Comcast and Charter Communications’s Xumo joint venture has just spawned a brand new gadget, the Xumo Stream Box, and Charter is now making the device available for its Spectrum customers.
The streaming player will also be available “soon” for Comcast's Xfinity Internet customers, said an announcement put out Wednesday by the JV, as it was getting ready to host an evening New York launch party.
Something else new: The Xumo JV is now calling the TVOS that powers its gadgets the “Comcast Entertainment Operating System.”
The Xumo Stream Box supports the primary pay TV apps for Charter and Comcast, the Spectrum TV App and the Xfinity app, respectively, as well as the Xumo Play service.
The device also supports most major streaming apps, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney Plus, Max, Peacock, Tubi, Pluto TV “and more,” said Xumo.
Xumo said it’s handing out one Xumo Stream Box to new Spectrum TV customers free for one year. Existing Spectrum internet and TV customers can obtain the device via “purchase or for a service fee.” The purchase price is $60.
The debut of the gadget follows the launch several months ago of “Xumo TV” smart TVs manufactured by Element and Hisense, and sold via retail channels including Best Buy. (Xumo TVs manufactured in China under the Pioneer brand were just announced last week, as well.)
The launch follows a public proclamation made by Charter CEO Christopher Winfrey over the summer that Xumo would soon be the "go-to" video platform for his cable company.
“When we started Xumo, we set out with the ambition to take the decades of entertainment experience and technical innovation from Comcast and Charter and build a complete entertainment experience that breaks down the streaming silos and makes TV easy again," Xumo president Marcien Jenckes said in a statement.
