Houston, TX - Comcast / DBS - Page 283

I was curious as to when the neighborhood Shadow Creek Ranch would be recieving the guide updates... zip code 77584... thanks for your time

David Silva | March 4, 2011 10:27 AM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37399

Hello Mr. Silva. We started to deliver this new on-screen guide to areas of Houston and Galeveston starting last week.

Due to the large size of the Comcast area in Texas, we need to roll out the guide on a rolling schedule by box type. The Scientific Atlanta 8300 and 8000 (non-HD) models of cable boxes already received the new guide update. Additional box types will be scheduled over the next 30 days or so. Impacted customers should have already received information in the mail plus yu can expect a phone call the night before the guide change.

Cisco RNG 200 cable boxes are scheduled next to get the new guide in Texas, those are tentatively scheduled for the week of March 21st.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from David Silva | March 7, 2011 2:45 PM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37434

When recording some shows as "First Run Only", it's recording the repeats as well. Which for a HBO series means that a show will record a number of times/week.

Is there a fix coming for that soon in Jackson, MS?

Besides that and the series priority really doesn't work that well, the new guide is great. The search and speed are light years ahead of the old guide.

Stephen | March 2, 2011 4:44 PM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37370

Hello Stephen and thanks for your questions and comments.

With this new on-screen guide we also have a new guide data listings provider. This is the same data listings provider that is used in our Motorola markets and most all cable systems .

How the DVR interprets the guide listings data is by looking at the New and Repeat "flag" in the data. The DVR doesn't determine if an episode is new by reading a value of "New," instead it determines if an episode is new by not seeing a value of "Repeat." And repeat is determined by mostly comparing the Original Air Date (OAD) to the scheduled air date. Currently, our data partner works on a three day rule. If a show is marked as 'New' and is scheduled to record new episodes only, the DVR could certainly also record the same show if those shows are within three days of the Original Air Date. It would still be considered 'new' and could re-record within three days.

Anticipating your next question, the concern with making the 3-day rule a 1-day rule is that the OAD value is the premiere date of a program in the U.S., however, it may not premiere on the same date in every market. This is definitely true with some of the syndicated talk shows like Oprah and Dr. Phil, which some markets may air the episodes on a one-day or two-day delay from when most markets premiere new episodes. It can also happen on the smaller networks like CW, or even FOX at times. It happens quite a bit when a local CW or FOX affiliate also has broadcast rights to local sports events. For example, when the Phillies season starts (GO PHILS), a CW episode of Gossip Girl or One Tree Hill may not air at its regularly scheduled day/time because of a Phillies game, and will likely air at an off-hour time. However, the OAD for that episode would be the regularly scheduled day/time, because that's when it premiered in some (most) markets. The fear in this case is that the DVR would not record these new episodes when they should be recorded. The theory here is that it is better to over-record than to under-record.

We do have something very similar to the "record this time, this day, this channel" for DVRs included in a future guide release coming later this year.

One option is to set a manual DVR recording: To set up a recurring manual recording - Press the My DVR button on your Comcast remote control, select Set a Recording, then Set a Manual recording, enter in your start and end times and start date. Choose the channel and then view recording settings - the settings can be modified to record once, every day, once a week, or weekdays.

Another option: Change the DVR recording options to "Save only one episode". The default is "All Episodes". You can change that to save only 1 episode (this would save only the most recent episode). The other options allow you to save 2 episodes up to 7 episodes.

From the grid, select a series to record. Press OK/Select and then arrow over to the red dot on the info screen (set or cancel a recording) Press OK/Select.

Choose "Set Up a series recording". Then select "View all settings". Arrow down to "Save:".

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Stephen | March 7, 2011 2:04 PM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37429

I like the overall look of the new guide system...but it is missing a few of the features that the old one had that I now really miss.
1-can't program power on channel...I liked this so that I knew that when we turned on the tv, the content would not be inapporpriate for my preshcooler.
2-can't set the day and time for certain shows to record every week. Now I can only choose to record series. If I choose to do this for my son's shows, it either will never record (when new shows only is chosen....since there are mostly reruns of his shows) or record too often ( if old and new is chosen).
3-can't skip to the end of a recorded show we are watching
4-rewind and ff controls are much too slow...even at the fastest level (though it is nice to see the amount of time elapsed)
5-can't choose the day/date you want to search for a program so I can record it.

Beth Ryan | March 4, 2011 8:25 PM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37408

Hello Ms. Ryan and thanks for your comments and questions.

The on-screen guide that was previously in your area had not added any new features or functionality in many years. With this new guide, there are many benefits that I think you will discover over time and additional use. For example, we have heard directly from many customers that they now appreciate the ability to be able search on a whole word to find programs. Also the layout, speed and responsiveness of the new On Demand menu are all things we have heard good comments about. There are many other improvements included in this guide. This guide is also a critical path for Comcast to offer new and competitive products quickly like Caller ID to the TV and interactive television that will be coming soon to your area.

The default power on channel would be whatever the last channel the cable box was tuned to. You can also leave the cable box on and turn the TV off. We do have a future feature that allows customers to set their "power-on" channel" for each cable box.

There are also some very granular parental control features that you may want to look at. Press the Menu button twice on the silver Comcast remote control, then select Parental Control. Here you can set locks by Movie Ratings, TV Ratings, TV Content, by channel, by title and also hide Adult and TV-MA Titles in the guide.

We do have something very similar to the "record this time, this day, this channel" for DVRs included in a future guide release coming later this year.

Besides setting a series recording, one option is to set a manual DVR recording: To set up a recurring manual recording - Press the My DVR button on your Comcast remote control, select Set a Recording, then Set a Manual recording, enter in your start and end times and start date. Choose the channel and then view recording settings - the settings can be modified to record once, every day, once a week, or weekdays.

To clarify on the DVR series recording settings - there are three options: Only new episodes, New and repeats, All with duplicates. New and repeats would record new and repeat episodes but is designed to only record each episode one time. All with duplicates would not be discretionary and would record the episode numerous times.

'Skip to the End' for DVR customers is also not included in this new guide. You may want to try the Page Up key on the silver remote control to skip ahead 5 minutes at a time and the Page Down key to skip back 5 minutes as alternative shortcuts.

Something new with this guide that you may not have noticed yet is that you now have the option to resume a DVR program from where you left off."

On Search ? yes, the new TV Title Search feature searches across all programs available in the database; on a DVR that is usually out 12 to 14 days.

Thanks again for your comments and thanks for being a Comcast customer.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Beth Ryan | March 7, 2011 3:33 PM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37439

Originally Posted by dlcrouch

So this means AnyRoomDVR won't be delivered until 2012 at the earliest?

Originally Posted by bizwig

Where does Comcast's 4-Tuner Spectrum DVR fit in that schedule? Do we even know how reliable it is compared to the POS DVRs it's used in the past? It passed the FCC months ago.

Comcast's quad-tuner Xfinity Spectrum DVR with internet access revealed by the FCC

Written on December 22, 2010 at 4:17 am
by News Updater
Tech News

Say hello to the future of DVRs, at least from Comcast, as its as-yet unannounced Xfinity Spectrum box passed through the FCC's database shortly after having its existence revealed by the Wall Street Journal. A quick peek at the production-ready manual reveals there's plenty of new features here, including a new guide design including IMDB-style cast & crew info as well as access to internet services. While it's hardware makes this Pace RNG-210n a 500GB HD DVR with four tuners, MoCA and IP access, one of the biggest changes is a software makeover means it pops up notifications prompted by your Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.



Configurable at Xfinity.com/Spectrum, it looks like it will only pull in information when people you follow share pictures, video, or link to info about TV shows and movies, with "most" viewable right on the box itself, plus the option to share what you're watching on those services. There's less details available about that "apps" section of the menu but weather, traffic, music and games are promised, take a quick peek at the most interesting sections including a look at the guide, remote and box in our gallery or check out the FCC filings yourself for more details -- it's hard to tell if the changes will make all our issues with cable provided set tops go away, but pretty much any new guide has to be better than what's there now, right?

http://tech-news.tk/?p=46114

Originally Posted by logman

still no new channels in 77092. Better not take a year. I don't need a new guide with no new channels.

Many of your new features are to be commended. I believe that I will enjoy using the new guide after I become more accustomed to it. Also, navigating through On Demand is much easier. Thank you. Still, I have a complaint... I am so disappointed that you took away the PIP feature. It was something I used every morning and I can't tell you how much I am missing it! Also, I've noticed that I can no longer set the TV to come on to a channel of my choosing. It always comes on to the last channel watched -- minor, I know, but still an annoyance. Thank you for allowing me to vent.

Cynthia | March 5, 2011 4:41 PM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37414

Hello Cynthia. Thanks for your kind words, comments and feedback. They are very much appreciated

The on-screen guide that was previously in your area had not added any new features or functionality in many years.

We have heard directly from many customers that they now appreciate the ability to be able search on a whole word to find programs. Also the layout, speed and responsiveness of the new On Demand menu are all things we have heard good comments about. There are many other improvements included in this guide. This guide is also a critical path for Comcast to offer new and competitive products quickly like Caller ID to the TV and interactive television that will be coming soon to your area.

Picture-in-Picture (PIP) functionality was a feature that was available with the previous guide on our Scientific Atlanta (SA) DVR cable boxes. I completely understand that this was a valuable core feature for some of our customers. I was disappointed that we were not able to retain PIP in this guide. Unfortunately, this unique feature could not be supported by the new guide given the goals and timing of this and future releases. PIP is not currently on our feature roadmap.

A new feature that is available with the new guide is the Pause, Swap, Pause functionality, which allows a customer to pause a current program that they are watching (i.e. football game on one channel), swap tuners to another channel and watch the programming on that channel for five minutes, pause that channel and then swap back to the original channel (football game), which is still paused.

The default power on channel would be whatever the last channel the cable box was tuned to. You can also leave the cable box on and turn the TV off. We do have a future feature that allows customers to set their "power-on" channel" for each cable box.

One of the key benefits of this new guide is that with a common platform, Comcast will be able to more quickly deliver new products and services to all of our customers. Once we get the initial version of this guide out to all of our Scientific Atlanta (SA) customers, you will start to see more rapid deployments of improvements and enhancements to the SA platform. That is one of the major reasons for this new guide; to get to a fairly consistent guide platform and user experience across the county. This will allow us to develop, test, trial and implement and deliver products much more quickly on this new platform rather than rely on separate paths for our SA and Motorola areas.

We have some significant enhancements and improvements to the on-screen guide coming this year that I think you will be quite pleased with.

Thanks again for your comments and thanks for being a Comcast customer.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Cynthia | March 7, 2011 4:16 PM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37444

Comcast Explores Network DVRs

March 7, 2011 | Jeff Baumgartner
LR Cable News Analysis

Now that Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) has cleared a legal path for network DVRs in the U.S., it's probably only a matter of time before other MSOs start to think about how they can strike up similar services and reduce capital spent on set-top boxes.

Put Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) on the list of operators that's at least giving Cablevision's concept of the "remote-storage" DVR more than a cursory glance.

"I think it is a great opportunity," Comcast President Neil Smit said Monday at the Deutsche Bank Securities Media & Telecom conference in Palm Beach, Fla., in response to questions about Cablevision's recent product launch. "We are currently investigating that and I think we're very conscious of the content owners and the content rights."

After hurdling copyright challenges brought on by programmers, Cablevision introduced its RS-DVR product, branded DVR Plus, in January in the Bronx for $10.95 per month. Cablevision's hopeful that its use of downloadable security and reduced reliance on boxes without hard drives will let it buy boxes for as low as $50 per unit. (See Cablevision's Network DVR Debuts in the Bronx and Cablevision Eyes $50 Set-Top.)

For the moment, Comcast is still focused on local DVR/set-top combos, a video-on-demand (VoD) library that's currently comprised of 25,000 "choices" and its Xfinity TV Online product for PCs and tablets. (See Comcast's 'Project Infinity' Takes Flight and Comcast's TV Everywhere Play Breaks Out of Beta .)

But Smit did acknowledge that Comcast is working on a way for customers to port content stored on a DVR hard drive and take it with them for later playback. "We're looking at that capability. But I think a lot of functionality currently exists for the customer," Smit says.

If and when Comcast pulls the trigger on such a product, it already has a name ready to go. About a year ago, Comcast made the term "DVR2Go" a registered trademark, and Motorola Mobility Inc. (NYSE: MMI), one of Comcast's key suppliers, had previously used the same term in some public literature. (See Comcast Shoots for 'DVR2Go' Trademark .)

Comcast has played around with "portable" DVR technology in the past, most notably its work with Panasonic Corp. (NYSE: PC) on a tru2way-based product that was never launched. (See Comcast, Panny Polishing Portable DVR .)

Overall, Smit seemed bullish on how Comcast can continue to evolve its video products. "I think video is really the battleground and the area where we see the most opportunity for innovation," he said, noting that Comcast's app for the iPad has already been downloaded more than 1.3 million times roughly five months after it was launched.


High on Wi-Fi

Smit also addressed Comcast's wireless strategy, noting that the MSO will continue to work with Clearwire LLC (Nasdaq: CLWR), but that the MSO has been expanding its use of Wi-Fi, hopeful that the two technologies will live together.

He said Comcast's Wi-Fi build in the metro Philadelphia area cost $20 million to $25 million. "We're not as dense as I would like to be, but at $4,500 an access point, we think it is a scalable solution for us."

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable

http://www.lightreading.com/document...treading_gnews

Cablevision's Network DVR Debuts in the Bronx

January 24, 2011 | Jeff Baumgartner
LR Cable News Analysis

Without much fanfare, Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) has launched its ambitious Remote Storage-DVR (RS-DVR) service in the New York borough of the Bronx, Light Reading Cable has learned.

As of Jan. 11, this Cablevision Web page noted that the network DVR service, branded as DVR Plus, was still undergoing a consumer trial. Since then, it's been updated to note that the offering is now available to customers in the Bronx who, at a minimum, subscribe to the MSO's Family Cable tier. (See Cablevision Trademarks Mobile, RS-DVR Brands.)

Cablevision spokesman Jim Maiella confirmed by e-mail on Sunday that DVR Plus was indeed launched across the operator's Bronx service area on Tuesday, Jan. 18. The $10.95-a-month service comes with 160GB of storage -- the same as its set-top-based iO DVR service -- offering enough to store up to 100 hours of standard-definition programming or 25 hours of HD programming.

Here are a couple of screen shots from the DVR Plus reference guide (PDF):

DVR From Afar

An example of how to set recordings.

Eye On Storage

DVR Plus lets subscribers check how much of their 160GB they've used up.

Cablevision is billing this as a whole-home DVR, meaning any qualified digital box in the home can access programming recorded on the MSO's network, and set and manage DVR recordings. DVR Plus lets subscribers record up to four shows at the same time, while watching a fifth already-recorded show.

Unlike other whole-home DVRs that use high-speed networking tech like Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) , DVR Plus doesn't rely on a master DVR to share content with other boxes on the home network. Instead, all content is stored on, and played back from, the MSO's cloud-based storage banks. Customers access and manage DVR Plus on channel 1001.

But the other features of DVR Plus closely mimic those of regular DVRs, including the ability to record entire seasons of TV series, pause and resume live programming (via a temporary buffer that stores up to 15 minutes worth of live video), and parental controls.

Cablevision has not said when it expects to expand DVR Plus to other systems or if it intends to offer tiers that provide more networks storage.


Early box limitations

One catch: So far, the Bronx launch of DVR Plus allows subscribers to use only the following Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO)/Scientific Atlanta box models to record programs from: the 1800 SD, 1850 SD, 4200SD/4200 HD and 4250 SD/4250 HD.

According to the Cablevision website, box models with baked-in DVRs, such as the Cisco/SA 8300 HD and 8300 SD, can only play back programs recorded using the DVR Plus service. They can also access any recordings made on their own hard drives, of course, but can't share those recordings with any others set-tops in the home. Apparently absent from DVR Plus so far are boxes made by Samsung Corp. , which Cablevision is using to help get its new downloadable security platform off the ground. (See Cablevision Makes its Security Deadline and Samsung Boxes Break In at Cablevision .)

The site also notes that CableCARD devices (such as TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO) DVRs and digital TV models with integrated CableCARD slots) are not currently compatible with DVR Plus.


Long road to the RS-DVR

Cablevision's RS-DVR has been years in the making, from its 2006 introduction, via a legal go-ahead from the U.S. Department of Justice in 2009, to last year's limited version (and a goal of a full-featured service by the end of 2010, which the MSO just missed). Here's some of our past coverage:

"Cablevision RS-DVR Gets Limited Deployment"
"DoJ: Butt Out of Cablevision RS-DVR Case"
"Cablevision Girds for Remote DVRs and Inside Cablevision's 'RS-DVR'"
"Supremes Consider Cablevision's RS-DVR and Court Resurrects Cablevision's Network DVR"

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable

http://www.lightreading.com/document...&site=lr_cable

No sleep timer, no PIP, no skip to end for DVR, can't turn the box off if it is recording and horrible new interface. Goodbye Comcast. The failure that is the "new and improved" guide is too much. I really gave you guys a chance, but add this to your horrible customer service, and I will be switching to a new cable provider.

John | March 8, 2011 1:50 AM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37455

Hello John, thanks for your feedback. I am sorry to hear that you are not satisfied with the new on-screen program guide.

The on-screen guide that was previously in your area had not added any new features or functionality in many years.

Change is often a challenge, especially after using the same on-screen guide interface for many years. I can certainly understand and appreciate that. The path for future features and quick innovation is through this new guide - features that a majority of our customers have been asking for and features that are already available in the majority of Comcast areas. The main reason why we are implementing this on-screen guide change is to be able to deliver additional features and services to all of our customers a lot quicker. Some examples of these future features include Caller ID to the TV, myDVR Manager (scheduling your DVR via your phone or from the internet) and AnyRoom DVR. These are features that cannot quickly be delivered via the current software that you have on your cable box today. The Caller ID to the TV feature is a great value added benefit for our Comcast Digital Voice customers. There is much more information on this new on-screen guide here: http://www.comcast.net/meetyourguide/

Picture-in-Picture (PIP) functionality was a feature that was available with the previous guide on our SA DVR cable boxes. I completely understand that this was a valuable core feature for you. I was disappointed that we were not able to retain PIP in this guide. Unfortunately, this unique feature could not be supported by the new guide given the business goals and timing and our goal of uniformity. There are many benefits of the new guide that I think you will discover over time and additional use. For example, we have heard directly from many customers that they now appreciate the new search feature - plus the layout, speed and responsiveness of the new On Demand menu. There are many other improvements included in this guide, including multiple favorites list, additional channel grids, parental lock by title, local weather and much more. I realize that these new features don't (yet) replace the passion that you have for PIP.

Some televisions have a PIP feature built in. The new guide does not impact your television set's PIP functionality (if it has one). This link may help: http://www.comcast.com/MediaLibrary/...nts/pip_tv.pdf

You would need to also use the TV remote control to use and control the PIP display.

A new DVR feature that is available with the new guide is the Pause, Swap, Pause functionality, which allows a customer to pause a current program that they are watching (i.e. football game on one channel), swap tuners to another channel and watch the programming on that channel for five minutes, pause that channel and then swap back to the original channel (football game), which is still paused.

The previous guide software did allow you to turn the DVR box off (it actually went into standby) when you were recording a program, the new guide software does not. This is certainly a slight change in behavior in line with what the majority of our customers are used to and have in their home today. You can certainly leave the cable box on and the TV off when recording programs. If you leave your cable box off, it will turn on to record according to what you have scheduled.

With the new on-screen guide, when you attempt to turn off the cable box while a DVR recording is in progress, an on-screen message appears that says the following:
"A recording is in progress. Turning off your cable box will stop all recordings in progress."

There are two options presented on-screen underneath this message.
1. Continue recording, leave cable box on
2. Stop recording, turn cable box off.

You can chose one of those options. If no selection is chosen the on-screen message will time out and the DVR will continue to record.

Unfortunately, the sleep timer functionality also is a feature that is not currently supported in the new guide. I realize that this may have been a core feature for you. Many television sets support that feature independently.

Competition and choice is good for everyone. It forces companies to innovate, develop and implement better products and allows customers to have choices. Of course, I hope that you choose to keep Comcast as your video service provider, but it is great to have options.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from John | March 8, 2011 9:05 PM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37473

New program guide should be revised... I have a list of 13 problems with it, yes 13...
1) Pause a show, PAU is displayed on the box and time goes away
2) Turn the box off, clock disappears, now I have to keep it on all day and night
3) Scheduled recording finished displays and won't go away unless I click exit
4) At the top of the hour or bottom of the hour, PLA shows up and clock disappears
5) Click MY DVR to enter, have to click EXIT to leave, used to clicking MY DVR would take you back out
6) On the recorded list, shows are in minutes now, I am horrible at figuring out how long 108 minutes is, used to it would show 1 hr 48 min
7) If you have two shows taping at the same time, and you are watching a show from your list, that show ends, you delete it.. boom pops up a show that is being recording and spoiling the ending, for example, Survivor and tribal council.
8) Clock is not displayed when you pause, rewind or fast forward.. FF2 shows 3 arrows on the screen, but FF2 on the display.. I don't want the clock to go away
9) When you are at the bottom of your recorded list, you have to scroll back up if you want to see the beginning.. it should loop back around like the old way did.
10) I don't like it showing only 4 or 5 channels at a time and it's in a block of channels too. Why can't it let you scroll down one at a time? If I want to see channels 8 through 13, I have to tune to channel 8. If I tune to 11 it shows me 11 through 15.
11) You can no longer see the number of programs you have recorded.
12) When you change the setting from double lines to single lines, so you can see a 5th channel during scrolling.. your titles are so much shorter and ending with three dots.
13) The bullets are gone, if you are looking at 7pm and something started before then, the two left arrows are gone.

Crystal Hobbs | March 8, 2011 11:10 AM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37462

Hello Ms. Hobbs and thanks for your feedback. I am sorry to hear that you are not satisfied with the new on-screen program guide.

The on-screen guide that was previously in your area had not added any new features or functionality in many years. There are some slight behavior and feature variances from the previous guide and I apologize that this is frustrating. It sounds like you really were used to the clock feature display on the front panel of the cable box.

Change is often a challenge, especially after using the same on-screen guide interface for many years. I can certainly understand and appreciate that. The path for future features and quick innovation is through this new guide - features that a majority of our customers have been asking for and features that are already available in the majority of Comcast areas. The main reason why we are implementing this on-screen guide change is to be able to deliver additional features and services to all of our customers a lot quicker. Some examples of these future features include Caller ID to the TV, myDVR Manager (scheduling your DVR via your phone or from the internet) and AnyRoom DVR. These are features that cannot quickly be delivered via the current software that you have on your cable box today. The Caller ID to the TV feature is a great value added benefit for our Comcast Digital Voice customers. There is much more information on this new on-screen guide here: http://www.comcast.net/meetyourguide/

There is a slight power variance between the SA/Cisco box and other set top boxes being on and off (most consumer electronic equipment is never really all the way "off" unless it's physically unplugged.). The variance I see between power on mode and sleep mode on a Cisco HD set top is roughly 0.3 W http://www.energystar.gov/ia/product..._prod_list.pdf

Leaving the box on allows for your cable box to easily get software and firmware updates as well as updated TV listings.

To go back a menu in any guide screen like On Demand or myDVR (or from any area in the guide), try using the "Last" key on the Comcast silver remote control (instead of ?Exit?). Last acts like a "back" button to step you back to the previous screen.

You are correct that the current on-screen guide does not allow you to go back in time to view program listings in the grid that have already occurred. The team felt that it was more important to show more upcoming program listings than those listings in the past. With an upcoming guide we will re-introduce that functionality.

The previous guide software did allow you to turn the DVR box off (it actually went into standby) when you were recording a program, the new guide software does not. This is certainly a slight change in behavior in line with what the majority of our customers are used to and have in their home today. You can certainly leave the cable box on and the TV off when recording programs. If you leave your cable box off, it will turn on to record according to what you have scheduled and the clock will always be displayed.

With the new on-screen guide, when you attempt to turn off the cable box while a DVR recording is in progress, an on-screen message appears that says the following:
"A recording is in progress. Turning off your cable box will stop all recordings in progress."
There are two options presented on-screen underneath this message.
1. Continue recording, leave cable box on
2. Stop recording, turn cable box off.

You can chose one of those options. If no selection is chosen the on-screen message will time out and the DVR will continue to record.

I hope the above is helpful. Thanks again for your feedback and thanks for being a Comcast customer.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Crystal Hobbs | March 8, 2011 9:29 PM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37475

Originally Posted by logman

still no new channels in 77092. Better not take a year. I don't need a new guide with no new channels.

Thanks, Ted, for keeping us up-to-date and answering so many questions in this blog.

I thought I had read that we would get information in the mail before we get the new guide. Although I did get the new guide last night (Rutland, VT), the only notice from Comcast was a recorded phone call yesterday. The recorded message did give the web site reference to read about the guide but he did not speak clearly enough for me to understand what he was saying. I tried going to what I thought he said for the website and it did not exist. If I hadn't been following this blog and seen the reference here, I would not have found the http://www.comcast.net/meetyourguide/ reference, and there was no mailing to list it.

My first 2 impressions are
(1) Not much of the screen is actually used for the guide.
(2) It took at least 10 remote button pushes to turn subtitles on or off. Unless I find an easier way to do that, that is a major issue for me. I usually watch with subtitles off, but when there's dialog I can't make out, I like to rewind a few seconds, turn subtitles on, play the garbled part, then turn subtitles back off. It took a few keystrokes before but not nearly as much as it does now. I hope in the future, subtitles can be toggled on/off with one button as is common on several remotes.

John Allison | March 9, 2011 10:18 AM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37488

Hello John and thanks for your comments and questions. Apologies and not sure why you did not receive the notification mail about the new on-screen guide, we do have that information available on the website if you want to review further http://www.comcast.net/meetyourguide/#downloads.

You are able to modify the listings grid to show 5 channels at one time (instead of 4 channels). Press the Menu button on your Comcast silver remote control twice, choose Set Up from the on-screen menu, then Guide Set Up, scroll down to the Grid Cell Height option and change Double Height (the default) to Single Height.

As you have found, to turn the subtitles (captions) on via the cable box, press the Menu button twice on the silver Comcast remote control, then Setup, the subtitle setup, We do have plans to elevate the access to the subtitle.caption feature earlier in the menu.

There are many benefits of the new guide that I think you will discover over time and additional use. For example, we have heard directly from many customers that they now appreciate the new search feature - plus the layout, speed and responsiveness of the new On Demand menu. There are many other improvements included in this guide, including multiple favorites list, additional channel grids, parental lock by title, local weather and much more.

Thanks again for your feedback and thanks for being a Comcast customer.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from John Allison | March 9, 2011 11:50

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37491

Ted, is it true that Scientific Atlantic/Cisco box users will be receiving a version of the I-Guide that is already considered out of date by a couple of years and is simultaneousy or shortly being replaced for existing Motorola box users?

I hope that this is not the case. If it is the case, is the I-Guide version coming to Scientific Atlanta/Cisco a dated version of I-Guide due to the numerous delays in its implementation?

Max Levy | August 19, 2010 4:17 PM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-34432

Hello Mr. Levy. Thanks for your questions.

In order to start giving our SA customers a better on-screen guide experience sooner (and the subsequent additional products), the company made a decision to deliver the A25 equivalent now to our SA customers (with additional features to be added on soon) as opposed to continue to develop, test and implement an A28 equivalent (our latest Motorola guide) which would have only delayed the SA guide rollout (and subsequent projects and products) even more.

The first phase of the new guide for our SA areas is the critical path to get to Caller ID, remote DVR scheduling and other advanced features. These specific features are targeted for a future guide release. Once we get this initial guide deployed in 2010, the additional improvements and new features for our SA areas will be able to be delivered a lot faster.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Max Levy | August 24, 2010 7:18 AM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-34499

You completely messed up one of my TVs, and of course it is the one that is used the most. The guide did not download properly and I had to call for help. Now I have a very fuzzy lousy picture, and the new guide is not an improvement. The DVR lost all of its programs to be recorded. Not only that, but you've called my phone at least 6 times today without leaving a message. So all in all, this whole thing has just messed things up, ruined my reception, and irritated me. Not comcastic.

Vee Philo | March 9, 2011 8:36 PM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37502

Hello Vee Philo and thanks for posting on Comcast Voices. Please accept my apologies for the issues your cable box encountered getting the new on-screen guide. Your situation was not expected and not what the majority of our customers experience.

You may want to check that your TV is on channel 3 or channel 4 (check both of them for the one that will give you video) and of course check the connections in the back of the cable box, TV and from the wall, they should all be tight.

Scheduled DVR Recordings are certainly expected to be retained. To check, press the myDVR button on the silver Comcast remote control then choose Scheduled Recordings for today. To view additional scheduled recordings, use the right arrow button to show the next day. Each additional arrow press should move you out a day to view scheduled recordings.

Again, apologies for the experience that you had and for the multiple telephone calls. Please give us a call at 1-800-COMCAST if you are continuing to have issues.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Vee Philo | March 10, 2011 11:57 AM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37511

While it seems silly to become frustrated about this, I struggle to keep my cool and be patient with Comcast regarding services in my area. This patience is forced because I simply do not have another option when it comes to television service in my area (Alexandria, VA 22304).

What I find unnerving and false advertising is that my service is truly Comcast's Xfinity. In my area we are provided with the Scientific Atlanta equipment, and thus our programming guide and DVR service looks as if it was lifted from the programming code of a ColecoVision (circa 1982).

The bills I receive are branded Xfinity. The commercials in my area are Xfinity. I receive door hanger notices that Xfinity is available in my area!

If what I have been provided is Xfinity, then I am solely disappointed. My question is this, how is it that in one of the largest markets in the United States can Comcast neglect to provide updated features and services, yet falsely claim that it's customers are being provided with its new and improved Xfinity brand?

Alas, I see that I have two options.
1) Suck it up and deal (and negatively promote Comcast to my friends, family, and anyone I meet)
2) Get rid of the service and simply rely on over-the-air television.

As Edward said in the earlier post. This is second-class service. Comcast should be rather ashamed, but I know they won't be...because it is only about mergers, take-overs, and profits.

Jeremy Cross | March 10, 2011 11:01 AM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37510

Hello Mr. Cross. I can appreciate and understand your frustration (and, no it is not silly) and apologize for the timing in getting some of our Scientific Atlanta (SA) areas updated. While I work primarily on the on-screen guides, I may be able to help with an XFINITY definition and provide a schedule update.

XFINITY is Comcast's enhanced TV, Internet and Voice service made possible by our network upgrade to an all-digital platform. Today, XFINITY offers the fastest Internet speeds, triple the HD channels, TV on customers' computers, an On Demand library approaching 20,000 titles, and many more exciting, new features.

XFINITY brings customers more of their favorite entertainment as well as more ways to enjoy it where, when and how they want.

All current customers have to do is relax and enjoy. And, over the coming months, Comcast will continue to enhance their XFINITY TV, Internet and Voice services automatically.

As soon as we have upgraded our network to an all-digital platform in a customer's community, they will receive XFINITY automatically. This is an ongoing process and project that has been completed in the majority of the Washington, DC area.

Customers can visit www.xfinity.com and click on 'Is XFINITY available in my area?' at the top of the homepage to see if XFINITY is available in their community today. If XFINITY is not currently available in their community, they can sign up to receive an email alert once XFINITY becomes available.

As we upgrade our network on an area-by-area basis, we strive to make the transition to XFINITY as easy as possible for customers. We may need to provide some customers with digital equipment and will do so for up to three TVs at no additional monthly service charge. In fact one of the primary reasons that the on-screen guide is delayed for your area is that we felt it was more important to deliver the XFINITY experience to your area ahead of the new on-screen guide. You should expect to see some notification and significant additions to your channel lineup starting this month and into April.

We are now very much focused on our Scientific Atlanta/Cisco (SA) areas and our SA customers with delivering this new guide experience and World of More (with more HD channels and more On Demand content) to these areas. This is something that is already starting to happen. We appreciate your patience. These new products and services will get to your area soon.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Jeremy Cross | March 10, 2011 12:50 PM

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/05/new-...#comment-37516

Customers can visit www.xfinity.com and click on 'Is XFINITY available in my area?' at the top of the homepage to see if XFINITY is available in their community today. If XFINITY is not currently available in their community, they can sign up to receive an email alert once XFINITY becomes available.

Originally Posted by mmatheny

What a bunch of you know what - there IS no 'Is XFINITY available in my area?' link at the top of the page. Matter of fact, NOWHERE on the page! More FUD. Oh, and lies.

Originally Posted by Sports_Realist

What is the specific, practical reason this software is apparently incapable of handling PIP?

Originally Posted by Sports_Realist

The guide long used by Motorola boxes doesn't have PIP. Since the new SA guide is based on the Motorola guide, therefore the new SA guide won't have PIP either. With that in mind, has it ever been properly explained by Ted Hodgins or anyone else exactly why the Motorola guide software excludes PIP? Boxes with two tuners ought to be able to handle PIP. So why not write the Motorola/New SA guide software to include it? All we get is talk about uniformity, timing, and goals from Ted when this question comes up. What is the specific, practical reason this software is apparently incapable of handling PIP?

Phase 4 of the SA guide implementation will return pass through per previous comments from Ted Hodgins. I'm pretty sure Phase 4 will only be available to RNG 150 and RNG 200 boxes.