Comcast: Stream Phone Videos to Grandma's TV

Comcast announced new X1 features including the ability to stream video from mobile devices over the Internet to a TV screen.

Mari Silbey, Senior Editor, Cable/Video

April 29, 2014

2 Min Read
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LOS ANGELES -- The Cable Show -- Comcast has announced a slew of new features coming to the X1 platform, but at the top of the highlight reel is a new service that will allow subscribers to stream personal videos from their mobile devices over the web to the television screen. That's an interesting proposition at home, but as Comcast points out, it may be even more compelling when you consider the possibility of sending personal videos to someone else's TV. Think streaming video of a grandchild's soccer game directly to a grandparent's living-room television.

The feature isn't due out until 2015, but Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is demonstrating the new X1 offering -- which will officially be part of Xfinity Voice -- at The Cable Show this week.

Comcast has listed several other enhancements that will be introduced into X1 in the coming year. On the guide front, the operator plans to add: Spanish language support; live video streams shown in tiles for the last nine channels that were viewed; a talking user interface called Voice Guidance; a personal, prioritized guide with individualized settings for which networks show up on screen first; and a kids guide displaying appropriate content for children based on Common Sense Media ratings.

For on-demand viewing, Comcast plans to start incorporating an instant-on-demand feature that allows viewers to watch select programs on demand immediately after the live program starts airing on broadcast, and notification badges on the program guide that show which content is available through VoD.

The X1 platform will also add new apps including an Xfinity Home app for controlling home appliances and home video feeds on the television screen, a Family Point app for geo-tracking and messaging with family members, and a new Xfinity Voicemail app enabling users to listen to and record voicemails from the TV.

— Mari Silbey, special to Light Reading

About the Author

Mari Silbey

Senior Editor, Cable/Video

Mari Silbey is a former Light Reading editor who covered broadband infrastructure, video delivery, smart cities, and all things cable. Before her time at Light Reading, she worked independently for nearly a decade, contributing to trade publications, authoring custom research reports and consulting for various corporate and association clients. She launched the corporate blog for Motorola's Home division way back in 2007, ran a content development program for Limelight Networks and did her best to entertain the video nerd masses as a long-time columnist for the media blog Zatz Not Funny. She is based in Washington, D.C. and is now a program director at US Ignite.

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