“The technology is great, the team is great, the future is secure, the dream lives on. In an interview with Reuters on Friday, Huggers had kind words for his short-term employer, saying he had no issues with management at Verizon, and implicitly promising the OnCue system will continue to be developed in one form or another. Now the man behind OnCue, Erik Huggers, is leaving his surrogate parent company after only five months, signaling more uncertainty for the service's lofty goals. The over-the-top device that promised to combine succinct TV programming, apps, and mobile delivery to create “the best Internet television service ever” was shelved by Intel, and sold to Verizon before it ever hit the market. If you don’t remember Intel’s OnCue system, there’s good reason. Verizon adds 14 more live TV channels to its FiOS TV app for Xbox ![]() Verizon gives potential cord cutters a better deal with custom FiOS TV package Verizon is killing off its FiOS TV apps for Xbox, smart TVs on March 31 Want a free year of Netflix? You’ll need to sign up for 2 years of Verizon Fios Verizon now lets you mix and match on Fios But for now, at least, the loss of Intel’s OnCue dream seems like one less David fighting for the little guy. ![]() We’ll have to wait and see what happens as Verizon builds out its new set-top streaming system, as well as how the other players in the industry will react. And having two Goliaths may not be any better than just one. ![]() While the burgeoning of the streaming age has created whole new opportunities for entertainment, and the cord-cutting crowd has in some ways forced big cable to adapt, these companies still hold all the keys to the castle. However, with its latest win over net neutrality, its massively expansive mobile network, and the possibility of a geographically unbound delivery system for FiOS cable packages, it would seem that Verizon may now be even more powerful as a fully separate entity.Ĭomcast is reportedly still working on its own internet products, and make no mistake, the king of cable isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. When reports first started surfacing of Verizon’s interest in purchasing Oncue, consumer advocates were nervous about the company’s close ties with other cable providers, specifically Comcast, which would create a conflict of interest when it comes to healthy competition in the cable industry. Gigaom speculates we could also see cable packages bundled with mobile services, and other Verizon products as an additional incentive to go with FiOS’ new brand of TV. If the company is able to secure licensing for its OnCue service it could mean that FiOS cable services will be available to any household with an Internet connection, ironically, over the same pipelines owned by Comcast, Time Warner, and other competing cable service providers. Now, Verizon is playing its own game, and there’s no telling where it will lead. But suddenly, in August of last year, Verizon pulled out. And until recently, as reported by Gigaom, Verizon was attempting to benefit from Comcast’s long shadow, teaming up with the company to create a new streaming box that could send video from both companies’ mobile streaming apps to a TV, sort of like a proprietary Chromecast. With over 22 million subscribers, and tentative plans to purchase Time Warner Cable, Comcast rules supreme. And that could change everything.Ī huge facet to Verizon’s new plans for cable domination is the aboutface of its previously all-too-cozy relationship with cable competitors, namely the big daddy of the cable world, Comcast. In essence, that would mean the company could deliver its current content over virtually any wireless network, without the barrier of physical infrastructure. ![]() However, Verizon has long been looking into amending its current contracts with content providers to leverage the content for use with the OnCue system. Like its competitors, the only way to get more subscribers would be to expand licensing deals and infrastructure, or acquire competing cable services. As of now, Verizon’s relatively small piece of the cable pie, about 5 million customers, is limited to the service’s physical footprint. The deal could also mean that FiOS is about to get really big, really fast.
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