Comcast Internet Plus: Psst! Hey buddy, what a cheap deal on a bundle?

In what appears as a move benefiting the consumer, last week it was reported here and here that Comcast is testing a package deal offering Limited Basic TV, HBO, and high-speed Internet access.

According to DSL Reports, the package is known as Internet Plus and includes local broadcast channels, video-on-demand, HBO, HBO Go, and 25 Mbps broadband Internet service. The deal also includes, StreamPix, a streaming video service being offered by Comcast. The trial is not available in all markets.

To those looking to shave a full dollars off the monthly bills and still have access to high quality entertainment and Internet access, this seems like a sweet deal.

Figures from DSL Reports.

However, Comcast plans to sign-up subscribers with a promotional low price. Within two years, the subscriber would pay $80 per month for Internet Plus. DSL Reports notes that the package trial begins with a promotional price of $40 to $50 monthly for one year. After that Comcast plans to charge $60-$70 for six months, then the price jumps to $70-$80 dollars per month. That is no longer a sweet deal.

Local News over-the-air TV.

For $80 per month, consumers can get a better deal from the satellite providers. (Although this does not include broadband Internet). Consumers can also get a better deal from Comcast itself with their Digital Starter and Performance Internet (20 Mbps) package.

For those looking to really save money, I would suggest purchasing a digital antenna for over-the-air HDTV reception and pick up the local channels. Then subscribe to the most basic broadband Internet service you can find. Currently, at home I am subscribing to Comcast Economy Plus (3 Mbps) for $39.99/month. I can verify that 3 Mbps is adequate for Netflix and streaming HD video.

Internet Plus looks more like an attempt to recruit some cord-cutters with a low entry fee. Like a media crack dealer, first one is always free (or cheap). When subscribers get hit with higher costs down the road combined with the wide variety of options (Chromecast, Apple TV, Roku) they may swear off cable for good.

Rdio Free On Mobile, Last.fm Scrobble, Pandora Workaround

Ever since my Last.fm radio stopped working in my Chromium and Seamonkey browsers, it's been a long time since I have tuned into any online personalized music streaming service. I haven't bothered to figure out the problem. Mainly because I have been busy and also I don't like to listen to music through my browser. Before that, I had a lot of fun streaming Last.fm from my Rhythmbox desktop media player, but then the API was killed by Last.fm. This affected not only desktop clients but the Last.fm Android and iOS applications. Matthew Hawn of Last.fm announced in a blog post:

On February 15 [2011], the radio service built into Last.fm mobile apps and on home entertainment devices will become an ad-free, subscriber-only feature.

Subscribing to Last.fm is cheap, $3.00 a month, and it is very tempting. But I am cheap to.

My Last.fm Profile shown in Rhythmbox.

I preferred Last.fm to other online music services because the recommendation engine is so much more personal. This degree of personalization is primarily due to the effect of scrobbling your own music collection. Last.fm uses scrobbling to maintain user listening data. Everytime a listener listens to music on a Last.fm-enabled player such as Rhythmbox or Banshee, the tracks get sent to Last.fm where the user's profile is updated. This helps build the Last.fm recommendation engine. My personal music collection weighs in at about 20GB. Very modest I know but it is mine, consisting of just about every CD I have purchased since I was maybe 12 years old. No pirating.

Connect your Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm with Rdio.

During the time of free streaming from Last.fm for players such as Banshee, Rhythmbox, one could also scrobble music from Rdio.com. For the streaming radio listener, this was great because it added an additional music engine to diversify your Last.fm profile. Also, when Rdio first started, it was free to stream from the browser for a few days a month. However, like all good things, Rdio ended the free service. Rdio now charges $9.99 for mobile and desktop streaming, $4.99 for desktop browser streaming. This is hard for me to justify since we still have Pandora.com, which is a freemium service (with ads). Also, for mobile, not only does one pay for Rdio streaming, but for their data plans as well.

Pithos desktop Pandora client, ad-free.

Luckily for the listeners, Pithos, a native Pandora Radio client for the GNOME Desktop is still able to stream music from Pandora.com, ad-free. Like the good old days when we streamed our Last.fm accounts through our desktop clients. However, Pandora does not support scrobbling so the recommendation engine is just not as good.

Today, I checked my email and there was a note from Rdio telling me: Stations, now free on mobile. Tune in.

Rdio knows me. They beckon to come back and listen-without paying a thing. In fact, Rdio has been offering this service to former subscribers since October 3rd, 2013. Some speculate that since partnering with Cumulus Media, an owner of 525 radio stations, that Rdio would be switching to ad-supported freemium model. Well that sounds great, I can add Rdio to my iHeartRadio app on my Nexus 4 phone. However it would still be nice to get the same free listening on my desktop again  but those days are pretty much gone.