Cox Communications has revamped its home entertainment experience with a new guide, new tru2way-capable Cisco set-top boxes and, perhaps most importantly, the first whole-home DVR system offered by a U.S. cable operator. The entire experience will be available to subscribers who pay $5 more on top of any level of Cox Advanced TV service and subscribe to the Plus Package.
The $5 buys a lot, a new tru2way Cisco set-top with 500 gig hard drive "which is about three times the storage that we're offering with our current boxes" and the capability to tune frequencies above 860 MHz where additional HD programming will be stored; the new guide, developed by Cox and Frog Design and implemented by NDS; and MoCa technology to drive whole-home DVR service, said Lisa Pickelsimer, executive director of video product development at Cox.
New Cox Communications electronic program guide menu.
"There are some firsts relative to the guide and other features," she said. "It is a the first time a North American cable operator is putting out a high definition guide; the first time a cable operator in the U.S. is putting out a MoCa-enabled multi-room DVR solution; and we've worked with our guide data provider, Tribune Media Services, to create new richer metadata to improve the content discovery process."
The guide was a multi-year collaborative effort between Cox, Frog Design and NDS to bring some semblance of control to the consumer seeking programming guidance. The whole-home DVR matches what Verizon's FiOS has been offering since its inception and what DirecTV is planning with its own MoCa endorsement.
Even those who don't buy into the Plus Package will be getting better service from a new Rovi Passport guide that "is an improvement over the experience that Cox did have," Pickelsimer said.
For more:
- see this news release
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