Clearwire, Comcast, and Sprint To Roll Out 4G In Select Markets Starting Next Month

If you weren't among the lucky ones in a market with 4G being offered already, there's good news. Clearwire, Comcast, and Sprint will begin 4G sales in the Philadelphia area over the next few weeks with Chicago and Tacoma following in November. There'll be no Comcast for Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh, North Carolina; Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth and San Antonio, Texas folks, but they'll be able to purchase 4G service from Sprint and Clearwire around the same time with Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii following in early December. Your city still isn't listed? Yeah, mine either. [Clearwire]

Let's Look At Credit Score Rankings by Email Domains

Ranking the highest according to a sample of 20,000 credit scores and their corresponding email addresses are BellSouth and Comcast, with Gmail trailing right behind. Reasonable enough, but what's AOL doing anywhere but at the bottom? [Mashable]

Comcast Is Buying Up NBC Universal

Comcast and GE are in the "midst of due diligence" for a deal that would give a Comcast 51 percent stake in NBC Universal, and GE 49 percent. It would merge with its own cable networks. The sticking point, for now, is Vivendi's 20 percent stake and its asking price of $6.3 billion. But, since GE and Comcast both "appear to favor" the deal, we can still probably expect 30 Rock cracks about having Comcastic days next season. [WSJ]

Gmail, Yahoo, and Comcast Users Also Caught in Web Mail Phishing Scam

As you may have heard, about 10,000 Hotmail passwords were leaked online yesterday, and that list only started with the letters A and B. At that rate, over 100,000 users could have been lured into giving their passwords to fake Websites. Now the BBC says it's seen a list on the same Website that had more than 20,000 email accounts—this time with addresses from Gmail, Yahoo, Comcast, Earthlink, and AOL. More »

Not Many People Use Standalone CableCards

By law, cable operators must offer standalone CableCards, used in everything from TVs to HTPCs to Tivos, to encourage competition with and choice beyond standard, clunky settop boxes. But not all that many people take advantage of the policy. More »

Comcast to FCC: FUZZOFF!

FCC's Julius Genachowski just took out his mighty sword to kill internet providers' greed-driven traffic filtering, and the fat cats are already attacking. A Comcast fat cat named David L. Cohen, who of course is playing the FUD card. More »

Comcast's New 100Mbps Cable Service Edges Us Closer to Japan-Level Broadband, Sort Of

Comcast just launched a new high-speed 100Mbps cable service in Minneapolis and St. Paul, making it the second provider to offer next-level speeds to a small market for a crazy price. More »

US Broadband Providers Seek Excuses to Continue Sucking

US broadband is slower than many other countries, and our broadband providers want it to stay that way. They're pushing for standards in the FCC's definition of "broadband" that are over 350 times slower than Japan's speeds. More »

Comcast Could Be Quietly Preparing Plan to Control Pipes and Content

Tea leaf-reading analysts are speculating this afternoon that Comcast is currently hoarding cash as part of an effort to revisit its 2003 spending spree days. You remember 2003, right? That was the year Comcast made a brash $54 billion bid for Disney. More »

Comcast's iPhone App Does More Than TV Listings

This is how you make a services app: Besides the obvious TV guide listings, Comcast's mobile app gives you integrated access to your Comcast email, voicemail and missed calls and lets you sync iPhone's address book. More »

Google on How to Change the Internet: You Should Own Your Broadband Pipes

Google policy analyst Derek Slater—who's so obviously related to Christian Slater—explains how to reshape broadband in the US. Step one: Own the actual pipes that run to your house. More »

Suck It, Fiber: America's Fastest Internet 101Mbps Delivered by Cablevision

Holy. I knew the fruits of cable's fiber-fast DOCSIS 3.0 standard would be delicious, but this is incredible: Cablevision's going to sell the fastest internet in the US next month: 101 blazing megabits per second. More »

Exposing Your Junk To The Comcast Guy Will Not Get You Free Cable, Only Jail Time

Here is my life lesson for today: no matter how excited you are to get your internet service fixed, do not expose yourself to the Comcast guy. I can't stress that enough. More »

Adobe Aggressively, Officially Promoting Flash For HDTVs, DVRs

To date, Adobe's efforts to push Flash to TVs have passed mostly under the radar, and haven't netted many actual products. This is about to change, according to a forthcoming announcement from the company. More »

Customer Satisfaction Survey Scores: Apple's Good, Dell's Bad, All ISPs Are Abysmal

In a survey of customer satisfaction, the computer industry as a whole scored pretty badly, with Apple the marginal best out of a not-so-thrilling bunch. The worst sector, however, was ISPs, which seem universally loathed. More »

Time Warner Monthly Data Caps Spread Beyond Texas

Texas may be great, but it could not contain Time Warner's HD video-killing monthly broadband data caps, which have now spread beyond its borders. More »

Your ISP Hates You: They're Probably Working With RIAA

Remember how the RIAA was getting ISPs to help battle copyright infringers after they gave up lawsuits, and AT&T was all "no comment"? Now AT&T confirms they're working with the RIAA. UPDATED. More »

Comcast Bundling WiMax With Cable

Comcast owns some of Clearwire, and so they're going to bundle Clearwire's wireless 4g WiMax network with cable services soon. It'll be in Portland first, by midyear. If it does well, I have no doubt it'll reach the rest of us Comcastards. [Oregonlive]

Sony Style Comcast Labs, a Joint Retail Store, Opens Tomorrow In Philly

Watch out Apple! Sony is clearly gunning for a chunk of your stylish retail business by partnering with a name known for its popularity amongst customers and its excellent support and services: Comcast. Updated. More »

Comcast Really, Really Wants You to Love Them Again

Comcast, which most people consider the worst company on the face of the earth (well, before AIG and friends stepped up) really wants you to love them again. I mean, watch this Juno-esque commercial. More »

Time Warner Ditches Cable Co, Pledges TV Shows Everywhere

Just after Time Warner announced its spin-off of Time Warner Cable, CEO Jeff Bewkes is saying he wants paying customers to get their favorite shows via whatever means they prefer: Cable, computer or phone. More »

Online Cable Debate Heats Up As Execs Embrace Streaming Tech, Bicker About Programming Model

Even as the cable companies seemingly embrace online cable programming, there seem to be as many unanswered questions today regarding this new path as there are answers. More »

Comcast Cable Guys Save Elderly Woman From Burning Home

Sure, they might sometimes fall asleep on your couch (or your bed), but Comcast guys aren't all bad. Two Cape Cod Comcast repairmen ran into a burning house and saved an 88-year-old woman. More »

Comcast Apologizing for Super Bowl Porn with $5 Discount?

Everybody has a price, even to let their kids watch a waggling penis during the Super Bowl. But I think that price is more than $5, Comcast. More »

Prank of the Year: Comcast Tucson Airs Graphic Porn During Super Bowl (NSFW)

Tucson, Arizona was probably not the best place to watch the game last night. Partly because of the disappointing result, but mostly because of the huge, flapping penis. More »

AT&T and Comcast Agree to Do the RIAA's Dirty Work

Sure, the RIAA has given up on lawsuits, but it's got an even better trick: ISPs will do their dirty work for them. Not surprisingly, AT&T and Comcast stepped right up, says CNET. UPDATED. More »

Inside the Mind of the Dark Lord of Broadband, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts

If you didn't catch this month's delightfully ad-light issue of Wired, check out their profile of "the Dark Lord of broadbrand," Comcast CEO Brian Roberts. His calm demeanor reminds me of Palpatine, the Chancellor. [Wired]

Comcast's Internet Slowdown System Fully Armed and Operational (and Avoidable)

Comcast's bandwidth throttling system that slows you down for using too much bandwidth is now fully armed and operational in all markets. Here's how it works, and how to not get stuck on the short bus. More »

Congress Says FCC Chairman Abused Power, Played Favorites with Verizon

What's up with corrupt politicians this week? Congress just filed a 110-page report on FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's "egregious abuses of power," documenting his favoritism for companies, and possibly impropriety with some, like Verizon.

Comcast Usage Meter Coming in January to Help Users Avoid Data Cap Overages

If you are a Comcast subscriber that worries about exceeding the 250GB data cap, I have some good news. A usage meter is in the works that will help you avoid this problem. More »

Comcast Gives Away Free HDMI Cables (If You Ask)

A Comcast cable guy just told me that if you go to swap out your composite or component DVR/cable box for an HDMI-friendly one, and you specifically ask for an HDMI cable, they'll give you one at no charge. It's not super long, but it should do the trick in most cases. Even if you don't need one, it never hurts to ask while you're there, at least as long as the retail cartel is selling HDMI at 9000% markup to make up for lost TV profits. [Thanks, Cable Guy!] Update: Some people tell me that this isn't the case in their region. I say it's still worth trying, but don't be shocked if the person behind the counter laughs at you for imagining that the cable company gave anything away for free.

Comcast Tests New P2P Protocol, Nearly Doubles Download Speeds

Here's something you don't expect to see: Comcast taking part in a test of new P4P file sharing protocol that offers up greatly increased speeds. And they actually want to make its use widespread. What's the catch here? More »

Comcast Offering New 22Mbps and 50Mbps Speed Tiers, Upgrading Existing Service

Comcast has announced that they have upgraded their DOCSIS 3.0 service to offer new high-speed 22Mbps/5Mbps and 50Mbps/10Mbps options. They have also increased the speed along standard tiers: 6Mbps/1Mbps will be upgraded to 12Mbps/2Mbps and 8Mbps/2Mbps will be increased to 16Mbps/2Mbps—both at no cost to subscribers. The "Ultra" 22Mbps plan will run for $63 while the "Extreme 50" 50Mbps plan will hit for $140. Unfortunately, the new service will be available only in the New England area intially—including Boston, Philadelphia, and parts of New Hampshire and New Jersey. The goal is to expand the service nationwide in the near future. More »

Panasonic Tru2Way CableCard TVs Launch in Chicago and Denver

It looks like consumers in Chicago and Denver will have the privilege of being the first to get their hands on Panasonic's new tru2way-enabled VIERA HDTVs. Basically, true2way is a new type of CableCARD that will deliver interactive features to cable subscribers without the need for a cable box. More »

Comcast Sues FCC to Get P2P Slowdown Ban Reversed

Comcast has sued the FCC to overturn its order to stop slowing down P2P traffic, as was widely predicted. Even though they're fighting to have the FCC's ruling reversed, it's actually not so they can go back to mucking your P2P funtime—no, they're already way down the road of slowing down heavy users' entire connection to DSL speed for up to 20 minutes, with data caps beginning in October. More »

Comcast's Video Download Store Is Wholly Unremarkable

Comcast's internet video site, Fancast, used to be a place to check out Hulu clips and waste away your data cap along with your brain. Now it's a place to buy and rent full-length movies a la Amazon Unbox or iTunes to play on your Windows PC (and up to two other authorized computers). Filled with the same $3.99 rentals and $13ish purchases, we wouldn't be writing about this service if Comcast weren't behind it...hopefully with plans to improve things down the line. [Fancast via Zatz Not Funny]