As its core business continues to be hurt by cord-cutting, Comcast is continuing to push into other businesses, including the smart home category. The latest is the arrival of a new video doorbell for its Xfinity Home customers.  

It’s called the Xfinity Video Doorbell, and it’s meant to work with existing Xfinity Home products. The product joins an increasingly crowded product category that’s led by the Ring video doorbell. 

The new Comcast doorbell offers such features as high-definition video quality, two-way audio, motion alerts, and simple integration with other products in the Xfinity Home ecosystem.  

The Video Doorbell costs $120, or $5 a month for twenty-four months, and professional installation is offered. It will be available early next year, the company said. 

“The Xfinity Video Doorbell, integrated with our other Xfinity services, provides a convenient, secure way for homeowners to check in on their front door from anywhere, anytime,” Matthew Ecker, the vice president of consumer services for Comcast Cable, said in a press statement. “We make it easy, for instance, for a homeowner to view the in-app video feed to see who is at the door or to check to see if a package has been delivered.” 

Earlier this fall, Comcast introduced XClass TV, its entry into the TV business. The TVs were produced in partnership with Hisense and are available at Walmart. The TVs feature Comcast’s operating system and are not necessarily geared only at Comcast cable customers. The TVs are also at a budget price point, selling for $298 and $348 for the 43- and 50-inch 4K TVs. 

In the third quarter of this year, Comcast reported over $30 billion in revenue, up 18.7 percent from the same period last year, while posting an adjusted net income of just over $4 billion, a 34.6 percent increase.   

At the same time, the company lost nearly 400,000 video subscribers in the quarter, the most of any provider that quarter, although with 18.9 million subscribers, Comcast also remains the nation’s largest pay-TV provider, per Leitchman Research Group, with nearly three million more than the next-largest charter. 

In the same quarter, Comcast added 300,000 broadband subscribers, the most of any provider, giving them a total of 31.7 million, which is the most of any provider in the United States. However, in early December the company released new guidance for its broadband additions, stating that it would have 1.3 million net broadband adds this year, which is slightly lower than what analysts had predicted, per CNBC. That news caused the company’s stock to dip that day. That forecast came earlier this month at the UBS Global TMT Virtual Conference.  

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for the National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver. 

Image: Reuters