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AT&T’s new site has same ol’ free TV shows, movies as everyone else

September 10th, 2009, 3:25 pm by

AT&T sneaks AT&T Entertainment into homes, a new place online to view full TV episdoes.AT&T today officially launched the mysterious web site at www.entertainment.att.net offering full-length TV shows and movies for free.

Called AT&T Entertainment, the site has videos from ABC and NBC Universal (via an agreement with Hulu), CBS Interactive and many more familiar channels.

But as mentioned earlier (see “AT&T mystery site offers free movies, TV shows online“), most of the content appears to be the same stuff found on Hulu.com (although not everything on Hulu is available on AT&T’s new site, like “The Simpsons“).

Well, that’s because it is, confirms an AT&T spokesperson. This is part of an ongoing effort by AT&T to offer video to its TV, Internet and phone customers, i.e. the three screens.

“At this time, none of the content is exclusive, but we’ll be adding content to the site on an ongoing basis, including online content that is part of our three-screen deals, which often includes exclusive or AT&T-produced content,” said Deborah Rapoport for AT&T.

“We want to give customers their favorite TV programming and movies when they want it, where they want it,” she said.

Sound familiar? Verizon said nearly the same thing last week when it joined the cable industry’s “TV Everywhere” movement, which plans to offer the same videos online as on TV to paying subscribers. Shawn Strickland, vice president of FiOS product management for Verizon, said, “… only Verizon is able to deliver to customers what they want, wherever they go.”

Rapoport said that AT&T Entertainment is not part of TV Everywhere, which has the backing of Verizon, Time Warner Cable and Comcast Corp.

A big difference is that AT&T’s site is for anybody — not just AT&T customers. TV Everywhere is for customers who already pay for TV service.

However, if you’re an AT&T U-verse TV subscriber or an AT&T Internet customer, you can log into the new site and access your account to schedule and manage DVR recordings to your TV. That remote-access feature has been available since 2006.

More TV news:


Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

Verizon, AT&T waive phone fees for fire victims

September 4th, 2009, 10:48 am by

Utility companies waive charges for fire victims. If you or someone you know has been affected by the current Southern California fires, AT&T and Verizon are offering simple ways to restore service.

For Verizon phone customers, call 1-800-483-1000 to:

  • Get charges waived for moving home phone service to a new house or to reestablish service at a rebuilt location.
  • Get free call forwarding or free voice mail for 12 months
  • Offers are also available to business customers by calling 1-800-483-2000.

AT&T offers similar services:

  • Establish new service at a temporary or permanent location and waive the installation charge.
  • Call forwarding automatically forwards calls to any phone number customers choose.
  • Remote access to call forwarding allows customers to dial in and direct normal home phone calls to another number from any phone.
  • Message Center allows users to retrieve messages left at their home phone line from any location as well as leave a greeting telling callers their status.
  • Residential customers displaced by the fires can call 1-888-338-3291 Monday through Friday 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to set up the free phone services.

If I learn of other utilities offering help to fire victims, I will add it to this list.

Related stories from OCRegister.com:

Posted in: news • • • • • | 1 Comment »

Are U-verse and FiOS DVRs in trouble?

August 27th, 2009, 10:47 am by

TiVoAs it previously hinted, TiVo has filed suit against two more companies not licensed to use its TV-recording patents

TiVo said Wednesday it filed legal complaints against AT&T and Verizon in a Texas court. The complaint seeks damages for any current and past infringement on three TiVo patents related to recording and pausing live TV. The patents are similar to the ones TiVo has somewhat successfully accused Dish Network/EchoStar of violating.

Verizon and AT&T both offer DVRs through their TV services FiOS and U-verse. When I spoke to a TiVo in June, a spokesman said that TiVo has agreements with Comcast, Cox and DirecTV. It’s also reportedly in talks with Time Warner Cable. Agreements range from rebranding  TiVo’s actual software for their own customers to just a license agreement. TiVo wanted to have a similar  relationship with all TV companies that have DVRs.

Most recently in June, Dish was ordered by a Texas court to dismantle its DVRs because it infringed on the TiVo patents. Dish has appealed.

The three TiVo patents in the AT&T and Verizon case are U.S. Patent Nos. 6,233,389 B1 (“Multimedia Time Warping System”), 7,529,465 B2 (“System for Time Shifting Multimedia Content Streams”), and 7,493,015 B1 (“Automatic Playback Overshoot Correction System”). Essentially, they cover the technology to record and pause live TV digitally.

Bloomberg reported that the companies had tried to reach an agreement but failed. Said Thomas Rogers, TiVo’s chief executive officer, during a earnings conference call on Wednesday, “Attempts were made to reach a commercial arrangement. They were not reached. We believe we are being caused irreparable harm and that harm increases every day this doesn’t cease.”

Whether or not Verizon and AT&T will have to yank their DVRs, it’s bound to take years for anything to get resolved unless the companies reach an agreement out of court. TiVo’s fight with Dish/Echostar started in 2004, according to Bloomberg.

Previous stories on TiVo:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

25,000 more places for Wi-Fi (if you’re with AT&T)

August 25th, 2009, 2:41 pm by

Free Wi-FiAT&T just announced that its collection of global Wi-Fi hotspots increased 25 percent today, bringing its total to 125,000 hotspots worldwide.

The new 25,000 hotspots are in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Croatia, the Netherlands, the UK and China. Sites in China are live and active. The European sites will be activated over the next 45 days.

But for the most part, these new sites are geared toward AT&T business users who pay $19.99 a month for AT&T’s Wi-Fi Premier plan.  Still, any one can get this plan, which could come in handy when traveling overseas.

Here in the United States, AT&T offers access to its hotspots for free to iPhone users, and for its high-speed Internet or U-verse Internet customers. Non AT&T customers can pay a daily fee of $3.99 for access or, of course, purchase the monthly $19.99 Wi-Fi Premier plan. There are 20,000 AT&T hotspots in the United States.

Alternatives for non-AT&T customers include the free Wi-Fi for Verizon customers (read: “Verizon offers some customers a bonus: Free Wi-Fi“), free Wi-Fi at Barnes & Noble and Starbucks (read: “Free Wi-Fi at Barnes & Noble for everyone!” “Free Wi-Fi at Starbucks — with restrictions“) or WiFiFreeSpot page, which lists cafes and businesses offering free Wi-Fi nationwide. If any one else knows a useful free Wi-Fi service, please point it out. Thanks!

Previous stories on free Wi-Fi:

Posted in: iPhone • Wi-Fi & networking • • • • • • • | Comments Off

AT&T U-verse TV good to go in Mission Viejo

August 19th, 2009, 9:02 am by

Where is AT&T's U-verse service? Readers: This is part of an ongoing series of updates on what happened to the AT&T U-verse rollout in Orange County. The company said in July 2009 that it was halting further expansion in seven O.C. cities.  This story, in particular, focuses on one city that is cooperating with AT&T.

For those wondering whether AT&T’s U-verse TV service is heading to Mission Viejo, the short answer is yes.

But when can a Mission Viejo resident order the service? Here’s the long answer.

More on the U-verse impasse

> More on U-verse Impasse<

The city of Mission Viejo approved the last of 35 permits from AT&T in January, according to Joe Ames, the city’s associate civil engineer. These give AT&T the right of way to install above-ground utility boxes near residents in order to pipe in TV service using new fiber-optic cables and existing copper wires.

But, apparently, there’s quite a bit of lag between getting a permit and offering service. There are bids to be made and awarded. Then there is construction to be done.

“To our knowledge, only three have been installed. And to my knowledge, none are functioning in the city limits,” Ames said, adding that some residents however may be able to get service from neighboring cities.

Ames does know that the 35 permits don’t come close to covering everyone in Mission Viejo. Originally, AT&T told the city it needed at least 107 new cabinets, according to May 2008 Orange County Register story.

“My understanding is that (AT&T) would be submitting more applications in the future,” he said.

You’d think that AT&T would step on it when it comes to Mission Viejo, a city the telecom company sued in March 2008 in order to make sure it would be able to offer TV service in the future. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • | 9 Comments »

Free web TV for AT&T users until Sept. 1 because…

August 17th, 2009, 2:13 pm by

AT&T promotes 3-screensThe good news: If you are a customer of AT&T broadband or U-verse service, you can watch certain live TV channels online for free.

The bad news: The offer ends Sept. 1. And I mean the whole thing. AT&T is ending the Internet TV service, which started three years ago for  $1.99 per month. The service is  called “U-verse OnTheGo and AT&T Broadband TV.

Customers were reminded recently (as noted in GigaOm’s blog) about the pending shut down. AT&T users were given 60 days (July and August) to continue using the TV service for free.

What happened? An AT&T spokesperson tells me the service, provided by MobiTV, just wasn’t very popular. Instead, the company is focusing on single events as part of its “3 screens” promotion. The 3-screens refer to TV, computer and mobile phone.

Recent 3-screen events included the broadcast of the new Wallace and Gromit short film, “A Matter of Loaf and Death” in June; the 2009 Masters Tournament and a live webcast of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.

Another reason AT&T’s Broadband TV is getting axed? As pointed out by GigaOm, AT&T’s web TV offering just wasn’t as easy to use as is Hulu.com and Netflix.

Recent AT&T coverage:

Posted in: Cell phones • Video & TV • • • • • | Comments Off

Free Wi-Fi at Barnes & Noble for everyone!

July 31st, 2009, 11:20 am by

Spotted in my inbox to Barnes & Noble customers: Free Wi-Fi.

Barnes & Noble offers free Wi-Fi, courtesy of AT&T.

The service, announced earlier this week, is provided by AT&T. Seems like suspicious timing since Verizon’s also announced this week that it is offering free Wi-Fi to certain Internet customers at hotspots like Starbucks and Barnes & Noble stores.

Regardless, this is great news for people who like to park themselves at the cafe  for hours hogging tables and sipping the same cup of coffee while updating their Facebook status. (Of course, this is bad news for us customers who can’t find an empty table at these increasingly crowded cafes to drink a quick latte with a friend.)

The handy thing about this free service is that Wi-Fi is throughout the store, not just the cafe, so customers can wander the aisles and preview eBooks on a smartphone using Barnes & Noble’s free eBook reader. Or they can just page through the books in front of them on the shelf.

Anyway… Barnes & Noble has 10 stores in Orange County. Here’s a link to the store locator.

More on free Wi-Fi:

Posted in: Wi-Fi & networking • • • • | 4 Comments »

AT&T’s U-verse TV jumps to 1.6 million subscribers

July 24th, 2009, 7:58 am by

AT&T U-verseIn AT&T’s second-quarter earnings report, the company said it added a net 248,000 TV customers during the quarter bringing its U-verse TV following to 1.6 million subscribers. That’s also a growth of about 1 million subscribers in a year. More than 75 percent order three or four services from AT&T, which offers TV, Internet, home phone and wireless phone service. 

Overall for all of its businesses, AT&T reported lower net income of $3.2 billion on revenues of $30.7 billion for the quarter. A year earlier, the company had net income of $3.8 billion on revenues of $30.9 billion. The downturn was blamed on declines in its voice and legacy data products.

Apple’s iPhone, which AT&T offers exclusively, continued to be a highlight. The company activated more than 2.4 million iPhones during the quarter, thanks to the record-setting launch of the latest iPhone 3GS. 

AT&T’s roll out of its U-verse TV and broadband service hasn’t been as easy as it had hoped. Earlier, it said it was scaling back to 30 million living units by 2011, or one year later than planned (see “Oh no! U-verse rollout slowing down“). This month, AT&T noted that it hit some snags in Orange County. The company said it decided to stop pursuing service in several cities here because of frustration with getting required city permits. The main issue seems to be that these cities — Cypress, Dana Point, Irvine, Lake Forest, Newport Beach, San Clemente and Tustin — want AT&T to build its U-verse utility boxes underground, which AT&T says it cannot do (read “AT&T U-verse comes to a halt in Irvine, 6 other O.C. cities“). 

But consumers still want their U-verse, which offers all the usual TV channels, DVRs and other offerings of the cable providers. The company is still expanding in several parts of the United States, including Orange County.

“We continue to expand our all-IP AT&T U-verse platform to deliver broadband to more homes. We’ve increased our backbone capacity and continue to enhance our premier set of advanced global business solutions. These are AT&T’s strengths, and these are the drivers that will lead growth as the economy turns,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and chief executive officer.

**LINKS**

Previous U-Verse news:


Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services

Posted in: Cell phones • Video & TV • • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

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