EXCLUSIVE: AT&T HomeZone First Look

[Scott Greczkowski]

The Video on demand is cool but the rest of what you listed Tivo does Today, and then some.

Not even close. If you set a remote timer it could take your Tivo up to 24 hours to download the change in the timer. With Homezone it happens instantly.

I'm not a big fan of the PPV style of distibution. Now if there were no monthly fee I'd feel a bit differently.

I agree with you and they are working on tiers and other options. Not everything is pay though there is free content as well. When they demo they like to show that they have support from the studios with recent hollywood films.

I think ondemand would be attractive if on the backend there was a huge farm of DVRs feeding all available content to the ondemand servers. Basicly from the consumer end you'd be able to watch anything and everything time allowing. Who needs two tuners in a DVR when your provider is already recording all 500 channels .

This is what Cablevision wants to do.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Scott - what's the upfront cost on this box looking like?

Probably nothing except a long term commitment to AT&T.

 

[stevo/65]

An egineer "my mentor" back in 92.....Predicted that customers will be able to choose what movie they want...like blockbuster,only thru cable.
He also said you will be able to request an actor ...and every show or movie the actor was in will pop up on screen for your choosing.
Looks like he was right.....and this was back in 92!

 

[slimoli]

Why is AT&T required? Can we have it only subscribing to DishNetwork? Thanks.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Why is AT&T required? Can we have it only subscribing to DishNetwork? Thanks.

Because it requires AT&T / Yahoo DSL service. (This way when you do TV stuff your going through their own servers and not actually out on the internet. Basically AT&T / Yahoo Service is like a proxy server to the Homezone box.

 

[mdonnelly]

Because it requires AT&T / Yahoo DSL service. (This way when you do TV stuff your going through their own servers and not actually out on the internet. Basically AT&T / Yahoo Service is like a proxy server to the Homezone box.

Well, as a long time sub to ATT (SBC) Yahoo DSL and Dish (separately), I'm hoping that I'd qualify for one of those boxes. I doubt that Lightspeed will make it to my rural suburb in the next five years.

 

[jcvaughan]

Scott, thanks for all this great info. Did the homezone folks mention anything about requirements for the home network connection. Do you have to be operating on a windows system or will it also work with Macs?

 

[korsjs]

Scott, thanks for all this great info. Did the homezone folks mention anything about requirements for the home network connection. Do you have to be operating on a windows system or will it also work with Macs?

i second this. this trip to team summit has been very valuable to all of us here and the visitors from the other sites.

 

[Shawn95GT]

Not even close. If you set a remote timer it could take your Tivo up to 24 hours to download the change in the timer. With Homezone it happens instantly.

If it's phone connected, yeah. With broadband I've been able to schedule a record recording inside of an hour's notice. I beleive the check-in is something like every 15 mins.

This AT&T box sounds pretty slick though - the price point and the content will make or break it. It sounds like they're making headway on the content!

 

[drjdan]

Does it replace the 622 or do you use it with the 622?

 

[lovswr]

Because it requires AT&T / Yahoo DSL service. (This way when you do TV stuff your going through their own servers and not actually out on the internet. Basically AT&T / Yahoo Service is like a proxy server to the Homezone box.

So Scott, is this the box that is going to be used for project Lightspeed/Pronto? If it is prepared to be dissapointed with the actual real world results. Nevertheless, it seems the price, free (as not in beer) is right. At least Dish is trying. Once again, why am I & others (beyond fees) staying with DirecTV. As Ms Jackson said, what have they done for me lately!

 

[Foxbat]

Isn't the Phone Jack on the back panel a little ironic? I mean, the thing needs to be connect via Ethernet to a high-speed DSL or Lightspeed connection, right? Hopefully, the DSL filter is built-in...

 

[PATONENOW]

I suspect that there will be an announcement from both D* and E* that they have made agreements with AT&T which includes the internet as well. Each will use their satellities to furnish this and more are expected to sign on for more things. Some news has broken on this already in the SUNDAY paper. So what SCOTT has said seems to tie in to this or else is a completely different venture.
And this is the link to the articlle I refered to:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060611/ap_on_hi_te/satellite_broadband_3

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

So Scott, is this the box that is going to be used for project Lightspeed/Pronto?

No it's not, this has nothing to do with Lightspeed.

 

[jollygrunt]

I'm looking forward to getting AT&T's Homezone, but I'm in no hurry. I still need to buy an HDTV set, but I won't be doing so until next year at the earliest.

 

[mdonnelly]

No it's not, this has nothing to do with Lightspeed.

That's why I want it. Lightspeed won't get to me for years.

 

[Cornstalkk]

Two questions that I hadn't seen answered.......

Will it work with Macs? Or is it Winblows only?

How does this work with your current receiver or does it replace it (I have a 622 also)?

 

[Brewer4]

Whats funny is my Windows Media Center already does everything this does except native HD capturing from D* or E* (does do HD OTA). I love the idea of movies on demand but Movielink and CinemaNow charge way too much. Its pretty much across the board 5 bucks per movie (some older ones are lower) and I am not willing to do that. Would rather wait for my Netflix DVD to arrive. So nice unit but they gotta get movie viewing lower.

 

[spectrumsp]

Scott...

Several quick questions...

How will the VOD be fed...thru the broadband, internet, or sat connection? (or all of the above...which would be nice aince I have Comcast)

Several individuals on this post have alluded to the fact that D* could also come aboard...is this true or does AT&T have an exclusive with E*?

What speed is the internet connector on the machine...100 or 1000 mps? If 1000 mps, then HD could be xmitted directly to home. (Hopefully they are planning for the future)

Are there any plans to be able to place this in a central home location and feed mobile units at several different locations...den, kitchen, bedroom, etc, via a home lan?

Is there a firewire connection someplace on the unit?

This could be the beginning of something great...

 

[tonyp56]

Now if At&t just keep to their word that they are adding DSL service in my area soon. (I live less than a mile from where the cutoff is for DSL in town, I live outside city limits, so DSL is available in my town, just not that extra mile so I can have it, YET I hope) Anyways, after adding my XBOX 360, I am a fan of anything that hooks up to your network and lets you stream whatever to your TV.

I am sure you will have to be an AT&T Dish Network customer, not a AT&T customer, that happens to subscribe to Dish too. Though I guess no one will know for sure for a little while. This could be one reason why AT&T hasn't been selling/activating the 622 on their accounts. Because they knew they were coming out with something better and there was no need in selling something that they'd be replacing in a year or so for everyone.

My girlfriend already wants Vongo, but because of the FAP on satellite, we both know that we couldn't get it until and if DSL becomes available. We could do away with--at least in theory--Starz through Dish. $9.99 a month for on demand is better than even $8 through Dish (at least with Vongo I could--in theory again--watch what I want when I want, limited to the movies that Starz has rights to at that time of course, but I wouldn't be able to watch anything different on Starz either). And if we do get DSL and this ever becomes available in our area, I'll drop having Dish directly, and go with AT&T, I'd have one bill, and better boxes too.

This sounds good to me, just hope AT&T does it, and of course add DSL to my house so I can have it . If they don't add DSL, then, I'd be very sad.

I've read on the net that project Lightspeed is still on track, that Homezone isn't a replacement or anything for Lightspeed. Apparently there where a few that tried to say Homezone was AT&T's replacement, because they had found out they couldn't do Lightspeed. My thought is this is a way for AT&T to give better coverage. Even if Lightspeed become reality, I doubt I'll ever see it here in Oklahoma, let alone in my small town/area. Homezone I hope gives them a way to serve the little people, without having to spend so much money. But I could be wrong