Comcast 3.0
Sounding a little like Buzz Lightyear ("To Infinity and Beyond!"), Comcast CEO Brian Roberts used his CES keynote to pump the company’s "Project Infinity"-dubbed VOD strategy. The idea is to feature everything on demand—including 6K movies by the beginning of next year. The MSO, which has surpassed 6bln VOD views, plans to offer 1K HD choices by year-end. To boost VOD, Comcast will create a system of library servers that will serve content to consumers from key locations across the country. Roberts also appears to be the official wideband demo guy (remember New Orleans?), downloading the HD version of "Batman Begins" for the CES crowd in less than 4mins vs the 6 hours it would take for DSL. Comcast will deploy wideband this year, offering speeds of 100Mbps downstream/50Mbps upstream via DOCSIS 3.0 to millions by year-end. Other highlights: programming DVR online, caller ID on TV and a broad-scale launch of " TiVo on Comcast" across all of New England.