Comcast cable-service provider announced that they’ll test an Internet-based television platform at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the coming months. The main theme behind this project is to change the TV viewing and stream movies and episodic programmes just like Apple TV, Amazon, Hulu and Netflix.
Comcast, founded in 1963, is the leading cable operator, home Internet service provider and the third largest home telephone service provider in the United States. They are providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both domestic and commercial customers. Comcast most popular service is “Xfinity“.
The basic concept of this project is to overcome traditional wired television experience and use only IP-based devices instead of fiber optics or Coaxial cable. This fall Comcast will test this project at MIT. By using this service, students at MIT can watch live shows on their PCs and TVs without any cables, over the campus network.
MIT is a one of the top research universities in the world located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. There are total 32 departments in the MIT and the majority of students are the part of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The most popular project of MIT is the development of “Microwave Radar” for Great Britain in 1940.
Later this year, Comcast will expand the testing of new TV-over-IP technology to Comcast employees. This service will allow the Comcast employees to watch live television using a small box that can connect to the Internet-enabled device like computer, iPad or Xbox gaming console.
The main goal of the Comcast is to provide video services to the users on IP-capable consumer electronics devices that are flooding in the market. According to the executives of the Comcast, the reason of this project is to deliver television services to IP-based devices. “We want to deliver video everywhere people want to watch it,” said Comcast’s Sam Schwartz, president of converged products. “We have to do a better job getting people to realize what they are paying us for.”
With this new IP architecture, Comcast users can easily update the features in a way they like. This technology is more cost effective and provides flexibility to the user plans. Also users can access any content from web using the Comcast interface – like videos from Youtube and Facebook. Plus users can sent a message to Facebook or Twitter by pressing a button.
In case Comcast’s new technology becomes real, it could take place of set-top unit (STU). STU is a device that enables a television set to become a user interface to the Internet and also enables a television set to receive and decode digital television (DTV) broadcasts.
Currently, Comcast is testing “Xcalibur“, which includes a new unique user interface based on Internet standards to provide more usability, in Augusta, Ga. Xcalibur includes a universal search engine to find content on live TV, on Comcast VOD service or recorded on their digital video recorders. According to Schwartz, the goal of Xcalibur was “to take everything we’ve learned from the Web and tablets and bring it right back to your TV screen.”
Read more: Wall Street Journal
