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Cox Cable launches personalized Contour experience with iPad app, 2TB 6 tuner DVR
Cox Cable is the latest pay-TV company to relaunch its viewing experience, putting features formerly branded as Trio and Cox TV Connect under the new Contour umbrella. Contour is the new name of its guide for TV and accompanying iPad app, all focused on creating a personalized experience for each user, with tailored suggestions and favorites for up to eight individual profiles. This comes along with the "Record 6" 6-tuner DVR, featuring 2TB of space for up to 300 hours of HD storage and whole home DVR support. The tablet app also allows for viewing live TV from 90 or so channels and video on-demand (while the user is at home), plus the ability to search listings and schedule DVR recordings, or push a program they're watching on the tablet to the TV. It even includes shortcuts to other TV apps on the device like HBO Go, ESPN or CNN. Much of the TV watching functionality has been available via the Cox TV Connect app which is still shipping for the iPad 1, Android, Mac and Windows platforms, although Contour is currently iPad and iOS 6-only. The Contour app is available for subscribers with most Cox TV or Contour TV service, plus Preferred Internet or higher, while the guide and DVR are out in all markets. Check after the break for a preview video of how it all works, or hit the links below to download the app or see if the service is available in your area. [Thanks, Tom]
The Daily Roundup for 06.03.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Cox TV Connect for Android launches, brings live TV streaming to 'select' tablets
We're still waiting to see Cox's next generation cable TV-to-mobile streaming app, but right now it's released a version of its existing Cox TV Connect app for Android. Available on iPads since the end of 2011 and on iPhone / iPod touch since the end of last year, it's finally made the trek to a "select" group of Android tablets, consisting of the Nexus 7 and Samsung Galaxy 2 / Galaxy Note slates. A support document also mentions Amazon's Kindle Fire family, however the app isn't in its store as of this posting. For those not familiar, it's a free app for subscribers that lets them watch a selection of live TV channels while connected to their home wireless network, and view listings anywhere. We'll be interested to see if the list of compatible (Android 4.0+) hardware grows quickly, or if users will need to wait for a port of the new app which adds personalization features tied into Cox's Trio DVR platform. Update: Cox has posted a press release for the new app which also confirms Kindle Fire support, while many readers in comments are saying it works on their (unlisted) devices. The press release is after the break, in the meantime if you have Cox service and an Android device not on this list, you can hit the source link and give it a shot.
Cox starts rolling out Trio tru2way guide software... somewhere
Somewhere, real customers are getting a taste of Cox's brand new guide software, as the company announced at the Cable Next-Gen video Strategies conference last week. It didn't say where -- if you've spotted an HD formatted tru2way DVR with multiroom features drop us a line and let us know how it's working -- but Light Reading reports it is taking the development "slowly" while everything is tested out. Expect to see a similar look stretching across other screens (like mobile devices, for example) but we should know more about all of that once the Trio guide and accompanying Plus Package services launch across all Cox markets later this year.
Cox 'Plus Package' brings advanced Trio UI, 500GB multiroom DVR and more HD channels
Cox is ready to make a major leap forward in its user interface -- goodbye SARA and Passport, we won't miss you -- with the newly developed "Plus Package" rolling out in limited areas during Q2 and throughout its service area by the end of the year. For the hardware Cox is bringing a Whole Home DVR solution to bear based on a Cisco 8642 HD/DVR with 500GB (3x more than the sizes currently offered) of storage, and MoCA-connected 1642 HD receivers, which are also necessary to tune to the new HD channels on the way delivered over Switched Digital Video (SDV) in the 860-MHz band. The star of the show however is the new "Trio" program guide (video embedded after the break), a 16:9 interface that spaces out program info over three panes -- channels on the left, programs in the middle, details on the right. TV programs can also be sorted grid-style, by themes, HD-only or favorite channels, while VOD lists titles, box art and detailed info in the three window style. There's personalization for up to eight members of a household, as well as TiVo-style suggestions and related programming searches based on metadata. An exec told Multichannel News the new tru2way-built software started by realizing that "our guides were, in fact, broken" and this all-new approach is a step towards fixing that. Besides the TiVos and Moxis of the world, other service providers with similar setups include DirecTV, FiOS, Dish Network and U-verse and while we'd definitely like to see that middle pane expanded a bit to show more of each title, Cox could be the first cable company offering a set-top box that actually competes with any of them. %Gallery-92661%
This is what you need to know: Brain Age 2 ads
Besides showing off new minigames from Brain Age 2, these five video advertisements are noteworthy for a couple of reasons: first, Nintendo has chosen to give their Dr. Kawashima mascot a voice that sounds distinctly like-- but isn't-- George Takei. Second, the backing music for these ads seems to be based on a sample of Trio's "Da Da Da." We don't have a problem with that; we just like "Da Da Da" and the famous Volkswagen commercial that featured it. And look at the excuse we just got to link to the video! Brain Age 2 is already improving our lives and we don't even have it yet.[Update: fixed stated number of ads.][Via GoNintendo]
DIY project turns an oscilloscope into a clock
While the highly-regarded Pong clock has long held the crown for most intriguing DIY clock, it looks like the leaderboard could be seeing a change. Frank Techniek's interesting oscilloscope conversion is yet another prime example of turning vintage (or otherwise idiosyncratic) kit into a modern day gadget, and the 20MHz TRIO that once read signal voltages for a living is now enjoying an unusually time consuming (ahem) retirement. Per usual, this expert-minded endeavor involved more circuitry, soldering, resistors, and time off than we have room to explain, but if you're interested in propping one of these up in your den, be sure to hit the read link for the nicely detailed bill of materials and assembly instructions.[Via MAKE]
BenQ reveals price, release window for BW1000 Blu-ray burner
So we finally got some solid release deets on BenQ's anticipated BW1000 3-in-1 Blu-ray burner (also known as the "Trio): it'll be coming out in late August, and set you back 799 euros, or a little over $1,000. As you'll recall, that grand is buying you an internal drive that writes to BD-R discs at 2x speed, to DVDs between 4x and 12x, and to CDs at 32x speed, while obviously playing back Blu-ray content at full 1,920 x 1,080 resolution as well. You're also getting the usual suite of features designed to dampen vibration and ensure data integrity, which will come in especially handy for folks who can't afford to be wasting those initially-expensive next-gen discs. Keep in mind, though, that this model won't be the only option available to you by the time it hits stores, so make sure to check out the supported formats and features on competing units from Pioneer, Samsung, Panasonic and Philips before you lay down all that cash.[Via Yahoo]
