What exactly is Entertainment OS and how is it different than the current Ignite system?

[wayner92]

A few months ago, Rogers announced that they signed a deal with Comcast to bring Entertainment OS to Canada.  But it isn't very clear what Entertainment OS is, other than perhaps having a unified search so that you could find what you want across streaming services and TV.  It seems like there may be Xumo streaming boxes that could replace the current IgniteTV box.  And apparently Xumo is also integrated into some TVs, as the tvOS.

But it all still seems very fuzzy.

Here is an article with more about Xumo, which is actually a joint venture between Charter and Comcast:

https://www.nexttv.com/news/xumo-tv

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I'll start off with press releases from both Rogers and Comcast for their 10-year technology licensing agreement:

https://about.rogers.com/news-ideas/rogers-to-bring-world-class-comcast-and-xfinity-products-to-cana...

https://www.comcasttechnologysolutions.com/news/rogers-bring-world-class-comcast-and-xfinity-product...

and here is the link describing what Entertainment OS is: https://www.comcasttechnologysolutions.com/syndication-suite/entertainment-os

Comcast has developed their Global Technology Platform and they license it to syndication partners.  Entertainment OS started as the underlying software that powered our current Ignite set-top boxes and is evolving to power a new generation of set-top boxes and smart TVs that select syndication partners have developed in partnership with Comcast.  (Sky Glass TVs, Sky Stream, Hubbl, Xumo Stream Box, etc.)

As for what it means for Rogers, the Comcast press release had an interesting tidbit: Soon, Rogers [xx] millions of customers will be able to experience the future of entertainment with a new device powered by Entertainment OS, the next generation of connectivity via the best gateways and devices, as well as an expanded suite of home security products and features all developed by Comcast and Xfinity.

This is pretty much confirmation that there will be a new set-top box running new software with the Entertainment OS branding.  However, there is no public information out as to what this will be.

LightReading also published an article about the Rogers-Comcast syndication deal: https://www.lightreading.com/cable-technology/rogers-cuts-new-ten-year-tech-and-product-deal-with-co...

So did TheDesk: https://thedesk.net/news/rogers-comcast-expanded-licensing-deal/

These articles also say that Rogers will be getting a new Comcast-developed streaming box, and that it will be a "white-label" device to which Rogers will apply their own branding.

What's also notable is that Sky TV publishes release notes explaining features that will be coming in upcoming versions of Entertainment OS: https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-TV/Entertainment-OS-1-2-on-Sky/ba-p/4632342

I thought this was interesting: Sky Sports Main Event soon to be available in Low Latency 

Sky Sports Main Event viewers will soon be able to watch the channel in Low Latency, reducing the time between the action on the pitch and watching on your Sky Glass or Stream. Latency has been reduced by over 20 seconds, which means you can now watch your favourite sports faster than many other streaming services.

Don't know if or when this will be coming to Ignite TV but is has been a pet peeve of ardent sports fans when an app on their smart phone notifies them of a goal but it takes 30 seconds to appear on TV.  (I also can't immediately see why a new version of Entertainment OS would be needed to take advantage of an optimized encoding pipeline for sports channels.)

We will have to wait and see what Entertainment OS will do to enhance the Ignite TV experience.  I don't think we will hear anything more from Rogers until they have something to announce when new hardware and new features are ready to roll out.

[wayner92]

I wonder if Entertainment OS would be embedded in TVs in the way that you can buy a TV with the Roku OS or FireTV OS?  This sounds like something that Comcast would do, but Rogers wouldn't bring to Canada, just like TV OS apps for Xfinity that are not available in Canada for IgniteTV.