008 in Las Vegas, Roberts is unveiling some of the fruits of those discussions - and, in so doing, he hopes to generate some much-needed positive buzz for the cable industry. In a joint announcement Monday with electronics maker Panasonic (MC), Roberts presented a cable-ready plasma television set (i.e., no set-top box) and a portable Digital Video Recorder that lets consumers take their stored cable programs with them on the go.

Both products are powered by technology called "tru2way," which cable companies are adopting; Roberts describes it as an open platform that will allow developers and electronics companies to write applications that can be widely deployed across the entire footprint of cable companies supporting tru2way. The biggest consumer benefit of tru2way is that it can be built into television sets, eliminating the need for discreet set-top boxes - an aesthetic benefit to consumers trying to avoid clutter as they upgrade to sleek flat-panel sets.

Roberts, who also will give his first-ever CES keynote address on Tuesday (and will reveal a few more new products at that time), says of his CES appearance: "I think it is a way for us to tell our employees and our customers how excited we are about what is happening at Comcast."

He says his speech Tuesday won't be aimed at investors, but it wouldn't hurt to get Wall Street excited about the sector. Cable stocks performed miserably in 2007: Comcast (CMCSA) shares, trading at about $17, were down about 40% last year. Shares of Time Warner Cable (TWC), which is controlled by FORTUNE and CNN/Money parent Time Warner (TWX, Fortune 500), were also down 40%. Investors are concerned about fresh competition from telephone companies such as Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) and AT&T (T, Fortune 500) now offering video services, and stepped-up pressure from DirecTV and Echostar, which boast broad high-definition lineups.

And indeed, the satellite industry has done a good job of partnering with the consumer electronics industry. In recent years, DirecTV, for example, has worked with some electronics makers and retailers to encourage consumers to switch to satellite from cable when buying a new plasma television. TV makers had found some consumers returning their sets complaining of poor picture quality; the buyers didn't realize they needed a new cable box in order to get channels in high-definition.

The cable industry's new open platform should solve some of those problems. Now a cable operator can remotely upgrade a customer's channel line-up, say, or deliver new applications, without the customer needing to acquire a new in-home device.

Roberts says he hopes 2008 marks the start of an important partnership with the likes of Panasonic, LG, Samsung and others. "Our presence at CES is a chance to tell CE companies and software applications developers that we are here, we are open and we need your innovation to help us win," he says.

Roberts, 48, talks a lot about winning these days. The competitive playing field, which once seemed stacked in cable's favor (it was first with broadband Internet access and first with the "triple play" of voice, video and data), now looks remarkably level. To beat back phone and satellite insurgents, the historically insular cable industry is going to need help. "We have to innovate, have an open architecture and interoperate between cable companies, and our customer service has got to continue to reach new levels of excellence," Roberts says. "We also have to have the most content, which we clearly do. Put together, we have a winning strategy."

Comcast customers, employees, and certainly its investors, hope he's right.
Fortune Magazine

Top Lobbyists Swarm FCC Over Plug-and-Play

The FCC is hearing comments on whether it should adopt the cable industry’s OpenCable Applications Platform (OCAP) as a standard for nationally deployable two-way set-top boxes, and big-time representatives of major corporations are busy sharing their views with the commission.

Oct. 26, Comcast boss Brian Roberts and two of his top henchmen met with four of the five commissioners to plug OCAP and oppose DCR+, the solution proposed by the Consumer Electronics Associations.

The same day, officials from HBO, Starz!, Disney, News Corp., Viacom and NBC Universal managed to met with the legal advisors for all five commissioners to talk up OCAP, according to a FCC filing.

These companies and others, including many consumer electronics makers, have touted OCAP as the only platform would incorporate advanced functionality into consumer devices.

“Consumers reasonably expect that something called a ‘digital cable-ready’ device will let them have access to all of the cable services that are part of the package they have purchased,” the National Cable and Telecommunications Administration told the FCC this week. “But DCR+ devices, were they ever to be built, could only receive a limited number of existing services, will receive no new future services, and will not let cable consumers see and use cable services in the way that they purchased them.”

NCTA also says DCR+ products will not be available in time for the 2008 holiday shopping season, whereas OCAP products are already available. NCTA also wants OCAP technology to be the standard for all multichannel video providers, not just cable.

CEA has countered that DCR+ is an alternative, lower-priced solution that would give viewers a choice; it has also said that the FCC would abdicate too much authority to industry consortium CableLabs under the NCTA plan.

Comcast rollout of TiVo box begins

SAN JOSE, Calif. - After more than two years of promises and delays, Comcast Corp. has finally begun the commercial rollout of its first cable set-top boxes that run TiVo's digital video recording technology.
As expected, New England is the first market to get the long-awaited Comcast-TiVo offering. The rollout started in the last few days, TiVo spokesman Whit Clay said in a statement Thursday.

He declined further comment.

The Comcast-TiVo deal was first announced in 2005 and is considered a key part of TiVo's future as it works to attract more customers and become profitable. TiVo pioneered the DVR and is the best known brand name but has struggled amid cheaper offerings by rivals, including Comcast.

Comcast, the nation's largest cable TV provider, has said it will continue to offer its basic DVR service; the TiVo-based offering will be a premium service. Pricing details were not immediately available.

yahoo news



Hands-on With Comcast's TiVo-Enabled DVR video