Comcast

If you're worried about being out of touch while in Ocean City this summer, Comcast wants to ease your mind. Beginning today, visitors and residents can access free WiFi service from Xfinity on smartphones, tablets and other devices at points along the boardwalk and beyond. You don't have to be a Comcast subscriber to tap into the hotspots, which will be available to non-customers at no charge through July 4. A map of hotspots on the cable company's website, showed generous coverage of Ocean City's south end. On the north end, hotspots were located near Northside Park and at 144th Street, just south of the Delaware state line.

We have been talking about radical changes in the way we watch for TV for almost a decade now. And a lot of it has been wrong. Remember the buzz three years ago as to how 3-D was going to be in every home? Newsflash: ESPN announced last week that it would be shutting down its 3-D channel by the end of the year because the audience, if there is one, is too small to be measured by Nielsen. But for all the hype and all the "next big things" that have flashed across the screen and died small, it really does feel like the revolution in TV viewing has arrived.

If you're transfixed by the idea of a "smart home," Comcast today is launching a new product in Maryland that can help you control your home at the touch of a touch screen, iPhone or iPad. The company is rolling out its Xfinity Home package in Baltimore and other areas around Maryland. It's a system that integrates a home security system with other monitoring, control and automation features, such as remote climate and lighting control. To get a feel for the offering, check out: http://www.comcast.com/homesecurity/index.htm?

Maybe you're a tennis fan, and you found last month's ruling that Comcast did not have to put the Tennis Channel on its basic level of service quite troubling. Or, more likely, you're a Deadspin reader and you found that website's reprinting of a screed authored by the Tennis Channel CEO as hilarious as it is preposterous. Yeah. Probably that. John Koblin got his hands on the letter, which is in the approximate style of something a precocious 14-year-old might write during an ill-advised Facebook outburst.

Was glad to see The Sun article drawing attention to Comcast charging for digital adapters ("Comcast starts charging monthly fee for digital adapters," May 5). I called Comcast when this appeared on my bill because I have two Comcast adapters on old TV's in rooms where they are seldom, if ever, used. I got them at the time of the changeover to digital and gave away my free government-subsidized converters because I thought I didn't need them. I guess this senior citizen has gotten you-know-whated again.

If you've got an analog television and subscribe to Comcast's "limited basic" package --- basically broadcast channels plus Univision and some government access --- you'll need some new equipment. Comcast is offering customers up to three digital adapters at no additional monthly charge, said spokeswoman Alisha Martin. With the adaptors, these customers will get digital-quality picture and sound as well as an additional dozen channels. Customers who subscribe to other levels of service have already moved to digital-only, she said.

HOLLYWOOD - Media colossus NBC Universal is a giant step closer to being sold to the nation's largest cable company in a proposed $29 billion deal. A huge barrier in Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp.'s bid to become one of the country's most powerful entertainment companies was lifted when General Electric Co. - which has owned NBC for nearly a quarter-century - reached an exit strategy with its French partner Vivendi. Late Monday's development breaks a log-jam that has held up the sale of NBC Universal.

PHILADELPHIA - Comcast Corp. is expected to pay $13.75 billion in cash and assets to gain control of NBC Universal from General Electric Co., according to the Associated Press. The deal, which was set to be announced this morning, calls for the nation's biggest cable TV provider to spend $6.5 billion in cash and contribute cable channels worth $7.25 billion for a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal, according to people familiar with the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement has not been made public.

The Maryland attorney general's office is probing whether Comcast Corp. deceptively marketed a maintenance plan and an extra-channels package to customers in four counties, and the Philadelphia-based cable operator was accused of similar violations in lawsuits filed in eight other states yesterday.At issue is whether Comcast violated regulations by automatically charging customers for optional services, such as its "CableGuard" maintenance plan and the "Value-Pak" extra-channels package.Comcast spokesman David Nevins said the two services were routinely included in all of its Maryland cable bills until last year, when new regulations forced the company to start itemizing bills more fully and billing separately for the services.

The freelance broadcast technicians who help produce Washington Wizards and Capitals games for Comcast SportsNet have ended a one-night strike after reaching a tentative agreement for a contract with the network, said a source with knowledge of the negotiations. The workers went on strike Tuesday night, leaving network managers to fill their roles for the Capitals game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The workers, who unionized last year, help produce the telecasts for both home and visiting teams.

If you're worried about being out of touch while in Ocean City this summer, Comcast wants to ease your mind. Beginning today, visitors and residents can access free WiFi service from Xfinity on smartphones, tablets and other devices at points along the boardwalk and beyond. You don't have to be a Comcast subscriber to tap into the hotspots, which will be available to non-customers at no charge through July 4. A map of hotspots on the cable company's website, showed generous coverage of Ocean City's south end. On the north end, hotspots were located near Northside Park and at 144th Street, just south of the Delaware state line.

Was glad to see The Sun article drawing attention to Comcast charging for digital adapters ("Comcast starts charging monthly fee for digital adapters," May 5). I called Comcast when this appeared on my bill because I have two Comcast adapters on old TV's in rooms where they are seldom, if ever, used. I got them at the time of the changeover to digital and gave away my free government-subsidized converters because I thought I didn't need them. I guess this senior citizen has gotten you-know-whated again.

He pulled on a Terps visor, to the crowd's delight. He rubbed noses with Gov. Martin O'Malley. And the Dalai Lama was met Tuesday with rounds of applause from a crowd of 15,000 at the University of Maryland, College Park's Comcast Center. "Sit down," the 78-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader said in a firm but friendly voice when he approached the podium and the crowd rose to its feet. "No formality! We are [the] same. … The way we are born, the way we die: no formality. " Clad in red robes and his trademark spectacles, the Dalai Lama appeared at the university to give an address on peace, compassion and fellowship as part of the Anwar Sadat Lecture Series.

Comcast Corp. cable TV subscribers might have noticed a small new charge in their bills recently. After years of giving customers with "standard/expanded" basic cable service up to two digital TV adapters for free as part of the upgrade to all-digital broadcasting, the cable provider now is charging $1.99 a month per digital adapter. The new fees, being rolled out in each of Comcast's markets, took effect in March in the Baltimore area. The company, which declined to provide the number of subscribers affected, said it notified customers ahead of time of the decision and that pricing always has been subject to change.

More than a quarter century after he was forced to resign in the months following the cocaine-induced death of basketball star Len Bias, longtime Maryland coach Lefty Driesell was officially - and permanently - recognized Tuesday with the unveiling of a bronzed bas relief sculpture in his honor at Comcast Center. In a ceremony that attracted a few hundred friends, family and fans and brought back close to 50 players - including Tom McMillen and Len Elmore, who spearheaded the effort to get their former coach recognized - Driesell, now 81, was both emotional and typically cantankerous in accepting the honor.

Major League Soccer D.C. United renews contract with Comcast SportsNet D.C. United has reached a long-awaited - and long-term - agreement with Comcast SportsNet, but coverage will not begin until May 8 and no matches are currently on the outlet's schedule after Sept. 15. The three-year deal calls for at least 16matches annually. Every other U.S.-based Major League Soccer club, except Chivas USA, will have 21 or more games on local channels this season. More United: Captain Dwayne De Rosario will miss tonight's match at Sporting Kansas City with an adductor strain.

Hunt Valley-based Sinclair Broadcast Group and Comcast Corp. are in negotiations involving fees that could affect whether millions of cable viewers can watch popular shows such as American Idol, 24 and America's Top Model on their cable systems. The two sides have until March 10 to reach an agreement. Here is a look at some of the issues: What is at the heart of the dispute? Sinclair wants Comcast to pay retransmission fees to carry its programming on the cable system. Comcast has refused, saying its customers should not have to pay for content that is available for free over the airwaves.

Comcast Cablevision subscribers in Baltimore County will begin to see a payoff from the company's $100 million network upgrade by Oct. 30 as the cable franchise adds 20 new or expanded channels to its program lineup.The cable company is expected to announce today that 40,000 customers in neighborhoods where the network has been rebuilt will receive five new and two expanded channels as part of its standard package at no additional cost.The upgrade, which is expected to reach 65,000 of Comcast's 185,000 Baltimore County subscribers by the end of the year, will also add seven pay-per-view channels, three premium channels and three information channels, Comcast spokesman David Nevins said yesterday.

Coach Mark Turgeon is hoarse with a bad cold, scoring leader Dez Wells has been nursing a sore knee since midway through the ACC tournament, and Maryland has had to get over playing four games in seven days and not making the NCAA tournament. Despite all that, the Terps (22-12) were getting motivated to play basketball again, beginning with a home game Tuesday night against Niagara (19-13) in the first round of the NIT. If they win, they would play the Ohio-Denver winner. The future schedule has not been finalized, but that second-round game would likely be at Comcast Center on Thursday.

COLLEGE PARK - It was growing late in the first half and Maryland trailed Niagara by six points. The sparse, fidgety Comcast Center crowd had to be wondering when and if the Terps would check in mentally for their National Invitation Tournament opener. Led by Nick Faust, second-seeded Maryland woke up and used its press and fast break effectively in a second-half surge to rout seventh-seeded Niagara, 86-70, and advance to the second round before an announced 4,053. Faust (City)