Why Can't My Xbox Be My Set Top Cable Box

Tired of your remote.  Wish you had more control over your screen and how you managed through the endless choices of cable channels and shows.  Perhaps you wish you could use your game controller instead of the remote to navigate and select.  Well, maybe, Comcast has opened the door a little bit toward that full potential.  "The more interesting news is the launch of Comcast’s Xbox Live experience, which will give users the ability to search its video-on-demand service directly from the game console. That follows Comcast’s attempt to expand access to its content on a number of new devices, including the iPad and connected TVs from Samsung."  


A tiny first step indeed, but a step in the right direction.  Of course, it is still missing access to linear channels and DVR capabilities, but one thing at a time.  For a house with multiple TVs, and one TV devoted to the gamer in the family, the Xbox means I could potentially get rid of the set top on that TV.  It is used primarily for  game playing but the added accessibility to on demand programming is nice as long as I don't want to watch a live sports event on that TV. 


For homes with TVs that have multiple boxes attached to it, the Xbox, the DVD player, and the set top, this functionality of on demand programming is not enough to fully lose the set top connection.  Thus this new set of program offerings may be no big deal to current Comcast Cable homes.  Still, it is a first step toward replacing the set top with devices that are better suited for navigating on the TV screen.

TiVo Goes After Motorola And Time Warner Cable

TiVo must be feeling like a champ.  Soon after getting Microsoft to settle with them and with victories against Dish and AT&T under their belt, TiVo has set its sights on two more players, Time Warner Cable and Motorola Mobility.  With cash under their belt from Dish, TiVo may just be prepared for another protracted fight.  Whether these next patent infringement suits go the distance, or like Microsoft, get settled out of court, remains to be seen.  But given the victories coming from previous lawsuits, TWC and Motorola may be better off settling before the legal bills continue to mount.  And who knows, maybe TiVo is using these fights to get  geared up for an eventual lawsuit with Cablevision.

Apple's New iPad, Much To Love

I am an Apple convert.  It started almost a decade ago when we switched the family desktop computer from a Dell to the iMac.  Since then, we have embraced Apple in our home with the purchase of a laptop, iPods of different generations, iPhones, and now the new iPad.  In fact, when I touch a non-Apple product, like my office PC and blackberry, I shudder.

As for the new iPad, it is simply a joy.  While it may simply be an oversized iPod Touch, the screen is a perfect size for reading books, magazines, and news articles.  Game playing is more fun as is viewing photos and videos.   The laptop and iMac are still preferred for school work and other more pressing writing and editing duties, but the iPad is a wonderful edition to the mix.

What I like most is that data, photos, and other pieces of information that I put on one device is easily shared among the others.  For me, the iCloud effortlessly lets me share photos, calendar updates, and more among the family devices.  We share a family iTune account and I would love to learn how our iCloud accounts could be somehow treated as linked within our family.

As more and more consumers embrace the iPad, I am confident that those that haven't already, will switch from PC to Apple.  And as businesses embrace the iPad for their employees, they too will find that it makes more sense to replace their PCs with iMacs and Macbooks too.  And for Apple and its shareholders, that will only mean more good news.

Online Retail Sales Tax Is Coming Quickly

State budgets have relied on sales tax as a means to pay the bills.  But as online retailing has become more and more prevalent, sales tax revenue declines.  States are feeling the effects while consumers have been enjoying the savings.  And as price conscious shoppers, savings of 7 or 8% on big ticket items can be huge.

Brick and mortar retailers feel the impact of online; shoppers taste and test the merchandise in the store, then go to the web to purchase without paying the extra sales tax amount.  "A common misconception among Connecticut consumers, lawmakers say, is that Internet transactions are exempt from sales tax. If retailers don't collect and remit the tax back to Revenue Services, consumers are supposed to report and pay it themselves through their annual state income tax filing."  Yet I doubt few people know the law and fewer actually comply by it in Connecticut or other states that have the same rules.


For Amazon and others, a required sales tax would bring total costs of their merchandise closer to their brick and mortar counterparts.  With a narrower price gap, consumers may prefer buying at a store to assure immediate delivery as opposed to waiting a few days for a package to be shipped.  The larger the savings, the longer, I suppose, a consumer is willing to wait.  But state after state are imposing rules requiring collection of sales tax regardless of a physical presence in the state.  And that is exactly the ruling from the Connecticut courts.  So enjoy those savings today for they will surely go away.

Tivo Wins Again

After such a protracted fight with Dish Network, it seems that other companies have figured out that it is better to settle their patent suits rather than fight them in court.  "TiVo reached an agreement with Microsoft under which both sides have agreed to drop their patent-infringement lawsuits against each other, after the DVR company reached a settlement and licensing deal with AT&T, which uses Microsoft's IPTV platform for U-verse TV." Certainly that must mean more revenue for Tivo and more users.  So who is left?  It seems that Verizon and Motorola Mobility (Google) still have unresolved issues.  As they each watch from the sidelines, they may also believe it is better to settle than fight it out and spend extra dollars only to lose the fight, just as Dish did.  A settlement is quicker, easier, and perhaps even less expensive in the long run.


Will more cable companies embrace the Tivo DVR and support it within their set top boxes?  As a user experience, Tivo is preferable to anything else out there.  Hopefully one day more cable operators will license and distribute Tivo.

The Biggest Problem With The Cloud And Streaming Is...

...The cost of sending and receiving content.  Perhaps it makes better sense to download and own once than to continually stream content because of the high costs to stream content.  But as more video content becomes accessible and consumers are using the cloud and web to continuously stream content to their devices, the meter keeps turning.  And with hi def devices and better displays like on the new iPad, the streams of content must send higher amounts of data.  "What many consumers may not realize is the new iPad's faster LTE connection means they will use more data even if they don't change their 3G surfing habits. Take regular video: Verizon estimates that streaming it over an LTE connection runs through 650 megabytes an hour. That's double the amount of data used streaming the same video over a 3G link, because the fatter pipe lets more data through."

We have become used to an all you can eat mentality for communication; unlimited local calls, unlimited texts, one monthly price for constant cable TV access.  The TV set can stay on, even if no one is watching, because it doesn't cost any more to watch.  That doesn't happen with our electric, gas, or even water.  Turn the lights off before you leave the room.  No drips from the faucet please.  But even though streaming access isn't a utility, we are starting to think of it as one.

So on one hand, we are being encouraged to place more things on the cloud and access it when it is needed.  And we are being faced with more and more streaming content through OTT and websites serving up tons of videos.  On the other hand, the costs to physically stream this content could potentially cost us a lot more money.  WIFI speeds may be accessible through our cable providers or from free remote sites like Starbucks and elsewhere, but  they are not fast enough to enable an uninterrupted,  enjoyable experience.  Faster speeds are the benefits being touted by wireless providers.  And companies are hoping for more revenue from their mobile wireless usage packages, but consumers should be wary that the costs could potentially be way too high for their budget.

Subscribers Taking Programming From Telcos Not Cable

Paid Content has shared an interesting chart from their article on Cable Subscription Growth.  While total multi-video subscription grew in 2011, the biggest news was that cable operators saw a smaller than expected loss in Q4 while others saw a smaller than expected increase.  Still, when you look at the numbers, the top cable operators all saw a loss of basic cable subs last year, along with Dish Network; the losses were less than the gains that Verizon FIOS, DirecTv, and AT&T U-Verse achieved in the same period.

Historically, the cable operators have been losing subs for more than a few years now while telco and satellite have been doing a better job of growing subscribers.  Cable operators have been able to manage this loss because telephone and broadband subscription have been growing and the profit margins on these two businesses are higher than cable.  

As to the causes, housing starts, unemployment, and costs of service are all to blame.  As overall subscription has been rising, many argue that cord cutting is not a factor.  But as more and more programming finds itself on the web, consumers may just start to move over to these OTT platforms.  For now there is movement, but within the cable platform from operator to satellite to telco platform.

Free Wireless, Not Quite

Not too many wireless options out there for consumers.  Beyond the telcos and WIFI access from a cable provider, the choices are limited.  The latest marketing push comes from an unlikely source, NetZero, the former dial up company.  The owners of NetZero, United Online, are offering "free" monthly wireless access, but free may be a misnomer.  "The free accounts are limited to 200 megabytes of data per month_ enough for some email and Web surfing, but little else."  The push is on to "upgrade" to data plans that may not be as competitive as other telco plans.  And to take advantage of this "free" offer also requires a cost; a digital antenna or mobile hotspot is needed to access the signal.  That cost can range from $50 and higher.  So free access actually costs some money.  Well the re-emergence of NetZero at least adds another player to the mix.

Busy Week For Apple

It has been a very busy week for Apple and it is only Tuesday.  In 4 days, the new iPad has generated over 3 million sales.  Not reported, the number of new sales of the reduced price iPad 2.  And with sales to start in more countries, the number of iPads sold is expected to continue to rise dramatically. "Apple sold more than 40 million iPad units in 2011, and several analysts expect the number to top 60 million for the current calendar year."  While laptops and desktops get to be shared  among the family, each family member wants to own their own iPad, iPod, and iPhone device.  Brilliant.

Also on Monday came word that Apple was reinstating a dividend that had been stopped after Steve Jobs had re-entered Apple.  Ironic that it comes back to shareholders months after Steve Jobs has passed away.  For Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, it is the right course to return income to shareholders and to reach a new set of institutional investors.   And along with a stock buyback, it is still just a dent in the free cash that Apple carries.  So what will be announced next quarter?  A new iMac, a stock split?  With Apple, there is always the next announcement.