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internet
net neutrality
Dems Launch Net Neutrality Bill, GOP Says "Hands Off the Poor ISPs!"
Yesterday on Capitol Hill, two Democratic representatives introduced a House bill that would require broadband ISPs to "interconnect with the facilities of other network providers on a reasonable and nondiscriminatory basis." It also requires them to treat all content, applications and services as the same, with "equal opportunity to reach consumers," says an IDG story in the New York Times. Any ISPs who start messing around with packets could be subject to antitrust enforcement. Republicans weren't so happy with the bill. More »
design
Tangled Wires are Ugly, But What About Tangled Wire Lamps?
Exposed cables can be downright hideous or damn near artistic depending on the situation. Apparently, when South Korean designer Kwangho Lee sees a mess of tangled wires, he thinks "art." The concept behind these "lamp sculptures" was to strip lights down to the bare essentials and weave the exposed cable into intricate designs. Whether the final result can be considered art is a matter of opinion—but I can tell you that I won't be hanging one of these in my apartment anytime soon. [MoCo Loco via Gearfuse]
comcast
GigaOm is reporting that Comcast has created its own wireless division and is bringing the pieces together to jump into the wireless biz to offer quadruple play bundle competition (TV, landline, internet, wireless) against Verizon and AT&T. Speculation is that they could buddy up with a WiMax deal, or flat-out buy Sprint (more likely) or T-Mobile (less likely). Usually more competition is more better, but not sure what'll come out of this Pandora's box. I'm sure the FCC will love it though. Update: A tipster tells us that the wireless move will be under their Fancast brand, which is currently the name of their online video site. Smart, avoids the negative Comcast connotations. [GigaOM]
Comcast Entering the Wireless Biz to Take on Verizon and AT&T
GigaOm is reporting that Comcast has created its own wireless division and is bringing the pieces together to jump into the wireless biz to offer quadruple play bundle competition (TV, landline, internet, wireless) against Verizon and AT&T. Speculation is that they could buddy up with a WiMax deal, or flat-out buy Sprint (more likely) or T-Mobile (less likely). Usually more competition is more better, but not sure what'll come out of this Pandora's box. I'm sure the FCC will love it though. Update: A tipster tells us that the wireless move will be under their Fancast brand, which is currently the name of their online video site. Smart, avoids the negative Comcast connotations. [GigaOM]
4:59 PM on Wed Apr 23 2008
By matt buchanan
4,015 views,
31 comments
Latest by SneakerFiend: Its way more likely that they will bundle up with sprint. Comcast is about speed (according to them) and well EV-DO on sprint's network being run off of the mogul is super fast. And didnt comcast in the past want to buddy more »
cable
Leaky signals from badly-installed AT&T U-Verse systems are squeezing up into the cable network and degrading broadband performance for others on some nodes, according to Comcast. About 40 cases of the problem have been reported since AT&T began supplying U-Verse in the Chicago area, with about 17,000 Comcast customers being affected. And though at first it sounds a bit like a schoolyard tussle, AT&T's lack of response has led Comcast to seek a restraining order from a court in Illinois.
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AT&T's U-Verse Screwing With Network Says Comcast
Leaky signals from badly-installed AT&T U-Verse systems are squeezing up into the cable network and degrading broadband performance for others on some nodes, according to Comcast. About 40 cases of the problem have been reported since AT&T began supplying U-Verse in the Chicago area, with about 17,000 Comcast customers being affected. And though at first it sounds a bit like a schoolyard tussle, AT&T's lack of response has led Comcast to seek a restraining order from a court in Illinois.
More »
cable
CableLabs Responds to CableCard Screwjob Allegation
The good folks at CableLabs replied to today's piece about CableCard customers getting screwed out of HD channels. To their credit, they did not ask for a correction, because we didn't print anything inaccurate (though they do claim the HD Guru may have). They just wanted us to consider some "clarifications," arguments that go far to highlight the tension (hatred bordering on violence?) that exists between Big Cable and the consumer-electronics companies. The short version: Cable content is always changing, two-way CableCard exists in theory if not at Best Buy, the dongle could work on anything with a USB port and upgradeable firmware, and, oh yeah, you'll probably be buying all-new gear before this thing blows over. Jump for a more spelled out—but still excerpted—version of CableLabs' rebuttal argument: More »
cable
Our friend Gary Merson, the HD Guru, has uncovered an issue that may soon piss you off. Cable customers who use the current CableCard to decode signal directly in their TV, a TiVo or Windows Media Center PC may soon start losing HD channels because of a change in technology. To conserve bandwidth, cable carriers are moving from a direct stream of video to "switched digital video," which use two-way digital cable boxes to see what customers need then send it to them. CableCards are only one-way, so they can't make use of any SDV coming down the pipes. What does this mean? Merson says that as of April 15, Cablevision has cut off CableCard access to 15 Voom HD channels, and Time Warner will apparently make similar cuts.
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CableCard Users Are Getting Screwed Out of HD Channels
Our friend Gary Merson, the HD Guru, has uncovered an issue that may soon piss you off. Cable customers who use the current CableCard to decode signal directly in their TV, a TiVo or Windows Media Center PC may soon start losing HD channels because of a change in technology. To conserve bandwidth, cable carriers are moving from a direct stream of video to "switched digital video," which use two-way digital cable boxes to see what customers need then send it to them. CableCards are only one-way, so they can't make use of any SDV coming down the pipes. What does this mean? Merson says that as of April 15, Cablevision has cut off CableCard access to 15 Voom HD channels, and Time Warner will apparently make similar cuts.
More »
monster cable
Blue Jeans Cable Calls BS on Monster Cable Patent Suit, Vows to Fight to Bloody Death
Bullshit patent suits are annoying when it's a do-nothing patent holder trying to extract cash from fat corporate wallets, but even more so when it's a bigger company trying to muscle over little ones. Like Monster Cable suing Blue Jeans Cable for having connectors that looked like theirs. Blue Jeans' CEO, a former evil lawyer, has issued a ripping rebuttal, pointing out that "the gross morphology of the RCA plug is pretty well dictated by function" before throwing down, "I would rather spend fifty thousand dollars on defense than give you a dollar of unmerited settlement funds." Here's the whole ballsy letter: More »
monster cable
It's really, really tough to like Monster Cable as a company. Everyone knows how they mark up their prices and how a coat hanger may even be as good as their cables under short distances, but their business practices aren't much better either. They're following up up their last legal maneuver against a clothing company with the unfortunate name of Monster Vintage by serving Blue Jeans Cable and Tartan Cable with a cease and desist because their cable connectors are too similar. Just look at the comparison above. Do they look too similar. Would you be confused if you saw the two? Which one of them has the "Monster" logo on it again? I can't tell. [Audio Junkies]
Monster Cable Has Cojones of Steel, C&Ds Blue Jeans Cable Because Their Connectors Are Too Similar
It's really, really tough to like Monster Cable as a company. Everyone knows how they mark up their prices and how a coat hanger may even be as good as their cables under short distances, but their business practices aren't much better either. They're following up up their last legal maneuver against a clothing company with the unfortunate name of Monster Vintage by serving Blue Jeans Cable and Tartan Cable with a cease and desist because their cable connectors are too similar. Just look at the comparison above. Do they look too similar. Would you be confused if you saw the two? Which one of them has the "Monster" logo on it again? I can't tell. [Audio Junkies]
comcast
Comcast Rolls Out Japan-Fast Cable Internet, But Can You Afford It?
DOCSIS 3.0 is the next-gen cable internet standard that allows crazy fast bandwidth of up to 160Mbps downstream and 120 up. The lucky first city to get a piece of that action from Comcast—which plans to cover 20 percent of its market with the awesome by the end of this year—is St. Paul, Minnesota. Denizens can sign up for the Godzilla pipes starting this week, though the 50Mbps line will cost a whopping $150 a month. And no, it won't blow you. But, that is some sick bandwidth, equaling Verizon's FiOS offering (which is only $90 a month). So, is it worth it? How much would you pay? [Bits]
home entertainment
Eight Reasons So Many HD Channels Suck Ass
Sound & Vision just ran a cool expose on HD cable channels. How can so many good channels be stuck in SD land—I'm looking at you F/X, Comedy Central and Sci-Fi Channel—while new lame HD channels like CNN and QVC cut to the front of the line? And what about those so-called HD channels, like TNT and TBS, that half the time (or more often than that) play stretched upconverted Law & Order reruns? Dubbing the situation "complicated," S&V says there isn't one answer, but eight slimy, frustrating, unfair reasons: More »
satellite
Proof Satellite Sucks: Dish and DirecTV Get FCC Approval to Downgrade HD Channels Until 2013
High-def channels consume bandwidth like Britney Spears at a Frappuccino trough (props, last night's South Park). That's a problem for twinkly satellite providers Dish Network and DirecTV, who just don't have the capacity to blast every channel in HD—so the FCC just gave them the nod to downcovert broadcasters' HD signals until 2013. Basically, it means that just because a channel is broadcast in HD, they don't have to give it to you in HD. More »
comcast
Comcast Wants to Put a Camera in Your Cable Box
Before you start freaking out, hold on. They just wanna know who's in your living room. That's all. It's for a really cool features, really! When you turn on your TV, the box will recognize you and make recommendations or pull up shows in your profile. Still not sold? Well, if it detects kiddies in the room, parental controls will pop up to block naughty content. Oh yeah, and it'll serve up custom ads, just for you. Awesome-o, right? Well, don't get too excited, it's still in testing. [NewTeeVee]
tvs
Panasonic Kills Rear Projection, Promises 2-Way CableCard By Summer
Today in New York, Panasonic showed off the Viera flat-panel TVs it launched at CES, including its badass flagship PZ800 and PZ850 plasma sets and its premiere LZ800 LCD, all coming this summer at prices to be announced. During the meeting, Panasonic also confirmed officially that it was no longer in the rear-projection business, owing to a price crunch in flat panels that basically drove any discount value out of the chunkier projection sets. Bottom line: people would rather pay $3K for a smaller and thinner set than a larger but fatter one. Panasonic also addressed the issue of OpenCable (aka OCAP aka Tru2way) two-way CableCards. More »
digital switchover
Digital Converter Boxes Are for Cheap Fogies, Not Sony Customers
As much as Sony is looking forward to the Feb. 2009 analog broadcast cutoff, the opportunity to sell millions of government-subsidized digital converter boxes isn't why. Sony isn't even touching that mess, or the low-end consumers who want them. Talking about the effect of digital converter boxes on the HDTV biz today in New York, Sony Electronics CEO Stan Glasgow told us: More »
question of the day
When it comes to television programming, there is no one service that does everything right. The number of channels, HD programming, and price are just a few of the weapons companies use to compete for your entertainment dollar. And then there are always downloading options from BitTorrent and the like. So, the question is, which one is really the best and why? Hell, I'll even throw in "Antenna" despite the fact that it is about to be phased out.
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Question of the Day: Which is Better? Satellite, Cable, Download, or Antenna?
When it comes to television programming, there is no one service that does everything right. The number of channels, HD programming, and price are just a few of the weapons companies use to compete for your entertainment dollar. And then there are always downloading options from BitTorrent and the like. So, the question is, which one is really the best and why? Hell, I'll even throw in "Antenna" despite the fact that it is about to be phased out.
More »
comcastarded
FCC May Repeat Net Neutrality Hearing After Comcastards Fiasco
After the Comcastpuff at the FCC hearing on net neutrality (with Comcast and Verizon present,) the almost-omnipotent Federal agency is considering repeating it all. Back then, Comcast paid people to take seats and cheer on their favor. Replacing Harvard, this time it could be celebrated at Stanford and, hopefully, there won't be any Comcastards around. Expect assorted Verigoons instead. [Valleywag via BB]
comcastarded
