PHILADELPHIA -- Comcast today announced plans to trial the award-winning X1 video platform to Comcast Business customers for the first time. The company will begin with a hospitality industry trial this summer with Philadelphia hotels. Comcast made the announcement and previewed the product offering at The Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition & Conference (HITEC).
"Comcast is poised to disrupt the $3 billion United States business TV market with X1 for Business," said Greg Ireland, multiscreen video analyst at IDC. "Products and solutions that have generated excellent results on the residential side can help businesses, particularly in the hospitality industry, gain an edge in attracting new and returning consumers."
The following X1 features will be trialed with hotels:
Voice Control: The X1 voice remote lets customers quickly and easily find the shows they’re looking for – with just the sound of their voice.
Pause/Rewind Live TV: X1 for Business will allow guests to pause or rewind live television.
Free-to-Guest On Demand: A growing selection of on demand TV shows and movies – easy to find and discover through the advanced X1 guide.
Sports: The X1 Sports app brings real-time scores and statistics for sports like baseball, football, basketball and NASCAR, alongside the in-game action.
Accessibility: The X1 talking guide is the industry’s first and only voice-enabled television user interface that reads aloud selections like program titles, network names and time slots, serving as a solution for TV fans who have a visual disability.
Language of Choice: Bicultural customers can quickly change the guide and channel listings from English to Spanish and find Spanish-language and SAP-enabled programming through advanced filtering directly within the experience.
"X1 has transformed entertainment for our residential customers, and starting our X1 B2B trials with hotels is a natural extension as this industry focuses on providing guests with all of the comforts from home, including a great TV watching experience," said Denice Hasty, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Product Management, Comcast Business. "We are just getting started, but we are excited about the prospects for X1 expansion."
Comcast Business