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Comcast Close to Launching Set Top Skype Service
New Set Top Camera Shows Up in FCC Database
by Karl Bode Monday 09-Jan-2012 tags: Video · business · hardware · alternatives · cable · consumers · Comcast
Last year we were the very first to report that Comcast was working on a simple way to integrate Skype video chat functionality into the Comcast Xfinity cable set top box using an inexpensive external camera. A few weeks later, Comcast made their plans official at The Cable show, stating they'd be launching the service sometime later in 2011. Comcast missed their original projections, but Wireless Goodness spotted the service, code-named "Astro" internally, winding its way through the FCC approval process.

They've got a little more detail on the service, which should cost users an additional $10 a month when it launches:

Click for full size
The device consists of a camera and microphone accessory that attaches to the top of a TV, and a small adapter box which manages connections between Xfinity’s set top box and the camera array. The system also comes with a QWERTY remote that should make typing Skype messages pretty painless. User manuals for Skype for TV show a 10-foot style interface that does a good job of bringing Skype’s interface to a TV screen. You can make audio or video calls, as well as send instant messages.

Comcast's entry in to the residential videoconferencing market comes just as Cisco announced they've scrapped the Cisco UMI service, which we first discussed back in late 2010 when it launched with a fairly ridiculous $600 (plus $30 a month) price point.

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Comcast Close to Launching Set Top Skype Service

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mod_wastrel
Gone fishin'

join:2008-03-28

"Rastro?"

Sounds like WebTV for the Xfinity generation.
permalink · 2012-01-09 12:38:33 · Reply to this ·

newview
Ex .. Ex .. Exactly
Premium
join:2001-10-01
Parsonsburg, MD
kudos:1
Reviews:
·Vonage
·DIRECTV

Re: "Rastro?"

said by mod_wastrel:

Sounds like WebTV for the Xfinity generation.

... another Internet2Go flop in the making.
»Comcast Unsurprisingly Kills Internet2Go Wireless
permalink · 2012-01-09 20:23:52 · Reply to this ·

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman

join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC
kudos:1

10 dollars a months for this?

No way Comcast...

10 dollars a month for this? Are you serious?

So here's another way to get to that 250GB (up/down combined) cap faster, and pay for the privilege in the process.

Not fooling me with this crap.
permalink · 2012-01-09 12:41:27 · Reply to this ·

fAcEtIOUs
Premium
join:2002-03-03
kudos:4

Re: 10 dollars a months for this?

said by IPPlanMan:

No way Comcast...

10 dollars a month for this? Are you serious?

So here's another way to get to that 250GB (up/down combined) cap faster

Price not unreasonable for video conference calls on your wide screen main TV.
--
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, I'm from the government and I'm here to help.
»www.politico.com/2012-election/

permalink · 2012-01-09 12:50:11 · Print · Reply to this ·

backfeed
is giving feedback

join:2002-12-16
Peru, IN
Reviews:
·Comcast

Re: 10 dollars a months for this?

In that context it is not too much, but the same effect (almost) can be had with plugging a pc into the big screen.. Which gets easier with every new release of Windows.... just saying....
--
There are 10 types of people. Those who can read Binary and those who cannot.
permalink · 2012-01-09 19:32:47 · Reply to this ·

pokesph
It Is Almost Fast
Premium
join:2001-06-25
Sacramento, CA
kudos:1
 AGREED.

Last time I checked, Skype video chats were free..

$10.00 a month for a FREE SERVICE? Not in this lifetime Comcast.

$2.00 a month for cam/mic/remote rental may be acceptable, if you also allow any usb webcam / mic / kb to also work.
--
Webmaster - Steve
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»www.1-gb.net
»www.ppnstudio.com
permalink · 2012-01-09 20:44:43 · Reply to this ·

fAcEtIOUs
Premium
join:2002-03-03
kudos:4

Paranoid can put a flap over camera with velcro

For those who think big brother will be watching them 24x7, the camera has an automatic lens cover(like on a camera) and a on/off power light. But for the truly distrustful you could rig up a flap to cover the lens with a piece of plastic and some Velcro. No help with the mic though. That could be always on and you would never know.
permalink · 2012-01-09 12:46:17 · Reply to this ·
StLCardsFan

join:2011-06-06
Lafayette, LA
Reviews:
·LUS Fiber
·Brown Dog Networks

Re: Paranoid can put a flap over camera with velcro

yeah cameras and mics dont belong in the living room ...at least not in this way.

Now ..if it was USB or some way to externally hook it up/disconnect it ...sure.

I see catastrophe written all over this....

Can you imagine your wifes sister coming over and giving you a hummer while your 3 your old son somehow bumped into the remote and hit the broadcast button?

HAHA ... im just saying ... this is a bad idea.
permalink · 2012-01-09 13:06:28 · Reply to this ·

baineschile
2600 ways to live
Premium
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI

Re: Paranoid can put a flap over camera with velcro

You stay class, St Louis.
permalink · 2012-01-09 13:20:25 · Reply to this ·
StLCardsFan

join:2011-06-06
Lafayette, LA
Reviews:
·LUS Fiber
·Brown Dog Networks

Re: Paranoid can put a flap over camera with velcro

has nothing to do with class ... the point was some device with a camera and a mic have no place in the livingroom. One can only dream of what negative implications this has. I for one value my privacy ..what little I have left that is... and giving someone else the opportunity to invade will lead to ....well someone invading my privacy. Rule of law is for honest people ...criminals could care less... so why introduce yet another cookie jar to rob?

You think carriers wont use them? Just like they wont use your mobile phone data? How about a hacker? I'm just sayin.

Or what about your neighbor with the exact same box as yours... he or she could simply hit broadcast on his exact same remote ... guess what... and yes the above will happen.
permalink · 2012-01-09 16:16:10 · Print · Reply to this ·
CopperMux

join:2005-01-18

Re: Paranoid can put a flap over camera with velcro

Then don't get it. Problem solved. You are on camera 90% of the time you leave your home, get used to it.
permalink · 2012-01-09 16:45:09 · Reply to this ·
tmc8080

join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY
Reviews:
·Optimum Online
·Verizon FiOS
 What about the Microphone?
This is why my last laptop didn't have a camera built--in..
Also, did you know that many laptops had a function to record key-strokes at the hardware level?!? This was something to do with terrorism and the CIA's paranoid delusion that coordinated attacks and/or communications would happen with laptops so many of the O/S companies and hardware makers put backdoors into the technology, that we're slowing moving away from today-- or are we?

If anything, the cable-tv box will become an all-in-one router with multi-media functions. If you want a camera function, you add it on with a plug-in device (usb). This way the box can use 1/10th the power it does today-- or half what you would with a cable-box, router and/or cablemodem setup.
permalink · 2012-01-10 03:14:47 · Print · Reply to this ·
tivoboy

join:2004-05-10
Menlo Park, CA

telyHD

I wonder if there is a price for the DEVICE TOO?

something like the telyHD or this other device now available from samsung might be better, uses the skype network for making HD video calls.

And then cost 199$ all in, no fees
permalink · 2012-01-09 13:14:27 · Reply to this ·

jhacker

join:2001-12-11
Peoria, IL

Ummm Yeah Right

Yeah, I'm going to pay $10 a month on top of their already high prices. NOT! I'll just go right over to my computer or tablet and do the same thing for free. Sorry, I don't want to take over my widescreen TV with a chat service anyway.
permalink · 2012-01-09 14:11:39 · Reply to this ·

pende_tim
Premium
join:2004-01-04
Andover, NJ
1 edit

Re: Ummm Yeah Right

Deleted.
--
The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.
permalink · 2012-01-09 14:48:04 · Reply to this ·
ISurfTooMuch

join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

Re: Ummm Yeah Right

said by pende_tim:

For $10.00/mo after 10 months you could have purchased an iPad and used facetime/skype for free.

At $10.00/month for 10 months, that's $100. If you can show me where to get an iPad for that price, I'm all ears.

Your point is well taken, though. Why pay for this when you can do the same thing for free with a computer? I guess you could get it for grandma so she can have videoconferencing on her TV.
permalink · 2012-01-09 16:27:29 · Print · Reply to this ·

pende_tim
Premium
join:2004-01-04
Andover, NJ

Re: Ummm Yeah Right

Oops. Major Brain Fart. You are correct.
permalink · 2012-01-09 18:57:46 · Reply to this ·
andyross
Premium,MVM
join:2003-05-04
Schaumburg, IL

Where's the network?

How does it communicate with the network? The picture just shows a simple USB connector, so the cable box must be using another network connection. I assume maybe they will activate the DOCSIS modem built into most HD boxes since the OOB channel is way too slow and already overloaded.
permalink · 2012-01-09 15:01:23 · Reply to this ·
yabos

join:2003-02-16
London, ON

Re: Where's the network?

All the Tru2Way boxes use DOCSIS... I don't know how much Comcast has deployed it but they have IP connectivity over the coax.
permalink · 2012-01-09 15:29:16 · Reply to this ·

Dude Man

@rogers.com

Re: Where's the network?

Just connect your computer to your big screen tv and voila, you have Skype on your big tv for free. This service will not succeed, it should be offered free, considering the high prices they already charge for everything else.
permalink · 2012-01-09 19:18:02 · Reply to this ·
Forums > Comcast Close to Launching Set Top Skype Service

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