Seems likely we’ll eventually see it from the Canadian X1 licencees
PHILADELPHIA – This week Comcast launched Xfinity Flex, a new $5/mo. service which provides Xfinity Internet-only customers the ability to stream thousands of free movies and TV shows as well as use their television and voice control to manage all connected devices in their home.
Xfinity Flex comes with an Internet-connected, 4K HDR streaming TV device, Comcast’s award-winning voice remote, one integrated guide for accessing popular streaming video and music choices, as well as Comcast’s home Wi-Fi, mobile, security, and automation services.
Plus, having that extra little box in an Internet-only home gives the company an avenue to pitch more TV and upsell internet-only customers on more video. So, if a Flex customer does, in fact, want more TV from Comcast, the box which can handle that is already in the home and can be added with the click of the remote. Xfinity Flex customers will be able to easily upgrade to the full Xfinity X1 cable service right from the guide, which offers hundreds of live channels, tens of thousands of on demand titles, and a cloud DVR.
“Xfinity Flex will deepen our relationship with a certain segment of our Internet customers and provide them with real value,” said Matt Strauss, executive vice president, Xfinity Services, in the press release.
Xfinity Flex comes with more than 10,000 free online movies and TV shows—including live streaming TV—from ESPN3, Xumo, Pluto TV, Tubi TV, Cheddar, YouTube, and more. The Xfinity Flex box features an integrated guide and voice control, enabling customers to easily browse and access programming across apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO, and Showtime, rent and purchase movies and shows from the digital store, access their digital lockers across platforms by pairing their account with Movies Anywhere, or listen to music from Pandora, iHeartRadio, and XITE, reads the release.
So why is this news in Canada? Shaw Cable, Rogers Cable and Videotron are all licencees of Comcast’s whole home X1 platform, which means Flex is certainly now in their roadmap, if not yet.
Rogers CFO Tony Staffieri even alluded to just that this week when he spoke at the Scotiabank Telecom, Media and Technology conference Tuesday and said “What we see with X1 and… all the other products that come with it in terms of a roadmap, whether it be Flex, xFi, Xhome, is really about adding more utility value to that internet connection.”
