Comcast to Launch Portable Digital Video Player

Comcast, the largest U.S. cable operator, and consumer electronics maker Matsushita Electric Industrial's Panasonic unit will launch a co-branded portable digital video player that can show videos like Apple's iPod and record shows from any U.S. cable operator's system.

The AnyPlay device is the first of a range of new electronic devices based on technology developed jointly by the cable industry and consumer electronics makers intended to increase interoperability among cable operators -- and increase their threat to satellite TV rivals.

AnyPlay can record up to 60 hours of video and plays DVDs and CDs. It also features an 8.5-inch display screen. The device will be unveiled on Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts told Reuters ahead of the show that the industry had been working on the technology standard for several years and now plans to roll it out across the United States this year.

"We knew we needed an open, national and interoperable structure between cable companies," said Roberts, who is also chair of industry technology trade body Cable Labs.

Cable companies have faced increasing competition for video subscribers from both satellite pay-TV companies such as DIRECTV Group DTV.O and EchoStar Communications Corp as well as nascent video services from phone companies such as AT&T and Verizon Communications.

"We also knew there would be more competition and we had to change," said Roberts. "The era of closed cable is over and the era of open cable is here." Reuters' Yinka Adegoke reports

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