Items tagged with (NASDAQ: CMCSA)
Media giant Comcast has a cunning plan to develop a new video platform, infiltrate tens of millions of homes with it by 2017 using its existing infrastructure, and seduce customers and content publishers along the way. It's called "Watchable" and it could launch within a matter of weeks. According to Business Insider who cites several anonymous individuals familiar with the plan, Comcast wants to tap into the creativity of digital-video producers like The Onion, AwesomenessTV, Vice, and more established brands like NBC sports and roll it into a service that will be watchable on Comcast's XFinity set-top boxes. Sources indicate that not only does Comcast plan to replace all existing...
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A decade-old lawsuit against Comcast, accusing the company of overcharging television subscribers, has come to an end. The initial settlement, pending court approval, will have Comcast pay $16.67 million in cash to former and current subscribers living in Philadelphia and four other Pennsylvania counties. However, given that there are around 800,000 people included in the settlement means the settlement will amount to a little over $20 per subscriber. However, the cable company will be offering current subscribers up to $33.33 million in services in the form of a $15 bill credit, free internet upgrades, or movies that will be worth up to $43.90. Last year, the Supreme Court dismissed an earlier...
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Comcast has accused many of its critics and rivals of “extortion” in regards to its acquisition of Time Warner Cable for $45 billion. The cable company filed a 1,000 page document with the Federal Communications Commission defending itself from the various accusations and concerns aimed at the deal. One of the most vocal businesses against the deal is Discovery Communications. "Discovery, like many other programmers, is improperly using this proceeding to promote its own financial interests," Comcast said in its filing. "In fact, Discovery demanded unwarranted business concessions from Comcast as a condition of Discovery's non-opposition to the Transaction. Such extortionate demands...
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Over the weekend, there was a report from DeepDotWeb talking about users who were contacted by Comcast agents that proceeded to tell them to stop using Tor Browser or risk losing their service. This has prompted Comcast to release a statement denying these claims. DeepDotWeb reported that users were contacted about their use of Tor with one Comcast representative saying that it was an “illegal service” and then asking one customer what site the person visited. This customer then called Comcast and spoke to another representative that stated, “Users who try to use anonymity, or cover themselves up on the internet, are usually doing things that aren’t so-to-speak legal....
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Anyone who has tried to host their own website from home likely knows all-too-well the hassles that ISPs can cause. Simply put, ISPs generally don't want you to do that, preferring you to move up to a business package (aka: more expensive). Not surprisingly, the EFF doesn't like these rules, which seem to exist only to upsell you a product, and it's making its complaints very public. This time around, Google's Fiber service is targeted, as it's the latest ISP of the bunch to say "No!" to running your own "server" from home. The problem, though, is that all ISPs are deliberately vague about what qualifies as a "server". Admittedly, when I hear the word "server", I think of a Web server, one...
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Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but those annoying data caps ISPs like to implement aren't going anywhere. And if you're a Comcast subscribers, overage fees aren't taking a hike, either. In fact, the company plans to expand its trial of data overage fees in additional markets starting next month, serving as an indication that it's happy with the ways things have gone thus far. There's some good news that goes with it. Comcast bumped up its 250GB data cap to a slightly less restricting 300GB, though at a time when everything from game installs to high definition movies come from the cloud (Steam and Netflix, respectively, for example), users aren't likely to take a lot of solace in the extra...
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There will always be people who pirate content, that's just the way it is. We don't condone illegally downloading movies and TV shows, nor are we being pessimistic, but unlike big media companies, we're willing to look at the situation realistically. Perhaps so is Comcast, which is said to be developing a new method to fight piracy that doesn't involve lawsuits. According to Variety, Comcast is in early talks with film and TV studios, as well as other leading Internet service providers (ISPs), about a technology that would give would-be pirates an opportunity to access legal versions of illegal downloads currently in progress. For example, let's say Joe Blow heads over to his favorite torrent...
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When Google first unveiled its 1Gbit fiber Internet service last summer, it seemed unlikely that such speeds would become common anytime soon. However, there was great hope that with Google's pressure, other ISPs would be pushed towards offering their own 1Gbit services. This past April, we did see some evidence of that, with AT&T promising to roll out its own 1Gbit service in the Austin, Texas area. Things don't stop there. It seems that some of the biggest ISPs are being seriously slow to catch onto the 1Gbit option, with Verizon charging a staggering $210 in some areas for a 300Mbit/s connection. The gotcha here is that the upload is 65Mbit/s (as someone with 0.5Mbit/s home upload, it...
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Whether or not Google launched its Google Fiber Internet service as a legitimate business venture or as a massive trolling measure to shake up the broadband market (as some believe), its effect has been evident in how ISPs are competing. Leveraging a partnership with the city of Seattle and its fiber optic network, Gigabit Squared (or “GB2”, for short) is rolling out “ultra high speed fiber” gigabit Internet service to several Seattle neighborhoods in 2014. The cost will be $80 per month, and with that subscription GB2 will waive the $350 construction fee. That’s $10 more per month than Google’s gigabit Internet plan, but it’s significantly less than...
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Look out, ADT and Vivint. Comcast is getting into the home security and control business, and it’s hitting the ground running, thanks to its Xfinity services. The new Xfinity Home Control provides remote access to your thermostat and lighting, not to mention video monitoring you can view from afar. Given the company’s position as a cable and Internet provider, it makes sense that Comcast would move into other home-related services that play off its strengths and technologies. a Comcast is kicking off its Xfinity Home Control service with a $99.95 starter kit that includes equipment. The service starts at $9.95. The EcoSaver service is also available for users looking to reduce their...
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Don't be fooled by the lukewarm reception to Comcast's share price following the company's first quarter 2013 financial results. The cable outfit killed it in Q1, posting a profit of $1.44 billion, or 54 cents a share, on combined revenues totaling $15.3 billion, up 2.9 percent compared to the same quarter a year. The cable company said it added 583,000 Video, High-Speed Internet, and Voice subscribers in Q1, representing a 3.2 percent increase in net additions compared to last year. Tallied up, there are now 51.9 million Comcast subscribers in the U.S., up 1.5 million or 3 percent over last year's first quarter. Image Source: Flickr (Mr. T in DC) "We are off to a solid start in 2013, with strong...
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