Comcast Add HD Video Calling To Xfinity Home Services

Comcast has partnered with Technicolor and Entropic to extend its Xfinity Home services solution to include Xfinity HD Video conference calling.  The Xfinity HD video services will enable customers to make video calls with friends and family while watching TV via their set-top box or connected TV.  The platform was built on Technicolor’s 720p HD telepresence adapter and is powered by Entropic’s ARM Cortex-A9 high performance media processor.

This solution showcases Entropic's innovation to integrate a new value-added service, a HD video call, on its platform by augmenting a web-enabled technology [Skype] with traditional broadcast. Specifically, Entropic's client-based SoC technologies act as a HDMI pass-through that connects to a live event (the HD video conference) from a remote connection (the cloud); affording Comcast the ability to have video as an overlay on top of its TV content, or as a picture-in-picture.

Key Technical Features:

• The Technicolor adapter includes an HDMI input and output, Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, RF4CE (Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics)control, external USB and SD card slot, and an integrated external camera and microphone.
• Entropic's PNX84xx integrated broadcast SoC family includes all the major building blocks needed to develop next generation set-top box and client applications for global cable, satellite and IPTV networks. Key highlights include: superior video and audio quality, best web browsing through the ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, an advanced 3D GPU, flexible content decoding, advanced 3DTV processing, efficient power management, and support for Linux and Google Android Operating Systems.

Comcast began its national rollout of Xfinity HD video calling services earlier this month. Also coming this month to Modesto to Chio, is the Xfinity Home serivces which was launched in Vermont in March.