Verizon at Home

[#1]

Here at the At Home blog, it’s no secret we like to discuss the popular trends and topics around TV, so when I read that the MIT Technology Review had selected Social TV as one of the 10 emerging technologies for 2010, it got me thinking. 

“Social TV” refers to the growing popularity among consumers of texting, Tweeting and posting updates on Facebook while watching their favorite shows.  We were ahead of this trend with the launch of the first of our FiOS TV social widgets -- Facebook and Twitter -- last July, and they continue to be very popular.  In fact, over 15 million photos have been viewed using the Facebook widget, and in the first two weeks of launch, 2.5 million Tweets were viewed using the Twitter widget.

FiOS TV customers are also using our Mobile Remote application, which turns some mobile phones into a TV remote control, to post Facebook updates and Tweet while watching their favorite TV shows.

Just a week ago, we launched the most recent social networking applications on FiOS TV with YouTube videos and Internet Radio for our HD and DVR FiOS TV customers.  Subscribers can search and view user-generated content from YouTube or stream Internet radio from their PC to their TV.

It’s clear our customers love the new enhancements.  After just one week, FiOS TV customers have viewed over 24,300 YouTube videos and streamed over 59,500 stations on their TV sets.

FiOS customers not only have access to social applications on their TV screens, but they also are enjoying more interactivity overall.  For example, they can shop via remote control with the HSN Shop By Remote widget and get player stats and other information with our NBA LEAGUE PASS, Football and Baseball sports widgets.

A recent survey found that such interactivity is increasingly important to TV viewers. The survey, commissioned by Ensequence, found that 45% of TV viewers said they would be "likely to consider" switching their service if another provider offered interactive TV features with their favorite programs. The survey also indicated that sports fans want to interact more with their programming – something that FiOS TV is already offering.

So when you look at the growing trends, Verizon is leading the charge compared to cable. I’d even say that FiOS is 21^st century TV, and Verizon is the trailblazer.  Our goal is to make TV viewing interactive, convenient and easy, which is why you’ll see more and more social media applications and other widgets in the months ahead.

[#2]

smash hits for everybody except Mac users.......

hey Jim, Heather, Bill, or  Bobbi,  when will this be available for Mac users?????

[#3]

I have a standard set-top box (not hd) and i've heard from a fios service technician that iheartradio, youtube and caller id on tv are NOT available to customers in my situation. Is this true? If so why? When would those features be available to me?

[#4]

tw9jd5,

Thanks for the interest in YouTube and Internet Radio on FiOS TV.  We do plan to offer these applications to Mac users, but I can't provide any dates yet.  Continue to check the Verizon at Home blog for updates.

[#5]

kazi,

You do need an HD set-top box or DVR to get YouTube or Internet Radio on FiOS TV, and there aren't any plans right now to make these applications available on standard set-top boxes.  But you can check to see if you can get caller ID on TV.  Press the "Menu" button on your remote control and then Settings > Caller ID > Check Availability.  Then press "OK" to see if Caller ID on TV is available to you.

[#6]

Using my HD 6200 STBs and Media Manager on my wired desktop, I was able to get YouTube and my WMVs and Divx to play on my TV.

(really don't see myself using that very often though - especially since the files on my hdd seem to be getting recompressed or something - they don't look as good as they do when played on my PC or regular player.)

How do you get MP3s to play? Every one I tried all got the message that they have either been moved, deleted or corrupted.
I tried both a playlist created in the manager and tried to select them individually.

It says the same for the Fios sample playlist as well.

[#7]

sister2,

You should be able to use Media Manager to play your MP3s through your TV.  We'll have someone contact you to see what's going on.

Heather

[#8]

Heather_Wilner, thank you!

[#9]

Here it is July and the issue reported above is still not resolved.

I reveived a private message on May 26. I responded, supplying the information that was asked for.

Never heard back.

I posted in the forums about the problem on June 16. Shortly after posting there, I received a PM from a mod who said he/she was sorry to have read about the trouble I am having  and said I'd be contacted by  email, PM or telephone number and apparently, my post was deleted from the forum thread with no reason given and it is not showing up in my post history.

(It was in the proper thread - the topic was concerning this issue and my manner of posting was not abusive in any way)

I replied to this PM the next day, informing the mod that I still haven't heard from anyone and  I inquired about my post being deleted.

Never got a response back.

I've pretty much given up on getting this resolved.

[#10]

sister2,

My apologies. We've obviously dropped the ball on this one, and I'm asking again for someone to contact you. 

Heather

[#11]

I m feeling good for having interset on YouTube and Internet Radio on FiOS TV.