Roger Fingas
Time Warner Cable is preparing to trial a service that will eventually allow access to its TV packages while only having Internet with the company, the company revealed on Tuesday.
The company is now taking sign-ups for the trial, based on its Roku app. The company's group VP for Programming and Content, Alix Cottrell, said that the test is being limited to New York City at first to make sure the service is "really easy and straightforward" before it expands elsewhere, according to Engadget.
People accepted into the trial will receive a Roku 3 set-top, and be able to pick live channels in the same way as regular TWC TV customers — up to a maximum of 300 — or opt for select "skinny" bundles. Some programs should have video-on-demand access through StartOver, but initially there won't be DVR functions, movie rentals, or pay-per-view options.
Despite the ties with Roku, trial participants should be able to use their logins with other TWC TV app platforms, including iOS. Cottrell noted that the company is working on apps for still more platforms, which could potentially translate into an app for the fourth-generation Apple TV.
Prices will be announced when the trial launches, the current target date being Nov. 9.
TWC was at one point rumored to be working on enabling previous generations of the Apple TV to replace a cable box, but the technology never manifested, possibly because of Comcast's failed takeover attempt. Comcast itself was once linked to rumors of an Apple set-top, though the arrangement would've likely violated net neutrality rules.
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40 Comments
And so it begins.
Just wait till AppleTV4 has a user base of 20-30 million.
All the people who hate on AppleTV4 for little nitpicks have no VISION at all.
OR, these people care how a product works today, not just what their hope is for the future.
And so it begins.
Just wait till AppleTV4 has a user base of 20-30 million.
All the people who hate on AppleTV4 for little nitpicks have no VISION at all.
Agreed. Something had to give. TWC and the cable companies have to explore options. I just took my cable box back last week, and cut the cord. Cable companies are seeing their service/product becoming wholly irrelevant. Now that there is a real option for content owners to take their property elsewhere, things may change.
And so it begins.
Just wait till AppleTV4 has a user base of 20-30 million.
All the people who hate on AppleTV4 for little nitpicks have no VISION at all.
Nothing began here at all. This is just cable service through a Roku, nothing more. No VOD, no DVR, or even Pay Per View.
Then I don't have time for them.
People who can't see beyond 2 feet in front of their nose don't interest me at all.
My point is people who bitch about small crap like lack of audio out or lack of 4k are dummies and have no idea how market disruption works.
True, most people don't even realize the iPod didn't even play music when it was released!
"Prices will be announced when the trial launches" If the content will reflect what is typically available only to cable or satellite subscribers then it will be a price worthy of cable companies price-gouging reputation. You'll be paying for channels such as ESPN even though you don't want them. Content providers with enough clout have spelled out an all-subscribers or no deal in their contracts.