Far from being the first time Time Warner Cable has upset its subscriber base, the Los Angeles city attorney's office is pulling a Dee Snider and refusing to take the carrier's lackluster service anymore. In a 25-page lawsuit, the city is alleging that the operator "caused major havoc and distress" two years ago when it "failed to live up to its part of the franchise cable agreement requiring that a company answer subscribers' calls within 30 seconds and begin repairs of service interruptions within 24 hours of notification in 90% of its calls for service." The suit claims that no more than 60% of customer calls were answered in time, and cable / internet service was said to be "so intermittent and inferior in quality that it was not much better than no service at all." Not surprisingly, TWC representatives chose not to comment on the whole ordeal, but the outfit could face civil penalties of tens of millions of crisp US dollars in the case. Should've picked up the phone, TWC -- it would've been easier than picking up this tab. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

[Image courtesy of Web 2 Concepts, thanks Scott]

Shortly after hearing TiVo's top dog speak of a "whole home model" to reduce the amount of STBs required for entertaining individuals in various rooms, along comes Time Warner Cable's chief executive talking up some innovation of its own. We'll be frank -- we're not entirely sure what Glenn Britt is getting at here, but through a broken series of quotes, we're led to believe that the carrier is prepping some "equipment" that will easily bring internet content to TVs. Not like there isn't a perfect solution for this quandary already, but we digress. Specifically, he mentions a " new wireless cable modem that will allow you to network everything in your house," which is about as broad / vague as you can get. Nevertheless, it's enough to keep us watchin', though we can't say our expectations are extraordinarily high. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

[Via eHomeUpgrade]

Well, what do you know? Sometimes even the most repetitive of rumors finally comes true. Barely 12 hours after the Wall Street Journal reported that a deal between Sprint, Clearwire (and just about everyone) else was dangerously close to going down, it seems as if the bottom lines have indeed been signed. Details are pretty light at the moment, but we definitively know that Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. will be merging their "next-generation wireless broadband businesses to form a new wireless communications company." Quite simply, the new WiMAX-pushing outfit will be called Clearwire, even though Sprint will hold around 51-percent of the firm, while existing Clearwire shareholders will own 27-percent and the new investors will hold 22-percent. New investors? Ah yes, Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks will collectively invest $3.2 billion in the new company, but that figure is "based on a target price of $20 a share of Clearwire's common stock, and is subject to a post-closing adjustment."

[Via CNN]

You want to know -- nay, you deserve to know -- which service provides the most HD content. Engadget HD's got the answer, see how your HD provider stacks up.

We realize what day it is, but we're pretty certain the FCC isn't messing around on this one. Right on cue, regulators have "approved a rule that would ban exclusive agreements that cable television operators have with apartment buildings, opening up competition for other video providers that could eventually lead to lower prices." The move was apparently "unanimously approved," and Chairman Kevin Martin went on to say that there was simply "no reason that consumers living in apartment buildings should be locked into one service provider." Not surprisingly, a spokeswoman for Comcast proclaimed that "many consumers were likely to wind up paying more for services if the FCC's interference in the competitive marketplace stands," but it's fairly safe to assume Verizon and AT&T see things very differently.

Apartment dwellers frustrated with the outright lack of choices when it comes to selecting a content provider may soon be feeling relief, as the FCC is expected to approve a new rule that would "throw out exclusive cable television service contracts with apartment buildings and open up competition to phone companies." Supposedly, the new regulation "could significantly lower cable prices for millions of subscribers who live in apartment buildings and have had no choice in selecting a company for paid television," and of course, the execs at Verizon and AT&T are likely licking their chops at the notion of being able to steal away precious market share while potentially providing a cost savings to boot. Granted, some states already have provisions in place to prevent landlords and tenant associations from inking exclusive deals with cable providers, but for those currently stuck in a "take it or leave it" situation, all that could be changing in the very near future.

[Via AP / Yahoo]

While Time Warner Cable (partly owned by Time Warner, parent company of AOL, which owns Engadget) won't go down as the first cable company to modify the oh-so-lovable fast-forward feature, at least the latest hamstringing won't affect those willing to pay up. Dubbed "Look Back," the newfangled DVR feature will reportedly come "without a monthly fee," and will only allow customers to skip ahead and back in predetermined chunks of time; moreover, it will be limited to programs that are watched back before midnight of the day they air. The firm plans to test it out this October in South Carolina before "gradually introducing it around the country," and it was also noted that this -- along with the "Start Over" feature that functions exactly as it sounds -- would not require viewers to "remember to record programs," but alas, it also eliminates the ability to keep a library of stored content onboard. Ah well, so long as we diehard DVR users can keep on coughing up the dough required for a fully-functional FF button, we've no real qualms with this option joining the fray.

The seesaw match between DirecTV and Time Warner (parent company of AOL, which owns Engadget) over those blasted "superior HD" spots has reached another milestone, as a US appeals court has "upheld a lower court's decision that prohibits the satellite television operator from airing advertisements that claim superior service in markets where Time Warner Cable operates." Notably, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit did, however, "set aside part of the lower court's order, saying the way it had been worded could be construed to prohibit the unfavorable comparison of even Time Warner Cable's analog programming." Ah well, it's not like those ads were exceedingly enthralling to begin with, right?

Never before have we had so many options for getting HD content, but these marketing claims are getting out of control. DirecTV kicked it off at CES this year, claiming 100 national HD channels, then followed up with commercials just to make sure everyone got the word. The cable companies responded by suing, and now in what we can only call: if you can't beat em' join em', a Comcast exec announced that they will have 400 HD channels this year, and 800 in 2008. Never-mind the fact that there are nowhere near that many HD channels of available content, but 800 quality HD channels would take up almost 11 Gbps of throughput (using today's technology). So in order to make this work, we presume they will need to deploy Switched Digital Video, which is great and all, but renders every CableCARD device made today obsolete.

Just like it has in so many other instances, Fon has coaxed yet another company into signing the line, and this time it's Time Warner (parent company of AOL, which owns Engadget) taking the bait. While the two firms had been in talks for some time regarding a potential partnership, today the duo made things official by announcing that "Time Warner Cable subscribers could become Fon community members and create Fon access points via their home or business broadband connection." Additionally, "the same subscribers would enjoy free WiFi access around the world, wherever Fon has partner ISPs," but the bulk of said partners sadly aren't found on American soil. Still, you won't find us bickering about free internet access, but for those anxious to hear details about this endeavor, it sounds like they'll be testing your patience; there was no word as to how soon TWC customers would be able to join the Fon bonanza, but we're sure that bombarding your local office with these inquiries could get the ball rolling.

There's nothing like a warm, heartfelt lawsuit to really spread that holiday cheer, and we've got yet another battle in the courtroom about to get cranked up, and this time it's between rivals DirecTV and Time Warner. While TWC still can't claim the ability to offer the fledgling NFL Network on its cable systems, DirecTV felt the need to boast not only about its "superior coverage," but to also rub a little salt in Time Warner's wound by informing folks in NFL towns that games shown on the NFL Network "couldn't be seen" on Time Warner. Although the claims seem somewhat legitimate, Time Warner insists that "all eight games featured on the NFL Network will also be available to local fans over broadcast networks," which apparently wasn't the message being conveyed to pigskin-loving consumers. Regardless, DirecTV dug its hole a tad deeper by hiring Jessica Simpson to state that the firm's HD quality "beats cable," which is quite the laughable statement to anyone familiar with "HD Lite." In the end, however, we're sure the ads will be removed (or at least reworded), and the two firms will continue to bicker in future bouts, but what fun would it be if these two actually decided to get along, right?

[Via MultiChannel]