Comcast confirmed that it has begun to roll out the “XiD,” a new device that can function as a Digital Terminal Adapter or as an IP client that supports the MSO’s X1 platform.

The XiD, which includes Pace plc among its suppliers, emerged at the FCC earlier this year, and is viewed as a device that can help to seed Comcast’s ongoing IP video transition.

At the time, a person familiar with it said it was designed to be a hybrid of sorts that could deliver MPEG-based linear digital TV as a DTA (a one-way device that has played a big role in Comcast's all-digital transition), but could also be “flipped” into an IP-based client device that could operate on Comcast’s next-gen X1 platform. It was initially believed that the XiD would support 4K/Ultra HD video. Comcast has some 4K-capable X1 devices in development, but the XiD, as it turns out, does not support that format.

Comcast also confirmed that the XiD can serve as either a DTA or as an IP client, noting that it’s an evolution of the Xi3, Comcast’s first IP video client for X1, but that it’s more versatile in that it supports both HDMI and coax in/out ports, while the Xi3 is HDMI-only.

More details about the XiD have also appeared on a Comcast support page that compares and contrasts the features of the MSO’s family of video devices for X1. Per the current product matrix, the XiD can pause and rewind live TV (up to 25 minutes via an internal SD card) and VOD and supports Comcast’s multi-room DVR service. When used as an IP client for X1 (by feeding of an XG1 or newer XG2 gateway, which contain the tuners), the XiD is capable of supporting X1 apps, with support for the recently introduced Xfinity Games app is “coming soon.”  

Comcast ended Q3 with a 25% penetration with X1 as it accelerated deployment to 40,000 X1 boxes per day.

Comcast has begun to test the XG2, a new gateway for its cloud-based X1 platform that lacks a local DVR.

Comcast isn’t commenting on XG2, where it’s being tested, nor supplying any info on what specific features and capabilities that will grace it, but the device is referenced here in a customer forum that compares and contrasts devices for X1.  The section on the XG2, labeled as a “non-DVR” for X1, cites two suppliers – Samsung and Pace, the U.K.-based set-top maker that’s being acquired by Arris – and mentions that the model is “currently limited to select trial markets.”

Some customers are also posting that they have received emails from Comcast about receiving the XG2.

Speculation about the XG2 has been swirling for months as the mysterious model passed through the FCC, and a rendering of it from Cisco Systems (Technicolor is buying Cisco’s set-top unit) also appeared on the Web (see image above).

Though Comcast is keeping a lid on XG2, a person familiar with it said it’s a “headed” gateway, meaning it will have video rendering capabilities and connect directly to a TV (versus coming “headless” gateways that will route video to other set-top clients and devices on the home network). Previous FCC documents have also shown the XG2 to be a hybrid QAM/IP device equipped with a CableCARD, along with integrated WiFi, Bluetooth and ZigBee radios.

Though the XG2 doesn’t have a local DVR, an SD card that carries the “Xfinity Instant Replay” label will likely be used to buffer video so viewers can pause, rewind and fast-forward through recently-viewed TV programming. There’s also speculation that the XG2 would be a perfect candidate for Comcast’s new Cloud DVR service. The Comcast X1 feature comparison chart also points out that the XG2 will allow for the pausing and rewinding of live TV (up to 60 minutes), will support RF-based remote controls and the new X1 voice remote, as well as all the X1 apps.

The message boards are also filled with other info and speculation on the device.

One user, “ComcastAndrew” who is listed as an “official employee,” points out that the XG2 “looks close to an Xi3 but with composite and  HDMI outputs and digital audio output.” The Xi3 is a tunerless, IP-only HD client device designed to work in tandem with the XG1 HD-DVR.

While the XG2 might be considered as another companion device, it appears to be a higher-powered gateway-class unit that has its own tuners (perhaps four, according to a comment on this DSL Reports message board), with some suggesting that it could likewise be a suitable replacement for the RGN150, an IP-capable, non-DVR set-top that does not support all of X1’s features.  It’s also possible that the XG2 could work  in tandem with Xi3 clients in a multi-room set-ups for customers who do not want a DVR.

Comcast hasn’t announced how many customers on X1, but it has been accelerating the rollout – the MSO is now deploying about 30,000 X1 boxes per day, up from previous daily run-rates of between15,000 to 20,000. Nearly one-third of Comcast’s triple-play customers are now on X1.

Comcast confirmed that it is in the process of freeing up the sixth tuner in most X1-powered DVRs, a move that will give subscribers the ability to record one additional TV show or movie at the same time.

Word of the decision popped up this week on the X1 consumer forum.

“Starting today, July 8, most X1 DVR customers will be able to record more shows simultaneously -- up to six shows depending on which X1 DVR they have in the their home,” it said noting that one model, the Pace-made XG1v1, is unchanged for now, but will be updated soon. Some X1 subs “may not see the six tuners for several days until their firmware is updated,” the post explained. 

With the update, subs with affected XG1s (HD-DVRs with whole-home networking capabilities), will no longer have a dedicated tuner for live TV, meaning they can now record up to six shows simultaneously via one device.

Or record many, many more, in some specific situations. 

Last year, Comcast began to test a new X1 DVR configuration (subscription required), that allows subs to record up to 15 shows at the same time by combining the storage and tuning capabilities of three X1 HD-DVRs.  The freeing up of the sixth tuner, a Comcast official said, would technically enable customers who are involved in those market trials to record up to 18 shows at the same time. 

Whether any customers would need to record that many shows at once is, of course, up for debate. But the move would seem to give Comcast some DVR bragging rights, as it enables it to move past Cablevision Systems, which currently lets network DVR subs record up to 15 shows at once, and will expand Comcast's lead on Verizon FiOS, whose new Quantum TV offering allows customers to record up to 12 shows at once by tying together the functions of two Arris-made Verizon Media Servers (VMSs).

The additional sixth tuner might also come in handy as Comcast expands the deployment of the Xi3, an IP-only HD client that works in tandem with the XG1 HD-DVR as part of a whole-home solution.

Comcast has also been expanding the reach of X1’s cloud DVR product, which currently supports 500 Gigabytes of storage and the ability to record four shows at once, and lets users  download/“check out” DVR recordings for offline viewing on mobile devices.

Comcast confirmed that it has pushed an update to its “Xi3” client devices that enables the all-IP boxes to buffer as much as 25 minutes of live TV.

Comcast added that capability last month to currently-deployed Xi3s and will be offering it in all Xi3 models shipped to customers from here on out, an MSO spokesperson said. The Xi3, which does not support a local hard drive for DVR functionality (it can access recordings off of the primary XG1 HD-DVR and is expected to support Comcast’s new cloud DVR), buffers live TV via integrated SD (Secure Digital) memory card that carries the “Xfinity Instant Replay” label. The ability to pause live TV on the Xi3 has been high on customer wish lists, according to this thread on the Comcast X1 customer forum.

That feature, which lets Xi3 users rewind, fast-forward and pause recently viewed live TV programming, will apparently also grace a new “XG2” gateway that’s under development, and possibly on the Xi4, a smaller, next-gen version of the Xi3. A Samsung-made XG2 and a Cisco-made Xi4  recently passed through the FCC.

Comcast started to deploy the Xi3 in select markets last fall, noting then that the plan was to make the product “widely available across our footprint” in the first or second quarter of 2015.

The HDMI-connected Xi3 is designed to be a more elegant, non-DVR companion to the primary X1 HD-DVR, able to support the full slate of X1 apps. By comparison, Comcast’s initial batch of non-DVRs (the Pace and Samsung RNG150N) that work in tandem with the X1 HD-DVR and support the MSO's new cloud-based user interface, do not let users pause and rewind live TV. Those RNG-class boxes also support only a subset of X1 apps. This page compares and contrasts the current lineup of equipment, including set-tops and remotes, for X1. 

Comcast has deployed more than 5 million X1 boxes so far. 

Taking a step toward deployment-readiness, a new IP-only video client device for Comcast’s X1 platform has passed through the Federal Communications Commission.  

First spotted by GigaOm, the device in question is the Xi4, an IP set-top made by Pegatron for Cisco.

The FCC filings are short on detail, but Matt Strauss, Comcast Cable’s senior vice president and general manager, video services, told Multichannel News at last year’s Cable Show in Los Angeles that the Xi4 is a smaller version of the Xi3, Comcast’s first IP-only video client product.

Comcast hasn’t made any further announcements about the Xi4, but confirmed last fall that it had begun to deploy the Xi3, initially supplied by Pace, with plans to make it “widely available across our footprint in Q1 or Q2 of next year [2015].”

Comcast is also working on a next-generation of the XG1, the HD-DVR/gateway that currently anchors the MSO’s X1 platform. A rendering of that product, labeled as the XG2, appeared online late last year. A person familiar with the project, which also includes Cisco’s involvement (though other vendors are also expected to be working on it), said the version that appeared online is a headed gateway that won’t come equipped with an internal DVR, making it an obvious candidate for Comcast’s new Cloud DVR.  It’s also possible that the XG2 will be made to work in tandem with the new Xi4 client over the home network.

Comcast has also acknowledged that it is working on new boxes for X1 that support HEVC and 4K streaming, but it’s not clear yet if HEVC will factor into the XG2 or Xi4. Comcast’s first 4K product, Xfinity in UHD, is a streaming app that is initially being offered on 2014 Samsung UHD TVs

Comcast and has been pursuing strategies that will put it in position to tap into smaller IP video devices that also eat up less power. Notably, Comcast and Cisco are among the founding members of the Linaro Digital Home Group, whose aim is to accelerate the use of ARM-based silicon in digital home applications. The low-power ARM architecture is already being used in tablets and smartphones, and now appears poised to show up in set-tops and other types of video devices.

Comcast said it has enabled out-of-home access to its Cloud DVR service, a significant enhancement to a product for its X1 video platform that had previously limited viewing of recordings to in the customer’s home  since the operator first introduced the Cloud DVR in Boston roughly seven months ago.

Comcast implemented the out-of-home Cloud DVR feature as it introduced the service in the Bay Area, the eighth market to get it.

Comcast has also launched its Cloud DVR and an in-home live TV streaming service that allows users to watch the MSO’s full linear TV lineup and its VOD service on Web browsers as well as iOS- and Android-powered tablets and smartphones in Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; Chicago; Houston; Philadelphia; and Washington D.C.

The new cloud-based offerings for X1 also lets customers “check out” DVR recordings by sideloading them to those devices for later playback. Comcast’s Cloud DVR is currently provides customers with 500 Gigabytes of storage and the ability to record four shows while watching another. Cablevision Systems, meanwhile, is already demonstrating how a network-based DVR can offer an almost unlimited number of tuners -- a software upgrade implemented in April pushed the number of shows a Cablevision customer could record at one time to 15.

A Comcast official said the new out-of-home capability, now offered in all of Comcast’s Cloud DVR-enabled markets, marked a technical enhancement to the product rather than a clearing up of any lingering rights issues. Customers can access Cloud DVR recordings on the go via WiFi or 3G/4G cellular connections.

“These new features -- live in-home streaming and X1 DVR with cloud technology -- give our customers more flexibility for watching their favorite shows and movies in and out of their home,” said Matt Strauss, Comcast Cable’s senior vice president and general manager, video services, in a statement. “Now, any screen in the house can become a personal TV, and recorded programs can be accessed anytime, anywhere.”

Comcast has deployed X1 across its current footprint and expects to offer the Cloud DVR and in-home video streaming features to most of its X1 customers by the end of the year.

Comcast, which is using its next-gen X1 service to stem video losses, hasn’t revealed how many of its 22.4 million video customers are on the platform, but has said it is installing upwards of 20,000 boxes a day. Speaking on a panel at last week’s SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in Denver, Labeeb Ismail, Comcast Cable’s VP of CPE software, estimated that the MSO had deployed “upwards of 4 million” devices powered by the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the preintegrated software stack used in Comcast’s X1 boxes.

Comcast is currently offering X1 on boxes with local HD-DVRs called the XG1. The operator is also developing a hybrid QAM/IP "headless" gateway, the XG5, that could be paired with all-IP HD client devices called the Xi3 and, once implemented, could rely solely on the MSO's Cloud DVR infrastructure. During an interview at The Cable Show in April, Strauss noted that the MSO was also working on the Xi4, a video client that will be a smaller version of the Xi3.

Comcast and others are eyeing the use of smaller, less power-hungry IP video devices. In May, Comcast was among the founding members of the Linaro Digital Home Group, an initiative that aims to accelerate the use of ARM-based silicon in digital home applications.The low-power ARM architecture has taken hold in mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones, and now appears to be poised for use in small form-factor video devices, including clients that run the RDK, which is being managed by Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Liberty Global.