IP video will soon be in session at Lasell College.
The Newton, Mass.-based school, located about eight miles west of downtown Boston, is the latest university to try out “Xfinity On Campus,” a new IP-delivered subscription video service that Comcast has tailored for college students.
According to a list posted on the dedicated Xfinity On Campus site, Lasell has joined a handful of east coast schools that are testing or about to test the service. Others include the University of New Hampshire, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Drexel University, and Emerson College.
Xfinity On Campus offers a lineup of live TV channels and VOD content over the campus’s managed IP network, with premium content, including Comcast’s own Streampix service, expected to join the mix soon. Comcast currently offers access to the Xfinity On Demand service on laptop and PC browsers, but has plans to offer it on tablets and smartphones. In fact, Comcast has already launched an Xfinity On Campus app for iPhones and iPads (pictured at left).
Comcast runs the Xfinity On Demand service on X1, the MSO’s next-gen IP-capable platform. Comcast recently began to roll out the next generation of the X1 interface. In Boston, Comcast has launched a cloud services suite for the X1 that features a cloud DVR service and in-home live TV streaming for mobile devices.
Philo, a Boston-based startup backed by HBO and Mark Cuban, has developed an IP video platform and network DVR service for college campuses that runs on PC browsers, Roku boxes, and the Apple TV (using AirPlay Mirroring). Philo’s roster of university partners includes Yale University, Fort Hays State University, University of Washington, Harvard University, Wesleyan University, Pepperdine University, and William Patterson University of New Jersey.
FierceCable first reported Friday that Lasell College had been added to the list of schools involved with Comcast's Xfinity On Campus project.
