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Time Warner claims it's the HD king of New York with 150 channels, StartOver
Time Warner's thrown down the HD gauntlet on Verizon FiOS in New York City, adding 25 HD channels and claiming that it's got the juice now, with all the HD games of the nine sports teams and NY1 in HD. Beyond the new additions -- including but not limited to good ones like Fox Soccer Channel, CSPAN networks, HBO and Showtime throw-ins, a few Viacom networks like Nick HD, CMT HD and VH1 HD, and the rather dubious four additional Big Ten HD feeds alongside Gol TV HD on the sports tier -- it also mentions Start Over is enabled on "more than 25 HD channels in the New York area" although it's not immediately clear which ones. Multichannel News reports Verizon's fired back that despite having a mere 133 HD channels, qualities like picture quality, widgets and VOD tilt things back its way. While they continue to do battle over the crown and those MSG sports networks, we're pretty sure plenty of New York watchers are just sitting back and enjoying some soccer, movies and routine government meetings in HD right now.
AT&T goes live with U-verse TV in Raleigh, NC area
Be still our hearts! The rumors were indeed true, and U-verse TV has at long last arrived in the Triangle to combat the monopoly that is Time Warner Cable. A breaking report from WRAL has it that the carrier is "offering its U-verse TV service as well as high-speed internet service in the Triangle," but fails to elaborate on specific service areas. We've heard from locals that Cary, NC will be one of the first locations with access, but until AT&T issues its own confirmation, it's hard to say for certain. Obviously, those who sign up will have access to Total Home DVR from day one, and we're told that packages will start at $44 per month. Reportedly, locals can ping local retail stores or head to the carrier's website to apply for access. In related news, TWC is said to be readying more HD channels as well as Start Over functionality and a feature that "allows you to watch shows you missed, up to 48 hours after the program originally aired." Funny -- we suspected that real competition was on the way when 20 some-odd high-def stations showed up on the cable company's lineup in late October. Guess that wasn't too far from the truth.[Via The Wolf Web, thanks Dave]
Buckeye Cable gearing up for HD VOD, Start Over-type service
Buckeye Cable, which serves upwards of 150,000 customers in the greater Toledo / Sandusky, Ohio area, is looking to make some pretty big changes. The carrier has just upgraded its SeaChange VOD infrastructure in order to "dramatically expand" its HD video-on-demand offerings, and on top of that, it's also hoping to launch a Start Over-type service to help those who notoriously show up late for their favorite show. Better still, the company is looking to expand its linear HD lineup by adding in 15 to 25 new ones over the next 9 to 12 months. Pretty big words for a "small" provider -- guess we'll have to wait and see if it delivers.
TWC looks to bring Start Over / Look Back, more HD to Orange County
For those parked in beautiful Orange County, California and wondering if Time Warner Cable is thinking of you, trust us, we feel your pain. Thankfully, competition has pressured the carrier into opening its eyes a bit, as a recent interview with the president of OC's Time Warner Cable operations has given folks in the area something to look forward to. For starters, subscribers can soon expect faster internet speeds all around, with "Power Boost" taking underutilized capacity and giving it to those who need an extra burst to suck down a large file. Additionally, users will finally see Caller ID on their TV, and best of all, Fred Stefany admitted that HD was a priority and that most areas should have upwards of 50 high-def channels before 2009. Finally, we're told that SDV, Start Over and Look Back are all coming within the next several months. Check the read link for the full writeup, and hang tight (if you can).
Concurrent updates Start Over timeshifting service
By now, if its available in your area you're probably familiar with Start Over, basically a network DVR letting people see the beginning of a TV show they might have missed. Of course, all of that's only useful if it actually works and captures everything, so Concurrent has announced its latest advance for the backend is the Real Time Pitcher 2000, using reliable multicast to ensure no loss of video capture due to network or component failures and give it the big five nines of reliability. We certainly wouldn't want anything less tha a 99.999% chance of catching the first five minutes of The Closer, would you?
Reminder: TWC's Start Over going live in New York / New Jersey
Something actually launching on the very day it was supposed to? Say it ain't so! According to the New York Post, Time Warner Cable actually is rolling out its Start Over feature -- which gives users a chance to "restart a show they may have missed from the beginning with the press of a button" -- in areas of New York / New Jersey on July 1st. Reportedly, it'll hit HD subscribers first in Staten Island, with other systems to follow shortly. It should be noted, however, that the feature will only be offered "up to one minute before the program is over, and as part of an agreement between Time Warner and broadcasters, unlike a DVR, viewers cannot fast forward through commercials." Give it a go here in a few hours and let us know how it turns out. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
Time Warner Cable drops HD bombshell on New York / New Jersey
Lookee here, it's all coming true. The bits we heard about a massive HD rollout coming to Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, NY (not to mention New Jersey) are now being confirmed by Time Warner Cable. On April 30th, the three previously highlighted areas will have access to 50 HD channels, while those very stations will be available to all digital subscribers in Manhattan (!!!), New Jersey, the Hudson Valley region and Mt. Vernon "later this year." Additionally, TWC is gearing up to add over 250 HD VOD options, launch Enhanced HDTV (which includes Start Over) and position itself "to carry 100 high-definition channels" in NY and NJ by the close of 2008. Progress is a wonderful thing, innit? Check the full list of upcoming HD channels in the read link. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
HD VOD atop list of changes coming to TWC New York / New Jersey
Just days after we learned of a few channel transformations coming up in the TWC New York / New Jersey markets, along comes word that quite a few other alterations are in the pipeline. For starters, HD VOD is slated to launch on May 15th in Staten Island (which currently has an "all digital" system), and other markets (Brooklyn / Queens, Manhattan, Hudson Valley and New Jersey) should receive the service before the end of Q3 2008. Additionally, Start Over and Quick Clips will reportedly be coming to all of the aforementioned systems on July 1st, but a soft launch is apt to sneak in a month prior. Still not enough? No worries -- Time Warner will also be busting out a new service dubbed Virtual Video Store, which will supposedly offer up a library of older movies for rent at just $1.99 apiece. Now, let's see if TWC delivers, shall we? [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
TWC expands Start Over service in high-def, inks deals for 53 HD channels
Look out, Comcast -- Time Warner Cable is loosing Start Over service in South Carolina, which will enable those in that division (along with six others) to restart high-definition shows that are already in progress. 'Course, the introduction here is a few months behind schedule, but apparently, the cable operator is planning to have the feature rolled out across all of its 23 divisions before 2009 dawns. Additionally, it's being reported that TWC has "deals in place to carry 53 HD channels, with agreements pending for another 20." As if that weren't enough, there's also plans to complement those offerings with even more HD VOD. Unsurprisingly, it seems as if the firm will be relying quite heavily on switched digital video (SDV) to free up the bandwidth for all this high-def goodness, and it's even hoping to go all digital in markets where "digital service penetration makes it relatively easy to polish off the transition." If you're one that handles teasing admirably, hit up the read link for even more foreshadowing. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
Comcast starts testing, deployment of "Start Over" service
Comcast has a timetable for its already-mentioned "Start Over" service, with plans to have it in place in select markets by the end of 2008. The service will allow customers who come late to an already-started program to restart viewing from the beginning of the content. Comcast is in talks with Time Warner Cable (partly owned by Time Warner, parent company of AOL, which owns Engadget) for licensing rights to the name "Start Over." But whatever the name ends up being, Comcast plans to start testing the service by the middle of 2008 and deploying to customers by January 1, 2009.
