Comcast has released another batch of additions and enhancements for X1, its next-gen video platform, led off by the commercial rollout of a feature that was previously being tested through its Labs section.
The X1 “Remind” feature is now featured on the action bar for all program listings. “Once activated, an X1 notification will appear reminding you it’s time to tune in. Users who previously enabled Reminders via Labs will continue to have access to this feature, and is now available to everyone,” Peter Nush, Comcast Cable’s VP of product management, explained in this blog post.
Comcast has also added a notification for Auto Extend, a feature that ensures that live events recorded to the DVR will be automatically extended if, for example, a sporting event goes into overtime. The new notification now shows up when the viewer is playing back the recording. Comcast introduced Auto Extend for X1 in August 2015.
X1 now also supports a “self-healing” response system that enters play when the playback of a completed DVR recording somehow fails. In those situations, the system will provide the customer with all available alternatives for viewing the program.
“The DVR will first immediately retry the playback,” Nush explained. “If the retry fails, X1 will begin playback of the free/entitled version of the program On Demand, where available. If there is not an On Demand version of your recording, X1 may also prompt you to record the next airing of the program.”
Additionally X1 has enhanced its Music experience with better discoverability and easier playback. Among them, Comcast has rearranged the options on the Music Artist pages to pull up the most relevant features and content to customers, a move that reduces the number of clicks to playback. Comcast has also moved the Shuffle feature for Music to the first to the first option on the action menu.
Along with its Q1 results, Comcastsaid that nearly 35% of its 22.4 million video subs are now on X1. The MSO is aiming to raise that to about 50% by the end of this year.
