Comcast shows off its new 'Barcelona' HD guide upgrade

We've already gotten a large eyeful of Comcast's next-gen Xcalibur guide that's on the way next year with social networking tie ins and apps, but until that arrives, what can we hope for on the existing Scientific Atlanta, Cisco, and Motorola cable boxes? Sr. Director of Video Product Development Ted Hodgins has the answer, dropping in a link to the company's new Barcelona guide that it is already delivering to Anyroom DVR customers in Florida now, and will roll out in more markets before the end of the year. Like the upgraded guides we've seen for FiOS and TiVo, this iteration is built for HDTVs, with 16x9 graphics and far more listings information than was previously available on one screen. Other new features include the option to filter listings down to HD, premium, kids, movies, or sports content, easy jumping between days and saved searches. When we first laid eyes on another version of the software nearly four years ago we were impressed by its slick looks, but while it's still a major upgrade over the current decade-old cable box interfaces, in 2011 it takes more than a simple facelift to impress us. Hit the gallery for a few screenshots or click the source link below to meet the new guide before it rolls out in your area and see if its enough to hold you over for the time being.

[Thanks, cypherstream]
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