Archive for the 'switched video' Tag
October 28th, 2009, 2:31 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
 Cox Cable will begin testing this week a brand new Motorola device to help TiVo users access all the TV channels Cox offers.
A small handful of customers have been clamoring for such a device for months after realizing that they couldn’t get all the channels and video-on-demand options other customers do.
This only affects customers who use TiVos and CableCARDs, a small device that slides into a TiVo (or some computers and TVs) so the customer can skip the bulky set-top box. Customers with TiVos and set-top boxes are not affected.
According to Cox spokeswoman Lana Ong, TiVo has already pre-selected 50 Orange County customers to participate in the test. If all goes well, Cox will offer the free adapter to any customer sometime in late November.
I mentioned this Motorola test in early September (see “Cox O.C. will be first to test TiVo adapters from Motorola“). The test was scheduled to start in September but was postponed when Cox rolled out new video-on-demand software instead (see earlier story, “Cox fix for TiVo users delayed“ Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Video & TV • beta • Cox • Cox Cable • Motorola • on demand • Rancho Santa Margarita • switched digital • switched digital video • switched video • TiVo | 4 Comments »
September 25th, 2009, 12:02 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
 The local Cox Communication delayed plans this week to be the first company wide to roll out the first Motorola- TiVo adapters. Cox was busy unveiling new software for its video-on-demand service. Cox now hopes to offer the TiVo device in Orange County before the end of the year.
That leaves some TiVo users without access to on-demand movies and shows, plus any channel that has been turned into an on-demand channel.
Because of a change in technology, TiVo users who rely on CableCARDs are unable to request on-demand shows without this adapter. This change doesn’t affect TiVo users who have a set-top box from the cable provider.
Cable companies are moving to the new switched digital video technology in order to use the pipe to a customer’s home more efficiently. By reducing the number of nominal channels streamed 24/7, a cable company can add new high-definition channels to the stream. The other channels are still there, but only broadcast when requested by the subscriber. To watch those, a TiVo user with a CableCARD will need this new adapter.
“We’ve maxed out on bandwidth,” said Lana Ong, spokeswoman for the Rancho Santa Margarita cable provider.
Earlier stories on TiVo and switched digital technology:
Posted in: Video & TV • CableCARD • Cox • Cox Cable • Cox Communications • DVR • Rancho Santa Margarita • switched digital • switched digital video • switched video • TiVo | 16 Comments »
September 23rd, 2009, 6:56 am by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
 News that Time Warner Cable picked BigBand Networks to provide switched digital video technology means one major thing for cable customers: More high definition channels are coming sooner than later.
The Redwood City-based BigBand announced its new cable customer in a press release. BigBand will handle Time Warner’s Los Angeles operation, which includes Orange County. BigBand is also deploying switched digital video in Time Warner’s New York and Dallas systems.
Cable TV companies have limited space to stream channels 24/7 in the cable line that feeds TV directly to a customer’s house. Switched digital video allows the cable company to turn some of those channel streams into a video-on-demand channel, which frees up space to add more HD channels or other new content.
Orange County’s former president of Time Warner operations mentioned this was coming last year. But so far, the technology has not been implemented here. Time Warner has been testing this in San Fernando Valley.
So far, the only customers that will be affected by the change are those with TiVos and CableCARDs. See my past stories about what to do if you’re in this situation:
In a press release, Time Warner says technology has allowed the company to offer over 100 HD channels to customers, plus more HD Video on demand, said Kevin Leddy, Time Warner Cable’s executive vice president of technology policy and product management.
“We have launched (switched digital video) in over 20 markets to date and know firsthand that, if we want to deploy new programming options for our customers, SDV is the fastest, most cost effective method for our existing network,” he said. ”With the bandwidth that has been reclaimed Time Warner Cable is able to offer over 100 high definition channels to our customers …”
Can anyone guess what those 100 channels are?
Here’s a look at what the HD channels currently offered in Huntington Beach: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Video & TV • BigBand • BigBand Networks • HD channels • huntington beach • switched digital • switched digital video • switched video • Time Warner Cable | 16 Comments »
September 2nd, 2009, 1:23 am by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
Some local Cox subscribers got a nasty surprise when the cable provider unleashed a slew of new HD channels last month: They couldn’t view them.
That was the case of reader Lori Belski, a Cox customer and TiVo user who wrote to me voicing frustration with Cox’s lack of customer service about her issue.
What happened is that Cox is using a different technology to offer the new HD channels. The “switched digital video” technology turns content into on-demand channels so instead of a regular broadcast stream, the stream starts only at the customer’s request. Once requested, these “switched” channels should appear as normal channels. Most Cox subscribers probably didn’t notice the difference because Cox’s equipment can handle the two-way communication needed.
TiVo boxes equipped with special Cox CableCARDs, however, cannot. CableCARDs are one-way communicators and need an adapter to make requests. Cox currently offers no adapters.
Well, there’s good news and bad news. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Video & TV • Cox • Cox Cable • Cox HD • switched digital • switched digital video • switched video • TiVo | 25 Comments »
July 30th, 2009, 3:24 am by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
 After writing about a new cable TV service that could render TiVos useless, a reader wondered, what about TiVo and AT&T U-verse, a highly-desired alternative to cable?
Unfortunately, AT&T’s Internet-based TV service U-verse doesn’t support TiVo either. Like the cable companies who are rolling out switched digital video, U-verse uses the same two-way communication technology (see the earlier story, “More HD channels coming to cable TV, TiVo users impacted“).
Such technology allows a TV company to make the most of limited video capacity. By converting the least popular channels into on-demand only, there is more room in the live broadcast stream for high-definition channels. This requires two-way communication since a user must request a channel or on-demand movie that isn’t streaming live.
TiVos that use a CableCARD to get video service are one-way communication devices and can’t request the on-demand movies or any channels that moved to switched digital video. Those channels will appear missing. The cable companies plan to provide adapters when the service rolls out here in Orange County.
But not AT&T. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Video & TV • AT&T U-Verse • CableCARD • switched digital • switched digital video • switched video • TiVo • U-Verse | 8 Comments »
July 23rd, 2009, 3:35 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
If you’re a Time Warner Cable customer and you spot this on your TV:
… you can start getting excited. This blue screen of annoyance is a sign of new features to come.
 Besides the debatable improvement in the program guide, the new Mystro Navigator software, which replaces Passport software in Time Warner’s Scientific Atlanta boxes, paves the way for the “Look Back,” “Start Over” and switched digital video, all features that Time Warner mentioned to us last year.
These features will let viewers watch a TV show they didn’t record for a day or two after its initial broadcast, or restart a show if you tune in after it already began. Time Warner, essentially, is upgrading its on-demand service and creating a networked DVR, allowing for some shows to be stored at the company’s offices rather than the home DVR box itself. Though there are unwanted consequences for some users (see earlier story, “More HD channels coming to cable TV, TiVo users impacted“), this also means customers will get a massive on-demand library of current TV shows they can view at the touch of their remote.
“It’s going to create a system for bandwidth to open up for more HD channels and it’s going to prepare us for the services we’re going to be introducing, Start Over and Look Back,” said Darryl Ryan, a Time Warner Cable spokesman.
Exactly when? Ryan doesn’t know or he won’t say. He’ll only say, “It’s still in development and should be coming very very soon.” But when we first learned that the features were coming, Time Warner gave us a mid-2009 launch date (strum fingers repeatedly).
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Video & TV • DVR • look back • Mystro • start over • switched digital • switched digital video • switched video • Time Warner Cable | 13 Comments »
July 3rd, 2009, 7:58 am by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
Sooner than later, Orange County cable TV customers may notice a lot more high-definition channels.
This is not an easy task, by the way. Cable providers have struggled to offer more HD channels because their aging systems are near capacity. Now, thanks to new technology called switched digital video, they have figured out how to get more room: Stop broadcasting every single channel 24/7.
By turning some of the least popular channels into on-demand channels, cable companies can use that newly opened space to squeeze in more HD channels. Channels that do go switched digital are still accessible. But there may be a slight delay after turning to that channel, as the cable box sends the request back to the main station. The delay should be just a split second and unnoticeable to viewers, the cable companies say.
But one reader from Yorba Linda, who uses a CableCARD and TiVo to watch cable TV, alerted me that some switching might be going on in his neighborhood. He woke up one day to find very few channels showing up on his TV — Food TV yes, but not the HD version; no Bravo and absolutely no HBO. A Time Warner customer service representative mentioned to him the cable provider was switching to this new technology.
I checked with both local cable companies — Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications — and both plan to implement this technology. But Time Warner has not yet. Cox, however, is testing it out in Orange County. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Video & TV • CableCARD • Cox • Cox Cable • DVR • switched digital • switched digital video • switched video • Time Warner Cable • TiVo | 12 Comments »
October 28th, 2008, 7:21 am by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
This is the second in a 3-part series of posts. Read the first at “Time Warner still cleaning up cable merger mess in O.C.” and third part at “Time Warner’s new HD channels and why Costa Mesa, Tustin get them first.“
A meeting with the president of Orange County’s Time Warner Cable operation resulted in more than just a tour for myself and learning why Time Warner prices are all over the O.C. map.
Fred Stefany told me about these new features that are coming soon to Orange County residents:
Faster Internet - High-speed Internet users will see an increase in speeds, from 6 megabits per second to 10 Mbps by June 2009.
PowerBoost - Similar to what Cox already offers its customers, PowerBoost takes underutilized Internet capacity and gives high-speed Internet customers an extra burst of speed when they need it like when they’re downloading files. Speeds will be up to 22 megabits per second. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Video & TV • cable tv • DVR • Fred Stefany • HD channels • high-speed Internet • switched digital • switched digital video • switched video • Time Warner Cable | 12 Comments »
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Tamara 'the Gadgetress' Chuang
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