Comcast announced the launch of PBS KIDS Sprout On Demand, a new VOD service that makes some of the best-known preschool television shows available at any time families want to watch them. In addition to the new VOD service, a 24x7 digital cable channel will launch this fall, making PBS KIDS Sprout the perfect place for parents and their little ones to enjoy the wonders of early childhood.

PBS KIDS Sprout On Demand now is available for no additional charge to Comcast Digital Cable customers as part of Comcast's ON DEMAND service. The VOD service will offer 50 hours of programs a month, with 25% of the programs updated every two weeks.

Digeo and Comcast to try a little "Moxi" in Huntsville

Digeo, developer of the Moxi Media Center platform, and Comcast announced spring commercial trial deployment plans for the Motorola Broadband Media Center (BMC) with Moxi in Comcast's Huntsville, AL cable system. This follows previously announced plans to trial the integrated dual-tuner DVR, HDTV Motorola BMCs in Huntsville and another Comcast market.

Designed to support cable's expanding menu of content and services, the Motorola BMC with Moxi utilizes a processor, internal hard drive, and built-in cable modem to bring an entertainment experience into the home. More powerful and efficient than a VCR, the Motorola BMC with Moxi allows cable customers to pause and rewind live TV; record single episodes or the full season of their favorite shows; rapidly search through program listings; quickly access Comcast's growing lineup of standard, digital, and HD programming; and even record two different channels simultaneously while viewing a previously recorded program or watching a third program on live TV.

At last? AgileTV presents Promptu voice controlled remote

Informitv reports AgileTV is aiming to change the way people watch TV, with a voice controlled television remote control. The Promptu remote is designed to replace a conventional remote control and includes a "Talk" button and a built-in microphone, together with an infra-red receiver used in conjunction with an existing cable box.

The remote translates spoken commands into speech features that are sent the receiver and then to a small runtime application in the set-top box. The actual voice recognition is performed at the cable head-end on commodity PC based Linux systems. This can be tuned to regional accents and can include a large vocabulary database. The response is returned in around a second, and an on screen prompt indicates when the command has been understood.

The remote control can be told to change channel by name or number, or show program selections by up to 75 pre-defined categories. Promptu is currently on trial by Comcast and Time Warner in the Philadelphia region.