All Articles Tagged Comcast

Julie Jacobson | 05/29 10:05 AM, 0 Comments

UPDATE following the story: Cox is using the ZigBee-enabled platform that iControl acquired from uControl. Add Cox Communications to the growing list of cable companies and other service providers who are getting into the home automation and home security business. First came Comcast/Xfinity Home (formerly Comcast Home Security), then Verizon Home Monitoring and Control, Time Warner Cable and AT&T Digital Life. CE Pro came across a job description for a vice president, Cox Smart Home Business. The new executive: Leads the start-up and scaling of Cox Smart Home business portfolio,… View this story

Grant Clauser | 03/08 08:13 AM, 1 Comment

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has been in talks with cable operators about adding the streaming video service onto their set-top boxes, Reuters is reporting. Reuters says Netflix could be offered as a feature the cable company would charge for and share the revenue with Netflix. On one hand, it sounds like madness. Why would a cable company encourage users to try out a service that could replace much of its video watching? But what if the cable company uses Netflix as its VOD arm? Then the cable company wouldn’t have… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 03/05 09:08 AM, 0 Comments

Xfinity is easing consumers into the smart home. When it launched its home automation service in 2010, the cable company called it Comcast Home Security. Now Comcast is Xfinity and the service is called Xfinity Home. Period. “We had planned the name change for quite some time,” says Mitch Bowling, SVP and general manager, new businesses, Comcast Cable. “When we launched the service in 2010 in Houston, consumers did not really understand what the smart home and home automation was, but security did resonate so we decided to go out… View this story

Jason Knott | 01/27 06:22 AM, 3 Comments

Cable companies such as Comcast are converting set-top boxes and remotes to RF wireless to form the "next generation of home networking" that can control security, energy, health monitoring, home entertainment and other environmental systems. According to Cees Links, CEO of GreenPeak Technologies and the chair of the ZigBee RF4CE interface committee, connected set-top boxes will enable the cable companies to deliver the "smart, automated home" very soon. "Many technology watchers have predicted that [with] the arrival of automated smart homes, homeowners will seek out and install the latest, coolest… View this story

Jason Knott | 11/08 12:10 PM, 0 Comments

Citing potential conflict of interest as Comcast makes it move into the residential security business, Edward Breen, chairman of ADT parent Tyco International Ltd., has resigned from the Comcast board of directors, which he has served on for the past six years. Breen intends to stay on as a consultant to ADT after the split. According to the LA Times, in his letter to Comcast chairman Brian Roberts, Breen said he would be "devoting significant time and energy over the next 12 months to the selection of new boards of… View this story

Rachel Cericola | 08/09 09:04 AM, 4 Comments

Web access can be a real luxury these days, but Comcast is making it a lot more affordable for some. The service provider just launched Internet Essentials, a plan that offers web access to low-income families for $10 a month. Besides a discount on web services, Comcast says Internet Essentials will provide affordable computers and digital literacy training to families with children who are eligible to receive free lunches under the National School Lunch Program. Of course, there are other eligibility requirements. Participants must live within the Comcast service area,… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 06/16 10:42 AM, 0 Comments

iControl Networks, based in Palo Alto, Calif., provides the home automation engine behind ADT Pulse and Xfinity Home Security. But is the platform also being rolled out by Time Warner Cable? Multichannel News thinks so. The excellent news resource for the cable industry reports today that a new home control offering from Motorola Mobility (4Home) and Honeywell will compete with iControl, “whose customers include Comcast, Time Warner Cable and ADT Security Services.” Do they know something I don’t know? I know that TWC is offering Honeywell home security systems in… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 06/08 05:50 PM, 4 Comments

Today we learn a few things about Xfinity Home Security that we hadn't reported before: The monthly cost for the security/home automation service is cheaper than most, but hardly free; six more cities will get the service after last year's launch in Houston; and Xfinity will do its own security installations, rather than use a third-party provider. And one more thing: Xfinity will use iControl SMA, the home-control platform formerly known as uControl. Just as we suspected. Neither Xfinity nor iControl has made a formal announcement about the iControl deal,… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 04/18 08:19 AM, 0 Comments

Since announcing its new home security and automation system in 2010, Xfinity (formerly Comcast) has said little about its service, including whose products the cable giant would use. That hasn't changed, but at least there there has been some movement from Xfinity in the past month. Comcast.com/homesecurity used to feature only home control systems based on iControl – just like the systems offered by ADT Pulse. Recently, however, Xfinity began showing products based on uControl – the organization that "merged" with iControl in November 2010. Enter the Xfinity Home Security… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 04/18 07:53 AM, 0 Comments

CE Pro speculates that Xfinity/Comcast has selected the ZigBee-based uControl platform for its remote home management system. Is that such a good idea? Since announcing its new home security and automation system in 2010, Xfinity (formerly Comcast) has not declared a vendor partner. The cable giant still isn’t saying, but the Web site points to uControl. Originally, Xfinity showcased on its Home Security site a solution based on iControl, the same platform that powers ADT Pulse. Recently, however, a former iControl rival called uControl showed up on the site. uControl… View this story