If you are an owner of a Sony Android TV that also happens to subscribe to Comcast’s Xfinity TV, you’ll soon have one less remote to juggle. On Tuesday, November 14, Comcast announced that Sony is the latest company to join Comcast’s Xfinity TV partner program, bringing the cable service directly to the company’s Android-powered smart TVs.
Though you won’t need to use it nearly as much, don’t plan on throwing your cable box away. Just as with the Roku TVs that joined the Xfinity TV Partner Program early this year, you still need your Xfinity cable box in order for the app to work. All of the features you’re used to — including local programming and viewing Cloud DVR recordings — will work on your TV via the Xfinity TV Partner app.
You won’t need to worry about a lower quality picture when using the app instead of your cable box either. “We look forward to working closely with Comcast to deliver consistently high — quality programming to our best in class smart TVs, combining Android TV streaming with the immersion of 4K HDR experiences via their advanced managed network,” Sony Director of Product Marketing for TV and Projectors Kevin Brinkman said in a statement.
Comcast launched the Xfinity TV Partner Program in April 2016, with Samsung as the first manufacturer to join. The service was slow to start, with only a handful of manufacturers including Roku and more recently LG joining, but with Sony jumping on board, the service seems poised to pick up steam.
“We remain focused on providing our customers with more choice and flexibility in how, when and where they access the content included with their Xfinity TV subscription,” Comcast Cable Vice President of Video Subscription Services Mike Gatzke said in the announcement. “Providing our customers with the highest quality entertainment experiences across devices remains a top priority, so we are thrilled to partner with Sony to give our customer s access to the Xfinity TV app directly on Sony Smart TVs.”
There is no specific launch date for when the app will become available to Sony Android TV owners, but Comcast says it expects to the app will be available at some point in 2018.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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