Posts tagged ‘time warner’
Sony PS3 becomes a Time Warner Set-Top Box by using MoCA
Xbox isn’t the only game console starting to be used as a set-top box as it’s recent announcements with Verizon FiOS TV and Comcast XFINITY TV indicate. Sony’s Playstation 3 is also starting to take on set-top box (STB) features starting with the ability to play back recordings from a Time Warner DVR. If you already use Time Warner’s Whole Home DVR service (which uses MoCA networking) then it looks like you can also connect your PS3 to the same network using a MoCA Ethernet-to-Coax adapter to the PS3 and another MoCA adapter to connect your router to the MoCA network. Now you can use your PS3 in your game room or kid’s bedroom to watch your recorded TV shows in addition to Netflix, VUDU and online gaming. Here’s what you need:
- Time Warner Whole Home DVR service
- Playstation 3 (with DTCP-IP enabled)
- MoCA Adapter Kit (one connected to the PS3, the other to your router)
Now that your PS3 is networked to the DVR, the DVR will show up on your PS3 as a media server (SamSTB below).
And you can select the DVR media server to access the recorded TV shows, listed by recording date, and start playing them on your PS3 in HD quality or however the shows were recorded just like it was a STB.
Fast forward, rewind, pause all work similarly to as if the content came off a networked drive and the only real drawback is that sometimes the PS3 will show a TV show that has been deleted from the DVR, but for some reason still shows up on the list. The other obvious difference with an actual STB is the lack of Live TV on the PS3, possibly one day TWC will have a PS3 app similar to the Live TV app they have for the iPad.
The PS3 DVR feature is another small step for connected CE devices to start accessing the Cable or Satellite TV service you pay for every month. Besides iPad apps and Xbox TV, another example is the Samsung SmarTV which acts like a full fledged set-top box with Live TV and DVR features when connected to DirecTV’s new RVU Server via a MoCA network.
Since MoCA is the de facto standard for Cable and Satellite TV networking, don’t be surprised to see even more benefits to connecting your CE devices to a wired MoCA network using MoCA Ethernet-to-Coax adapters.
Re-United (and It Feels so Good): Cable and CE Go Back to the Alter
One of the (possibly) monumental announcements from CES 2011 came from the Samsung keynote address where leaders from Samsung, Comcast, and Time Warner demo-ed a Smart TV that connected directly to cable TV services through the Internet without a set-top box. That means that cable customers will be able to receive their HD channels on their tablet/iPad, smartphone and connected TV/Bluray using their home networks. Customers will also be able to access on demand movies and the content stored on their DVRs. Verizon also announced a similar service for their FiOS customers.
Anyone who has ever tried to install a CableCard might be skeptical about another Cable-CE partnership, but this time there might be more than lip service. With the explosion of connected devices and the number of tablet PCs shown at CES (estimated at 50), the cable companies are facing a “we better do it or somebody else will” scenario. Streaming video over the Internet is becoming such a commodity and CableCos have been losing customers, so this move seems to make sense as both a defensive strategy as well as an opportunity to increase subscription revenue. For MoCA, the connection to the Smart TV will likely be through the coax cable to both the broadband as well as DVRs so this would be a big boost. Wireless devices could also be supported using MoCA through MoCA-WiFi Access Points installed in rooms where a strong WiFi signal is needed. We’ll see in the next few months whether this is just CES PR or actually will result in some exciting new services for 2011.
Motorola and Time Warner Team Up to Deliver Multiroom DVR
Motorola has teamed up with Time Warner Cable Inc, in order to develop a multi-room digital video recorder (DVR). Motorola is going to be using the MoCA technology to network all the DVRs in the house. This will bring features such as changing rooms while watching television by use of the “Follow Me” feature, being able to stream HD content to your DVR from your computer or other media devices, and much more that would not be possible with traditional Wi-Fi networks. The best part about using MoCA in the DVR is that consumers will not have to worry about slow downs or cutouts that are inherent with wireless networks.
Using MoCA (Multimedia over Coaxial Alliance) technology, the solution creates a multimedia network using existing coaxial cable in consumer homes. The network is capable of transporting high-definition video, high-quality digital voice, and high-speed data to televisions, DVRs, game consoles, wireless access points, and home computers. – Motorola Media Center
MoCA Showing up on Motorola, Time Warner tru2way cable STBs due later this year
Motorola, Time Warner mixing up multiroom, tru2way cable setups due later this year.
More news out of NCTA, this time it’s a Motorola cable set-top box (STB) that will use MoCA to share saved HD programs around the house, a feature called multiroom DVR. The STBs also follow a standard called tru2way which allows STBs to be used in various cable networks and maybe even through a retail store in the future. Either way, through your cable company or local electronics store, MoCA is making it’s way into homes this year.
