Continuing to build bells and whistles into its next-generation pay-TV platform, Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) says X1 can now use IFTTT to do things like change the channel when a specified event pulls a trigger.
IFTTT (an acronym for "if this then that" and pronounced like "gift") is a web-based protocol designed to trigger actions if certain events take place. For example, a user could program an IFTTT "recipe" so that X1 would immediately change the channel to ESPN if, say, the Philadelphia Eagles were being mentioned on SportsCenter.
Comcast executives demoed the technology Wednesday at a press event in San Francisco, attended and reported on by GigaOm.
A week earlier, at a separate press event in Philadelphia covered by Multichannel News, the company announced the expanded rollout of another X1 feature, the "talking guide," targeted to the visually impaired, as well as non-English speakers.
The guide, which was trialed over the summer, includes Siri-style voice narration such things as show titles, program ratings and settings. Comcast plans to make the service available commercially in later in November.
The MSO says it has deployed about 5 million X1 set-tops to its user base.
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Comcast demonstrates its new "talking guide" for the X1 platform in this video. |
For more:
- read this GigaOm story
- read this Multichannel News story
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