cable
Latest
Comcast starts squeezing 2 Gbps symmetrical internet speeds through decades-old coaxial cables
Comcast customers can soon get upload and download speeds of up to 2 Gbps even if they don't have a fiber connection at their home.
Comcast raises speeds for most of its Xfinity internet plans
Comcast has raised speeds for most of its Xfinity cable internet plans, but the competition isn't standing still.
Streaming viewership surpasses cable TV for the first time in the US
Viewership of streaming TV overtook cable for the first time in July — it's no longer the underdog.
Apple patent filing describes a charging cable that doesn't fray
Shredded Lightning cable casings may soon be a thing of the past.
Law bars ISPs from charging rental fees for a modem you own
A law taking effect December 20th prevents your ISP from charging rental fees for modems and other boxes you own.
Apple's braided Thunderbolt 3 cable costs $129
Apple has started selling a high-end certified 40 Gbps Thunderbolt cable that’s either a real bargain or ridiculously expensive, depending on your point of view. The braided $129 Thunderbolt 3 Pro Cable supports not only Thunderbolt 3 connections, but also DisplayPort video, USB 3.1 Gen 2 data transfers up to 10 Gbps and 100 watt charging.
Broadcom lawsuit blames your Netflix habit for a drop in chip sales
Broadcom's success still depends in part on selling chips for cable set-top boxes, and it's apparently upset that TV viewers are headed elsewhere. The company has sued Netflix for allegedly violating eight patents covering data transfer and video playback, and that the streaming service is profiting from that claimed infringement by encouraging cord-cutting and hurting Broadcom's chip sales. In other words, it believes your Witcher marathon hurt its bottom line.
Altice One brings its cable lineup to Apple TV
Altice One's cable offerings are now available on Apple TV 4K. Optimum and Suddenlink subscribers can access their favorite cable content directly through the Altice One app on Apple TV 4K. This is good news if you want to watch TV beyond your official box, and it offers a few added perks, like the ability to search Altice One programming via voice controls on the Siri Remote.
CBS All Access is coming to Xfinity X1 and Flex set-top boxes
If you're an Xfinity subscriber, you'll soon have another way to watch Star Trek: Picard when it premiers later this month. Comcast says it's adding CBS All Access to its Xfinity X1 and Xfinity Flex boxes later this year. The telecom and ViacomCBS announced the move as part of a renewed content carriage agreement that allows Comcast to continue transmitting 23 CBS-owned stations in 15 markets across the US.
Amazon Prime arrives on cable-provided TiVo boxes
There's no such thing as regular ol' TV anymore. There's cable and satellite, and a seemingly endless selection of streaming services and content platforms, so clicking around your options can be a bit time consuming and clunky. But TiVo is trying to streamline the process. From today, Amazon Prime members will be able to access Prime Video content directly through their TiVo box. Sitting alongside other video streaming apps already offered by TiVo, the Prime Video app will also include select 4K Ultra HD and HDR content, as well as behind-the-scenes exclusives for top movies and TV shows. Find it through TiVo's OneSearch function.
Google’s Curie undersea cable now connects the US and Chile
Curie, a 10,500-kilometer-long undersea cable, now connects Google data centers in the US and Chile. Today, Google announced that the fiber optic cable has been successfully installed and tested. It is expected to begin transmitting data in the second quarter of 2020, and Google is already working on a branch into Panama.
HBO Max will cost $14.99, and is a free upgrade to HBO Now subscribers
After two hours of listing content for the new HBO Max service and showing how its apps work, execs revealed the price when it launches in May next year will be $14.99 per month. If you're an AT&T customer with HBO, then it will be included for free, while TV, mobile and internet bundle customers will also get free access. You'll sign in with the same AT&T credentials used for your other accounts, and it will preload the app on AT&T Android phones.
Comcast sues Maine over a law requiring a-la-carte cable offerings
Cord cutting may seem like the new norm, but plenty of people still pay for cable TV. That doesn't mean they're happy with it though. This summer, in response to complaints that customers had to purchase an entire cable package just to watch one or two channels, Maine passed a law requiring cable companies to offer channels a-la-carte. Now, Comcast and a handful of cable operators, including Fox, CBS and Disney, are suing Maine and 17 municipalities to prevent the law from going into effect.
TiVo's leaked Edge DVR touts Dolby HDR and Atmos audio
TiVo is apparently renewing its efforts to serve cord-cutters. Zatz Not Funny has obtained snapshots of an Arris-made TiVo Edge DVR that would cater to both the streaming crowd and cable TV diehards in equal measure. It wouldn't be as flamboyant as the oddly-shaped Bolt (you can finally stack things on top!), but it would be loaded with 4K, Dolby Atmos audio and Dolby Vision HDR to stream services like Netflix and Prime Video in maximum quality.
CBS and Viacom agree to sign $30 billion merger deal
CBS and Viacom have reached a long-rumored merger agreement. The two companies announced today that they will reunite as ViacomCBS. According to The Wall Street Journal, CBS and Viacom hope that, together, they'll be better positioned to fight against cable TV competition and streaming services.
T-Mobile's streaming TV service will include Viacom channels
T-Mobile hasn't given up on its plans to introduce a TV service. Rumors circulated that the company would launch a TV offering in 2018, and while that clearly didn't happen, it looks like we might actually see it this year. Today, T-Mobile and Viacom announced a content distribution agreement that will bring Viacom's channels -- including MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET and Paramount -- to T-Mobile's "uncarrier" TV service.
Streaming subscriptions overtook cable in 2018
Cable companies have been nervous about streaming services for a while, but now they have a particularly good reason to be jittery. An MPAA report citing IHS Markit data has shown that there were more subscriptions worldwide to online video services (613.3 million) than there were for cable (556 million) in 2018, reflecting a 27 percent jump in streaming over 2017. Cable subscriptions dropped two percent in that period. IP-based TV overtook satellite, too, indicating a larger overall shift to the digital realm.
DVRs aren't the ad-killer everyone thinks
Time-shifting set-top boxes from the likes of TiVo are often referred to as "ad-skipping technology," but apparently that's not quite the case. People that use the devices apparently watch the same number of ads that they did before getting the tech and watch the same amount of live TV, according to a new study. Overall, users do watch a bit more TV, but their viewing habits don't really change all that much.
Cord cutting has grown by 50 percent in the last eight years
A new Nielsen study has found that the number of cord cutters in the US has grown by 48 percent over the past eight years. Apparently, 16 million homes no longer have traditional cable or satellite TV subscriptions, which means 14 percent of all households with TVs in the US exclusively watch over-the-air programming. That's still a relatively small percentage overall, but it shows a trend that could grow even more over time. Those 16 million homes are divided into two groups: one consists of older folks who mainly rely on their antenna, while the other is composed of tech-savvy younger people with subscriptions to streaming services.
Charter launches its zero sign-on Spectrum app for Apple TV
Charter just completed the other half of its zero sign-on puzzle. The cable giant has launched its delayed Spectrum app for Apple TV, giving you access to both live programming and on-demand shows without having to enter your credentials. If you set up the app while you're connected to Spectrum broadband service, it'll use tvOS 12's smarter authentication to sign in you in automatically -- you can focus on watching instead of remembering your password. There's Siri support, too, so you just have to speak to tune into a given channel.
