Verizon is letting FiOS TV subs access video on Samsung Smart TVs and Blu-ray players. But for now, the telco is supplying just 26 live TV channels, and not all of them in HD, as well as 20,000-plus paid VOD titles through its Flex View service.

Despite the limited lineup — no broadcast TV channels, no ESPN, no regional sports nets, no free VOD — it shows where multiscreen TV is heading.

The advantage? No additional set-top box (or STB fee) required for that second TV in the bedroom, kitchen or wherever. FiOS customers can access the same 26 live channels via Microsoft’s Xbox 360 game console, but not video-on-demand (see Nielsen To Rate FiOS TV On Xbox and Comcast, FiOS TV Tune Into Xbox).

Verizon is touting the fact that it’s the first U.S. pay TV provider to offer video content directly through Samsung’s Smart Hub App Store. But it’s not alone: Others including Comcast, DirecTV and Time Warner Cable are also working with Samsung to deliver similar functionality (see CES: Samsung Plugs Into Pay TV Services). And there are also IPTV services from TWC, Cablevision, Cox and others that provide access to video on iPads and PCs.

“We are continuing to develop more ways for our customers to enjoy their FiOS TV experience on their own terms, meeting the needs of their borderless lifestyle,” Maitreyi Krishnaswamy, FiOS TV’s director of product development, said in announcing the feature.

There are a couple of regulatory implications wrapped up in this whole trend of pay-TV services coming to non-operator-supplied (a.k.a. unmanaged) devices.

First: The consumer-electronics industry argues that such piecemeal extensions to third-party devices aren’t sufficient — the CEA and several of its member companies want MSOs (and ideally other MVPDs) to make TV services open and available in a standard technical format (see CEA Calls NCTA Encryption Proposal ‘Utterly Insufficient’ and AllVid Alliance: ‘Shiny’ Apps Aren’t Replacement For Open Video Standard).

Are private deals like the one between Verizon and Samsung preferable to a technical FCC mandate? I think the evidence is clear that pay TV providers — spurred by multiscreen options from the likes of Netflix — are already moving more quickly than any regulatory regime could force them to. And just look at how CableCards have bombed.

Second: Netflix and other critics complain that MVPDs’ own apps for Xboxes, TiVos, iPads and whatever should count toward broadband-usage caps — whereas  Comcast and AT&T, for example, exempt their own IP-delivered video from usage limits (see Comcast Starts Billing Bandwidth Hogs, But Exempts Its Own VOD Apps). Verizon still offers unlimited bandwidth usage for broadband customers, so for now that’s not an issue for FiOS.

For Verizon FiOS TV customers, here’s the full list of channels available through the IPTV service: BET HD, Boomerang, Cartoon Network, Cinemax HD (East), CNN, Comedy Central HD, DIY, ESPNews HD, Food Network HD, Hallmark Channel, HBO HD (East), HBO 2 HD, HGTV, HD HLN, MTV HD, MTV2, Nickelodeon HD, Nick Jr., Spike HD, TBS HD, TCM, TNT HD, Travel Channel HD, truTV HD, TV Land and VH1 HD.

To download the FiOS TV App, customers can go to the “Smart Hub” on eligible Samsung devices. You can watch Verizon’s a promotional video for the app in this YouTube video.

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Programming Note: Don’t miss TV’s Cloud Power, exploring how operators and media companies are tapping into cloud-based technologies, Thursday, Sept. 13, at New York’s Roosevelt Hotel. Scheduled speakers include Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia, IBM’s Bob Fox, SeaChange’s Steve Davi, PwC’s Gordon Castle, Verizon’s Maitreyi Krishnaswamy, and execs from ABC News, Hearst Television, the Mobile500 Alliance and Current Analysis. See multichannel.com/cloud for more info.

The Google Fiber project in KC still has the strong smell of a lobbying/PR stunt — rather than an honest-to-god broadband/TV offering that will bring competitive pressure to bear on cable and telco providers.

Here’s one of the main things the Google Fiber 1-Gbps experiment shows: That if you have a huge amount of bandwidth, TV is the killer app (see Google Outlines IPTV, 1-Gig Internet Service In Kansas City and Disney/ESPN, Fox, Turner And HBO In Talks On Google Fiber TV). Which, you know, is pretty much what cable operators have used the massive coax capacity for since the inception of the industry.

Does Google show that bandwidth pricing is dreadfully inflated in the U.S., and speeds are abysmal relative to the rest of the world? (”At least we beat New Zealand” on price per megabit, Google’s Milo Medin quipped at the launch event.)

The $70-per-month price point for 1 Gigabit per second of bandwidth certainly is more bang for your buck than ISPs in America offer. Comcast’s new 305-Meg tier is a whopping $300 monthly, and the Verizon FiOS Quantum 300-Meg Internet is somewhat more affordable at $205 or $210 (it’s five bucks lower if you lock in for two years).

Google’s objective in offering 1-Gbps service at a price point that’s lower than the fastest broadband services in the country appears to be an attempt to set a new price/performance bar for the industry — and push the notion that caps and usage-based pricing aren’t necessary.

The formula looks like this: faster and totally unlimited Internet = more Google searches and YouTube video views = more ad dollars for Google.

Does Google really expect to recoup its investment in KC Fiber? Or is it just an experimental showcase? Google has declined to reveal what it is investing in the FTTH buildout and launch, but claims it anticipates operating it “profitably” (which is different from anticipating a return on invested capital).

For now, the Google Fiber project is too small to matter in terms of real market dynamics.

Note that Google has wrangled itself the ability to cherry-pick customers. It’s only going to connect Kansas City homes if neighbors “rally” to sign up in large enough quantities. Cable and telco providers, under their franchise agreements, usually aren’t allowed to connect only select streets or higher-income areas.

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Programming Note: TV’s Cloud Power, exploring how operators and media companies are tapping into cloud-based technologies, has been rescheduled for Thursday, Sept. 13, at New York’s Roosevelt Hotel. Scheduled speakers include IBM’s Bob Fox, PwC’s Gordon Castle, Verizon’s Maitreyi Krishnaswamy and Current Analysis’ Ron Westfall. See multichannel.com/cloud for more info.

TV Everywhere observers, take note: About one-third (35%) of adult broadband users consider having remote “cloud-based” access to their favorite TV shows to be highly valuable, ranking it a 6 or 7 on seven-point scale (with 1 being “of no value at all” and 7 being “of great value,” according to a new study by The Diffusion Group.

That’s roughly in line with other media consumers said they would find highly valuable to have access to “in the cloud,” including movies (37.6%), music (38.6%) and photos (41.6%), TDG found in the survey of 2,000 adult broadband users conducted in the second quarter of 2012.

However, overall, personal cloud-based media services are at a very nascent stage, according to TDG.

Only 9% of Internet users say they use some form of cloud-based media service or application (music, photos or video). Only 4% of all respondents said they currently have access to TV shows in the cloud — which may indicate that many pay-TV subscribers don’t know what is actually available to them online.

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Programming Note: TV’s Cloud Power, exploring how operators and media companies are tapping into cloud-based technologies, has been rescheduled for Thursday, Sept. 13, at New York’s Roosevelt Hotel. Scheduled speakers include IBM’s Bob Fox, PwC’s Gordon Castle and Verizon’s Maitreyi Krishnaswamy. See multichannel.com/cloud for more info.

Remember the fight between Cablevision and Verizon over the telco’s ads — which stuck a thumb in the cable operator’s eye over its relatively poor performance on the FCC’s broadband tests released last summer?

Well, that was then.

Cablevision said it spent $140 million on upgrades to its DOCSIS 3.0 network and is now overdelivering promised speeds. On the FCC’s latest broadband test report, released Thursday, the MSO actually beats FiOS on a 24-hour basis on download speeds (see FCC Study: Cable Delivers 99% of Advertised Broadband Speeds).

For context, $140 million would represent about 21% of Cablevision’s $654.1 million in cable-related capital expenditures in 2011.

The FCC’s latest report, based on April 2012 data from U.K. testing firm SamKnows, found that customers of Cablevision’s core Optimum Online service received 128% of advertised speeds during peak weekday hours, and Optimum Online Boost Plus customers received 113% of advertised speeds during peak hours.

“This report demonstrates our commitment to delivering more than 100% of the speeds we advertise to our broadband customers — over the entire day and during peak hours — in addition to free access to the nation’s largest WiFi network and other valuable product features and enhancements,” Amalia O’Sullivan, Cablevision’s vice president of broadband product operations, said in a statement.

So, obviously, no more eye-rolling ads from Verizon this time.

Of course, Verizon FiOS did very well on the latest FCC report, too, although the DSL service underperformed. Mike Ritter, chief marketing officer for Verizon’s consumer and mass market business unit, said the FCC’s findings “reaffirm the results from the 2011 report, which found that FiOS provides blazing-fast and sustained upstream and downstream speeds even during peak usage periods.”

Because of the timing of the study, it doesn’t reflect Verizon’s recent introduction of FiOS Quantum speed tiers of up to 300 Mbps. “We expect excellent results when these groundbreaking, industry-leading speed offerings are included, as do our FiOS customers,” said Ritter. (Did I mention he’s a marketing guy?)

Meanwhile, other cable operators also fared well on the latest FCC test, especially when compared with the phone companies’ DSL offerings.

Comcast’s Cathy Avgiris, executive VP and general manager of data and communications services, commented: “This survey shows the Xfinity network consistently delivers a superior broadband Internet service to our customers. As the largest ISP, we are proud to deliver more speed, more consistently to more homes than any other provider. We are proud of our performance and look forward to continuing to work with the FCC on this study.”

The FCC’s full “Measuring Broadband America — July 2012″ report is available here.

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New Date: TV’s Cloud Power, exploring how operators and media companies are tapping into cloud-based technologies, has been rescheduled for Thursday, Sept. 13, at New York’s Roosevelt Hotel. Check back at multichannel.com/cloud for an updated list of speakers and participants.

Google still believes it can wrap its massive Internet arms around TV — even after consumers spurned its freshman effort as clunky and not very useful.

Two years after the company launched an ambitious strategy to meld Web search, online video and apps with traditional television, Google TV has failed to take off. Indeed, one of Google’s initial marquee hardware partners, Logitech, abandoned its Google TV set-top last year because of dismal sales, telling Wall Street it burned $100 million on the effort.

But now Google and its hardware partners are ready to bring out HDTVs and set-tops running version 2.0 of the software. And this time, the Internet TV platform has made huge strides in usability and features, said vice president of product management Mario Queiroz, who’s heading up the Google TV project.

“I’m still convinced we are a ways from the perfect user experience, but simplifying the user interface is a big step forward,” Queiroz said. “It looked like a computer interface in version 1, and we brought more of a smartphone paradigm to Google TV.”

(Note: I’m interviewing Queiroz at the Cable Show next week as part of the “Television without Borders: Navigating the New Consumer Video Landscape” session, followed by Microsoft’s Gerard Kunkel, Tuesday from 3:30-4:30 p.m.)

While Google expects to generate ad revenue from Internet searches and YouTube ads viewed on Google TV, it’s still fully relying users keep paying for TV.

“We are not building a cord-cutting product,” Queiroz said. “Our product depends on the content from pay television.”

Cable operators that Google has approached range from wary and skeptical, to eager to adopt the Internet TV platform, Queiroz said. “One of the things which is really beneficial for MSOs is that consumers want more and more content, not just their linear TV,” he said. “Google TV could run on any of the set-tops the MSOs are deploying.”

Google still has a relationship with Dish Network, although the satellite TV operator previously had been selling the now-discontinued Logitech set-top to subscribers.

Google is betting that 2.0 products will fare much better.

Next week, LG Electronics is expected to start selling two models of Google TV televisions, with the current version’s overhauled interface, access to the Google Play store — which now has more than 150 apps optimized for television — and a more “TV-like” YouTube experience.

And LG’s G2-series TVs also address the ease-of-use problem: The Internet-connected TVs will include a “Magic Remote,” which includes not only a QWERTY keyboard but also will respond to gesture-based commands, similar to Nintendo’s Wii remote, and includes voice recognition for searching. The CE maker’s 47-inch Google TV will carry a list price of $1,700, while the 55-inch model is $2,300.

LG’s introduction of Google TVs will be followed by Vizio’s launch of a Google TV-based set-top box as well as a Sony set-top and Blu-ray player powered by the software. Samsung Electronics has committed to building a Google TV product, as well.

“It’s become a lot easier for the OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] to build products for Google TV,” Queiroz said.

Over all, “we learned a ton” from the first generation of Google TV, Queiroz said. For example, he said, users expect more of a browsing and recommendation experience rather than having to think about something to search for.

“We’ve found that bringing the Web and new forms of entertainment into the living room is much more of a marathon than a sprint,” he said.

Queiroz joined Google in 2005. Prior to heading the Google TV project, he led Android product management as well as international product development across 20 R&D centers.

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