Comcast on Tuesday started rolling out AnyPlay, a service that will let subscribers watch live TV on the iPad.
With the new AnyPlay set-top box, Comcast will deliver the incoming channel lineup to the Wi-Fi router on the home network instead of the TV. The router will then distribute that signal to any tablet within range and users can access shows via the Xfinity TV app for iPad.
To get the service, you must have Xfinity Internet service, a router with one available Ethernet port, and an AnyPlay device. Once installed, AnyPlay basically turns the tablet into another TV screen. Someone could be watching the game on TV while you catch up on Jersey Shore in another room of the house, for example.
Initially, AnyPlay will be available to Xfinity HD Triple Play customers in Denver and Nashville at no extra charge, but more markets will be available in the coming months. At this point, it's only supported on the iPad, but Comcast said AnyPlay will be extended to the Motorola Xoom shortly.
The Xfinity iPad app launched in November 2010 and allows users to access up to 8,000 hours of on-demand movies and TV shows for free inside and outside the home. Comcast said today that it will bring on-demand content "soon" to the Xbox 360 and Samsung connected TVs.
The Xbox tieup will allow users with the Kinect sensor to control their Comcast service via voice and gestures. The service is also being rolled out to Verizon FiOS customers.
Today's announcement comes as the tech world is convening on Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. Comcast actually announced its intention to bring live TV to tablets at last year's CES and that effort is just now coming to fruition.
Rivals like Cablevision and Time Warner Cable have also unveiled their own iPad apps, which provide access to live TV. Both providers ran into some legal trouble from content providers, however, which claimed that Cablevision and Time Warner did not have the rights to stream content on tablets.