M2M and the Internet of Things

Did Comcast just become a big player in the Internet of Things?

Published on: 2015-02-05

At first glance, Comcast's announcement that they would be allow users to (sort of) control their cable boxes via Twitter might not have seemed particularly interesting. After all, Twitter is doing everything they can right now to look as relevant and important as possible in a run up to their much-anticipated IPO. However, a better read on the situation shows that Comcast is starting to think hard about what role they want to play in the Internet of Things.

While plenty of IoT ecosystems surely run on the Comcast backbone, that's hardly making the cable provider much money, and certainly isn't giving them any credibility in the space. This new connection between the social media firm and cable operator, though, sheds a more interesting light on their intentions, as does this quote from Sam Schwartz, Comcast chief business development: "There is a lot of promotion and discussion around entertainment on Twitter but the link around that consumption is broken."

Establishing a link between an online service and a physical device like a cable box is exactly what the IoT is about, and it's good to see Comcast making a very consumer-oriented effort in the space. What remains unknown, of course, is whether the "Watch Now" button that they're proposing will get enough traction and Twitter-love to become as relevant and pervasive as the Facebook "like" button.

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