Comcast Teams With CNET on Demonstration Venue for Smart Home How-to Videos

Comcast Xfinity is sponsoring the CNET Smart Home in San Francisco, a demonstration facility to be used to teach consumers how to benefit from smart home devices, cable and high-speed internet, said the companies. The 2,952 square-foot single-family home, with a one-year lease, won’t be open to the public but will be used by CNET for creating “explainer videos” based on an Xfinity internet backbone and used by Xfinity for a series of marketing events over the year, Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas said. Videos include how to set up the optimum room for online gamers and another setting up parental controls for alerts and to manage children’s access to the internet, he said. CNET’s Guide to Smart Living content is designed to teach readers how to incorporate a mix of connected products and services into their lives from installation to implementation, it said. Examples include automating the morning with a scene that adjusts lights, turns on news and starts the coffee maker; using a smart pan or getting cooking advice from a stove using voice commands; and maximizing home security devices. A goal of the project is to let consumers know the smart home “is not theoretical; it’s here,” Douglas said. Xfinity Home partners Lutron and Ecobee are among the initial Xfinity Home partners featured in the home for their lighting controls and thermostats, and different devices from the Xfinity Home portfolio will be used as the project progresses, he said. The company’s X1 Voice Remote will be featured prominently in demo videos, he said. On whether Xfinity Home is looking to host similar homes in other cities, Douglas said it would be open to the idea “because it’s the first of its kind” and could be a platform for other cities. Douglas noted Comcast’s Xfinity stores are being redesigned to showcase all its services and related products, including mobile, in stations staffed with product specialists who can answer questions.