U.S. TV and internet provider Comcast has announced an upcoming iOS and Android app called Xfinity Stream, which will not only replace the existing Xfinity TV app for cable subscribers, but lay the foundations for a wider rollout of Stream TV -- its internet-only TV service -- under different branding later this year.
The app should go live on Feb. 28, Comcast said. People using the Xfinity TV app will be automatically transitioned to Xfinity Stream through an update. At the moment, no Apple TV client has been announced, and it's not clear if the app will come to other platforms like Roku.
Stream TV is currently only available in a few U.S. markets, spread across Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Hampshire. For full content users must have an Xfinity internet account and stream on their local Wi-Fi network, or else take advantage of third-party apps with "TV Everywhere" support that authenticates a Comcast subscription.
Through the new app, people subscribed to an Xfinity cable package will be able to watch over 200 live channels outside of the house, as well as roughly 40,000 on-demand titles, some of which can be downloaded for offline viewing. Comcast is also promising the ability to manage, stream, and download DVR recordings.
Other features will include Spanish-language text and audio options, and narrated descriptions for the visually impaired on "select" movies and TV shows.
Cable features should be paralled for Stream TV users, but only for the service's bundled channels and on-demand videos. Downloads will be also off-limits for broadcast networks and HBO.
Comcast's plans suggest an attempt to better compete with rivals like Sling TV and PlayStation Vue. Both of those, however, aren't tied to Wi-Fi or any one internet service provider, and are available across a wider variety of platforms, the Apple TV among them.