AT&T U-verse Introduces Total Home DVR, Taking ‘When You Want, Where You Want’ TV Viewing to Whole New Level
Latest U-verse TV Enhancement - Made Possible by IP Technology - Enables DVR Playback on Any TV Throughout the Home — PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ — DVRs have given customers …
Context & Ripple Effects
AT&T had already tested the living room as a networked control surface with its cell-phone TV remote initiative in 2007. Total Home DVR extends that logic from controlling a set to making recorded programming available across the household.
The launch matters because AT&T U-verse is using its IP delivery architecture to make the service, rather than a single television, the focal point of DVR viewing.
First-order effects
- AT&T U-verse subscribers can play recorded programs on televisions throughout the home rather than being limited to the TV attached to the DVR.
Second-order effects
- AT&T differentiates U-verse at the household level, putting more value on its IP television platform than on the DVR hardware at any one set.
Third-order effects
- If IP-based TV providers follow the same model, DVR functionality shifts from a device-bound feature toward a network-managed service spanning the home.
The trend: IP television is turning recorded-video access from a single-device capability into a service delivered across connected screens.