AT&T Eases Out Whole-Home DVR
Telco Enables Playback of Recordings on Any U-verse Set-Top
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 9/8/2008 8:01:00 PM
AT&T this week is launching U-verse Total Home DVR, which will let customers play back standard- and high-definition recorded programs on any TV connected to the telco’s set-top boxes in the home.
Initially, the feature—available at no extra cost to U-verse TV subscribers—is available only to customers in San Francisco. AT&T said it plans to roll out whole-home DVR to all U-verse TV customers by the end of 2008.
Using the whole-home DVR feature, customers can access, play, pause, rewind and fast-forward up to four simultaneous HD and SD DVR recordings to U-verse-connected TVs (with a maximum of three recorded HD streams). The feature can be accessed from up to seven additional U-verse-connected TVs.
Users also can pause a recorded show and pick it up in another room, and record up to four programs on a single DVR. AT&T’s DVR service allows subscribers to store up to 37 hours of HD content or up to 133 hours of SD content.
In the future, AT&T said, it plans to add the ability to schedule recordings and pause or control live TV from non-DVR receivers.
AT&T said customers will not have to replace their current set-top boxes. The telco will update customers’ equipment for whole-home DVR over the network on a market-by-market basis.
The whole-home feature was developed by Microsoft and is part of the software giant’s Mediaroom IPTV platform.
AT&T isn’t the first video provider to deliver a whole-home DVR service. Verizon Communications, for one, has offered an option for whole-home DVR features for two years with FiOS TV, although the feature currently plays back only standard-definition content to secondary set-tops.
Also Tuesday, AT&T announced the availability of the IP-based U-verse Voice service in parts of the San Francisco Bay Area.
