cable

To discourage media companies from proliferating Web-based entertainment, pay-TV operators such as Time Warner Cable are using tactics like offering higher payments or threatening to drop programming, according to a report by Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources.

Such goading is meant to keep programming out of the hands of digital entertainment services that companies like Intel and Apple are pursuing.

As cable companies negotiate distribution agreements with content providers, a chief interest is keeping as much hold on exclusive content as they can. That gatekeeper status has long been a cable company strategy to keep customers and fend off digital competition. … Read more

Comcast is making it even easier for its broadband subscribers to access the Internet outside the confines of their homes.

For the past couple of years, the company, along with several other cable operators, has been building out a Wi-Fi network in public areas, such as train platforms and in small businesses such as cafes and retail locations, to allow its broadband customers mobile access to the Internet at no additional charge.

On Monday, the company will make two announcements that will expand this network.

The first is the launch of the new home-based, neighborhood hot-spot initiative, in which subscribers … Read more

One of the most closed-off countries in the world has finally started to roll out Internet for its citizens. The Cuban government has officially opened 118 public Internet centers across the country, according to the Associated Press.

Up until now, computers with Internet access were sparse on the island. Besides a few universities and employers offering access, some of the only places to get online were tourist hotels that charged up to $8 an hour for erratic Wi-Fi, according to the Associated Press.

The Cuban government estimates that only 2.9 percent of the country's citizens get online, according … Read more

Low Latency is a weekly comic on CNET's Crave blog written by CNET editor and podcast host Jeff Bakalar and illustrated by Blake Stevenson. Be sure to check Crave every Friday at 8 a.m. PT for new panels! Want more? Here's every Low Latency comic so far.

Companies looking to get a piece of the Hulu pie had until this week to put in their first round of bids for the video streaming service. And, it appears that four companies have gone in for a slice.

Former News Corp president Peter Chernin, private equity fund Guggenheim Digital Media (which is headed the former interim Yahoo CEO by Ross Levinsohn), satellite operator DirecTV, and cable operator Time Warner Cable have all put in bids, according to Reuters.

Hulu has supposedly been looking for a buyer over the past couple of years, and recently several companies have allegedly expressed … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Amazon's Kindle Worlds will pay writers to write fan fiction.

- Hire your favorite musician to write you a song .

- And now a reading from the worst fan fiction I've ever read.

- Follow Russ Frushtick on Twitter.… Read more

More customers are satisfied with Apple's phones than any other handsets, but they're not as happy as they were last year, a new report said.

According to an American Customer Satisfaction Index report issued today, Apple received a score of 81 (on a scale of 100) in terms of customer satisfaction. But the company dropped 2 percent from its 2012 position, and the iPhone lags the customer satisfaction rating of 86 for Apple's desktop, laptop, and tablet business.

At the same time, satisfaction with Motorola phones jumped 5 percent from 2012 to 77, and Nokia grew 1 … Read more

This is an update of a deal I wrote about a couple months ago.

Until wireless charging hits the mainstream (with either Apple or Samsung leading the -- sorry -- charge), we're all slaves to cables.

For example, I'm currently traveling with an older iPhone, a newer iPad, and a Kindle. Because each one has a different power port, I have to travel with three different cables. That's just wrong.

I've seen various hybrid cables that pack multiple charging tips into a single cord, but none with the Lightning connector used by newer iDevices. Until now: … Read more

Six months after wireline telephone operators and trade groups asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to begin shutting down their aging switched networks, the agency responded late Friday, calling for further study.

In a public notice (PDF) issued by an agency task force created in December 2012, the FCC reiterated the importance of accelerating the transition from switched networks to native IP infrastructure. But rather than approving limited trials to test technical and regulatory obstacles to a full conversion, the agency instead raised more questions about the trials and called for more rounds of comments.

The task force also … Read more