• by Wayne Friedman , October 19, 2021

Comcast Corp. has launched the sales of its smart TV sets -- XClass TV -- a product available to consumers without the need for a cable TV subscription, the company’s Xfinity service.

The announcement had been anticipated. Comcast joins other TV/video focused companies -- Amazon and R0ku -- in selling their own branded TV sets.

The XClass TV operating system lets consumers access live and on-demand streaming content from hundreds of apps and services. The 4K TV sets -- made in partnership with TV set manufacturer Hisense -- available on Walmart stores and Walmart.com.

One of the key abilities for XClass TV is voice control and search, allowing users to access apps, movies, shows and sports with a voice command or remote click.

Through its existing services, Comcast’s says global voice platform supports more than 40 million commands daily in five different languages across North America and Europe.

The TV set will be loaded with hundreds of streaming apps and services, including Peacock, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube and more.

While consumers won’t need the Xfinity service, Comcast says the XClass TV is built on the same global technology platform of Xfinity, as well as other entertainment, connected services: Xfinity X1, Xfinity Flex, Sky Glass and Sky Q.

Other XClass TV features include creating a personalized playlist where consumers save and quickly access shows or movies from across apps and services right from the home screen or via a button on the remote.