NCTA has been drawing attention to the DOCSIS 3.0 specification for almost a year now. You may have seen the video of Comcast’s Brian Roberts demonstrating wideband at The Cable Show in Las Vegas last year.

Big news this week as Comcast launched wideband service in the Twin Cities on Thursday. It’s a new extreme high-speed Internet residential and business service featuring up to 50 Mbps download and up to 5 Mbps upload speeds. Comcast will be launching to about 500,000 homes in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area. In addition to the new hi-speed tier, Comcast is also increasing upload speeds for its residential Performance and Performance Plus service tiers for no additional charge. For example, the 6 Mbps/384 Kbps Performance tier will increase to 6 Mbps/1 Mbps and the 8 Mbps/768 Kbps Performance Plus tier will go up to 8 Mbps/2 Mbps

As I posted previously, Brian Roberts mentioned DOCSIS 3.0 rollout during his CES address a few months ago. Plans are to roll out DOCSIS 3.0 to about 20% of Comcast’s markets by the end of the year.

There was coverage on Ars Technica, Engadget, Gizmodo, and the NY Times‘ Bits blog, but I was intrigued to see this post, which seemed to be from one of the first business customers to sign up for the service.

My experiences thus far have been amazing. When we first started to use it after the install, I broke into a huge grin as pages loaded instantly and I ran a 345MB update which hit my downloads folder and completed in what seemed like two minutes (it actually downloaded so quickly I forgot to watch it and time it). I’ve been achieving ~40mbps down and 3.4 to 4.1mbps upload speeds on average (which, of course, are dependent upon so many variables like internet traffic, server load and so on) so multi-use of our broadband connection has become more useful.

Nothing like first-hand reports.

Just to review a few fundamentals, DOCSIS stands for Data over Cable Service Interface Specifications. Cable operators right now use one 6 MHz channel slot to deliver high-speed data service. DOCSIS 3.0 describes a methodology for channel bonding, which allows you to combine 2, 3, 4 or more DOCSIS channels to increase the speed and throughput of the high-speed data service. The bonded channels do not have to be contiguous.

If you’re a cable customer, all you really care about is faster speeds. But the impact is broader, since DOCSIS 3.0 means better bandwidth utilization, improved video quality, enhanced security, better reporting to manage traffic, and enhanced tools to detect plant problems.

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned cable’s own digital transition, and that shift of channels from analog to digital that frees up channels that can then be bonded to provide faster Internet access. In addition, it will allow cable operators to eventually provide video over DOCSIS services, also known as IPTV. For bandwidth efficiency, 3.0 allows operators to dedicate and isolate a video downstream to any and all users who want to watch it at the same time, in a simulation of the way linear TV works.

So, the full impact of of DOCSIS 3.0 is still to come.

A pretty hilarious moment (for me anyway) occurred on today’s edition of the syndicated television program Martha. During the last segment of today’s show, host Martha Stewart had her guest Sheraton Kalouria, the president of broadcasting for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, demonstrate how to use Video on Demand.

(If you’re somehow unfamiliar with VOD, read more here.)

The hook appears to be that Martha Stewart On Demand is now available through Comcast and Cox. In the segment (summarized here), Kalouria took remote in hand and showed Martha how to navigate through the menus and find the content you want, available for free.

The Martha Stewart On-Demand channel features a wonderful selection of things the company is best known for: crafts, weddings, pets, and food. Under each section is a selection of content from our programs, including “The Martha Stewart Show,” “Martha Stewart Living,” “Petkeeping with Marc Morrone,” and “Everyday Food.”

This is part of a growing trend of cable operators beefing up their VOD libraries to give more content to their customers. It was pretty funny to see a big media mogul like Martha scrolling through on-screen menus, but it was probably a great learning experience for her viewers to be exposed to the VOD platform.

There are a few interesting nuggets to mull over from last week’s show. It really did feel like the first time that cable played a major role at CES. Heck, we’re not the only ones in that position; just as Comcast’s Brian Roberts was the first cable executive to address CES, General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner was the first auto exec to do so. It’s great that we’re in the game, but it begs the question of what we do next.

Will Richmond had a post about how content players and consumer electronics companies will deal with their intertwined future:

…both industries recognize that we are moving into what I would call the “experience era” for video. That’s to say, success with consumers is going to rest more on these industries’ ability to deliver superior experiences which integrate content and technology in new and compelling ways. Rather than oohing and ahhing about their new TV’s picture quality or how hilarious a certain episode was, going forward consumers will increasingly cite “how cool” something is.

“How cool” are code words for “how compelling is the experience”. The new currency of video hipness will require that when I invite friends to my house and want to show off, I need to have more than just a honking-big screen or a digital collection of old programs – those will be commonplace. Instead, the experiences are what will matter. Things like seamlessly accessing broadband content on my TV, interacting with it — along with other viewers — from my couch, and moving it around my house for playback anywhere, in a snap. Delivering these types of experiences (and more) is the new competitive bar that content and technology firms should be aiming for.

Cable is currently offering choice, value and convenience, by which I mean lots of viewing options, hi-speed data access, hi-def pictures, time-shifting options, attractive bundling options, and so on. I guess for some people what once seemed extraordinary can become commonplace.  But there is even more in the works. While I won’t go into detail here, cable does have some “cool” new things coming up that should prove to be pretty compelling.

Here are just a couple of headlines from around the net to get you through the day.

Oprah returns to cable (as an owner, that is) under a new deal inked with Discovery. The Discovery Health Channel will be rebranded as the Oprah Winfrey Network and carry “lifestyles-targeted programming.” Said David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery Communications, “There is no stronger voice than Oprah Winfrey in engaging, motivating and connecting people to live healthier lives. Oprah has inspired me personally, and through this new venture, Oprah’s talent and drive will have a dedicated multimedia platform to empower, engage and connect with people on-air and on-line”. Oprah previously held an interest in Oxygen before the sale to NBC. Look for the new net in 2009.

An appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a suit brought by EchoStar and DirecTV to overturn a tax levied in North Carolina.  The suit argued that gross receipts (paid by both cable and satellite providers in NC) were unconstitutional and unfair to satellite providers.  The court ruled that federal courts cannot enjoin states from imposing such taxes.

If you’re using that cable broadband connection to stream video, it’s a big day for you.  First, Netflix has lifted the time constraints on its video streaming service freeing customers to watch without limits.  This move comes on the same day that MacWorld saw Apple’s Steve Jobs announce video rentals through iTunes.  Under Apple’s plan, renters would pay $3.99 for recent releases, have 30 days in which to start watching and have to complete the program within 24 hours.

Speaking of MacWorld, if you’re looking to upgrade the old computer, Apple has a simple message – thin is in.  The MacBook Air weighs in at 3 pounds and is thin enough to fit in a manila envelope.  The new machine is just a hair over 3/4 of an inch at its thickest spot, and comes standard with Bluetooth and 802.11n wireless connectivity, a built in web cam, USB and a video port that supports DVI, VGA, and S-Video.  It sports 2GB of RAM and either an 80GB drive or a 64GB Solid State Drive with no moving parts. The keyboard is full size and backlit.  The MacBook Air has an external CD/DVD drive (which never proved really popular when they were in vogue with laptops 7 or 8 years ago, but wireless is more prevalent now).  The touchpad also feature iPhone like controls that let you zoom, rotate and navigate by gesture.

Finally, a hat tip to Broadcasting & Cable for the Simpsons parody of American Idol embedded below.

While most of my fellow CES attendees are staked out at the slots trying to get in a little more gambling, I’m staked out on the laptop cropping photos, and trying to get in one last post.  I had been looking for the cool, new toys here at the show and finally found some I think fit the bill.

As a dad, I dread the day my kids get old enough to want their own PSP or Nintendo DS.  I just know they’re going to lose them.  If the good folks at LeashTec have their way, maybe not.  The Game Leash (buy it online for about $13) tethers the device, Wii controller, or other tech toys to your tot.  Never lose another gadget or watch another nunchuk sail across the living room.

If you want to propose but wish the two months salary you shelled out for all that bling came with a case that would play a video or pictures set to “We’ve Had the Time Of Our Lives”, you’re in luck.  For an extra $200 bucks the Euricase will allow you to upload images or an MP$ and it will playback when the recipient opens the box.

Gaming chairs are all the rage and the show had plenty of them.  From the low end (on the bottom at $600) to the high-end closing on $15,000, you can get your chair configured with multiple displays, flight simulator controls, phenomenal audio, and a drink holder (not actually sure about that last one, but it would make sense.

The iDry is the next wave in clothes dryers (or so they hope).  Your clothes (up to 14 garments) hang in the tall nylon tube and air circulates around them.  It eliminates the need to iron, and doubles as a heather humidifier in the winter.  Warm air flows from what looks like a small space heater at the bottom and the warm moist air exits the top.  Run it in the summer with the heat off (it takes a little longer) and avoid the heating effect.  They expect it to retail for about $200 (much cheaper than that Maytag you’ve had your eye on).

The Argo Cinema 2 provides 3D DVD viewing through a set of personal glasses (similar to the MyVu’s I took a look at on Monday).  The entire set retails at $549 and includes the glasses, remote, and DVD player.  I’m not sure why a personal player needs a remote, but it has one.

Finally, 3DV, a company that apparently provides a lot of very cool stuff for filmmakers enters the consumer electronics field with what appears to be a typical webcam until you see it in action.  The camera in the picture above sits right under the TV.  It reads your body in 3D, strips out the background and puts you in the game (in this case boxing, but combine it with the Wii controllers and first-person shooters and the skies the limit).  It was cool to watch – like a new version of Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, but featuring a body that looks strangely familiar layered over Soda Popinski.  They expect the camera bundle to retail for around $100.

Well, my flight is boarding.  I hope these updates have given you a little glimpse into some of the newest tech toys at CES.