Comcast beefs up X1 cloud-based cable in San Francisco

Comcast inches closer to box-free TV in the country's tech hub by adding streaming of live TV to mobile devices in the home and the ability to download anything recorded to its DVR onto a gadget.

X1 is Comcast's cable TV software that moves the brains of cable TV into the cloud rather than leaving them locked in a set-top box in the living room. James Bareham/Comcast

Comcast, the biggest cable provider in the US, is lighting up tech features of its cloud-based X1 TV system in the country's technology home base, San Francisco.

Starting Wednesday, X1 customers in the Bay Area will be able to access their full TV lineup on any connected screen in their home, and they can download any programs recorded on their DVR to a gadget to watch them outside the home too. The features are now available in eight cities, en route to being available to most X1 customers by the end of the year, the company said.

The progress -- which inches Comcast closer to its goal of cable services being beamed to customers from a server with only a tiny (or no) set-top box in the home --brings the company's cloud DVR to half of its footprint. By putting the brains behind cable TV in the cloud, Comcast has outstripped rivals with the sophistication of the X1 system -- smaller rival Cox is considering licensing it to be able to offer the same to its customers. With X1, Comcast frequently updates its services without technician visits, integrates search across different types of content, improves channel guide and can offer the streaming and download features introduced Wednesday.

Despite widespread admiration for the system, the prospect of expanding X1's reach through a proposed $45 billion merger with No. 2 cable company Time Warner Cable hasn't placated critics of Comcast's widening power. Consumer advocates, tech companies and -- more recently -- a major TV programmer, Discovery, have protested that the merger would dangerously increase Comcast's market influence by giving it a video presence in 19 of the 20 largest US metropolitan markets and passing the company through half of the country's broadband homes.

The rollout of X1's juiciest features has taken time to reach the bulk of subscribers, too.

"Think of it like an evolution, an evolution that is accelerating," said Matt Strauss, Comcast's senior vice president and general manager of video services. In select cities, it was first available to new triple-play customers (those who subscribe to TV, Internet and phone service through Comcast), then to existing triple-play customers, then double-play customers. He said the company is at a pace of about 20,000 to 30,000 new X1 box installations a day. "The goal is to do it as quickly as we can," he said. Comcast later said the rate is closer to 20,000.

The live TV streaming on any connected screen in the home means X1 customers can use their phone, tablet or other device to watch anything they'd watch on a typical television connected to a set-top box -- with the same guide and channels available. Downloading content recorded to the cloud DVR onto a device for out-of-home viewing is now easier to use -- customers can download prerecorded programs over any Internet connection like a library system -- customers can watch a program on one device but then they have to check the program back in to watch it elsewhere.

Strauss said that when his wife could watch her favorite show on a plane ride after downloading it from the cloud DVR to her device, he suddenly became something of a small-scale rock star. "Customers have come to expect that all their content is available time-shifted," he said. "It's the same with devices."

Correction, 11:05 a.m. PT: This story originally misstated a figure on Comcast's pace of change. Comcast is adding about 20,000 to 30,000 X1 box installations a day, not subscribers a day.

Joan E. Solsman Joan E. Solsman is a senior writer for CNET focused on digital media. She previously wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal. She bikes to get almost everywhere in New York City and has been doored only once. See full bio

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Time Warner Cable suffers massive outage nationwide

Internet users in the Northeast were hit especially hard by a Time Warner Cable outage Wednesday morning. DownDetector/Screenshot by CNET

Time Warner Cable customers across the US woke up Wednesday to an Internet outage.

A site called DownDetector has been tracking the Time Warner Cable outage, showing a heat map of where the outages are occurring. Earlier this morning, many people in California were affected, as well as many of the company's customers in the Northeast. As of this writing, the outages in California and Texas seemed to have eased, but the Northeast is still experiencing widespread outages in several areas, including New York City. It's not clear, however, how up-to-date that tracking actually is.

Time Warner Cable has 11.4 million subscribers in the United States.

Not surprisingly, those who have been affected by the outage have gone to Twitter -- apparently by accessing the service on another provider's network -- to complain that Time Warner Cable service is down. Many of the tweets simply state that Time Warner Cable's service is down, while others added a comical twist.

"Time Warner nationwide outage: wireless carriers squeal with glee at all the data overage charges they'll pocket," one person wrote.

Time Warner Cable has kept details on the outage close to the vest. At approximately 4 a.m. PT on Wednesday, the company tweeted that it's "working to restore services to all areas as quickly as possible," though it wouldn't provide an estimated restoration time. As of this writing, there have been no updates to the Twitter account.

In response to a query by CNET, Time Warner Cable issued this statement:

"At 430am ET this morning during our routine network maintenance, an issue with our Internet backbone created disruption with our Internet and On Demand services. As of 6am ET services were largely restored as updates continue to bring all customers back online."

Outages are not necessarily surprising for Internet users, but have become more frustrating as people conduct more and more of their personal and work lives online. An outage as widespread as this one underscores the pervasiveness of the Internet and the need for a quick resolution to any disruption in service.

Time Warner Cable is in the middle of an effort to merge with Comcast in a deal valued at $45.2 billion. While the companies are more likely than not to combine forces, federal scrutiny has been increasing over the last few months as regulators have dug their claws into the deal.

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