Chris Smith
According to a leaked screenshot obtained by MacRumors, the upcoming AnyPlay feature will let Comcast subscribers watch most channels included in their Xfinity TV service on the iPad, except for On Demand and Pay-Per-View programs.
AnyPlay will be limited to in-home use, as the service requires iPad owners to be in the proximity of a Motorola-made cable box. That hardware will allegedly send the live cable stream to the Xfinity TV iPad.
In addition to the AnyPlay box, users will also require an active Xfinity TV subscription and a high-speed wireless Internet connection to be able to watch live TV on the tablet.
The service will not work over other any other Wi-Fi or 3G network and will be limited to up to 10 registered tablets per home. Only one device can be used at a time to stream live TV programs.
The Xfinity TV iOS application, available in the App Store as a free download (iTunes link) for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, currently lets users access On Demand programs, browse through TV listings and control TVs and DVRs.
AnyPlay streaming would be accessed from inside the app in the future, although Comcast has not specified any details about the launch and availability of the new streaming service.
Competing companies like Cablevision and Time Warner have similar TV streaming applications — Optimum for iPad and TWCable TV, respectively (iTunes links) — which are already available in the App Store. Earlier this year, Time Warner pulled major networks including MTV and FX from its application to placate broadcasters.
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15 Comments
Fail. These old media and cable companies have got to stop being so provincial in their thinking. If your streaming service is limited to your own customers, then what is the point? They could just as easily turn on the damn TV.
AnyPlay will be limited to in-home use, as the service requires iPad owners to be in the proximity of a Motorola-made cable box. That hardware will allegedly send the live cable stream to the Xfinity TV iPad.
In addition to the AnyPlay box, users will also require an active Xfinity TV subscription and a high-speed wireless Internet connection to be able to watch live TV on the tablet.
Ugh. How cumbersome, and short-sighted. If I have wifi, why shouldn't I be able to pay a cable subscription fee and just download the shows directly - why do I have to use a cable box? And why do I have to be at home - do these bozos not understand that the future is untethered, that I should be able to access content (to which I have rights) anywhere?
Comcast is my provider. The boxes supplied in my region are Cisco (Scientific Atlanta). You mention that Motorola is required. Will I not be able to stream on my iPad?
Comcast can't even get my cable tv and Internet to work. I am in the middle of my sixth outage this year. I think that they should start with getting the technology they currently have to WORk and then move on to something fancy.
I wonder if we'll be able to use the Video Mirroring feature with this app to show the streamed content on a TV. This could be useful if the TV is in a room which has no cable hookup.