Cox Quietly Debuts Xfinity Flex-based Streaming Player
Cox Communications, which licenses CPE technology from Comcast, has quietly debuted its own streaming player based on the No. 1 operator’s Xfinity Flex blueprint.
According to a Cox rep, Contour Stream has been available to broadband-only customers for $5 a month since May. Light Reading was the first to report on this Cox product. Privately owned Cox has set up a page for the product here.
Just as Contour follows the licensed blueprint for Comcast’s X1 video platform, Countour Stream is based on Xfinity Flex, which deploys a Comcast Xi6 client and XB6 DOCSIS 3.1 gateway.
Related: Comcast Makes Xfinity Flex Streaming Box and Voice Remote Free to Internet Only Customers
Contour Stream supports Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Tubi and ESPN3 apps, among others. It also uses Contour voice control navigation, just as Flex uses the X1 Voice Remote.
Notably, on Wednesday, Comcast announced that it would stop charging its broadband-only customers $5 a month and start giving Flex to them for free.
Also notable, Canadian operators Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications and Videotron also license X1. Expect a Flex offering from these operators soon.
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Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!