According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), cable companies are luring away hundreds of thousands of phone company customers each quarter through offering telephone service. Thus, AT&T must set itself apart. It’s answer: “Homezone,” video on demand over high-speed Internet paired with satellite TV from dish network, plus more. Internet on TV that “will feel much more like a TV than an Internet experience.” Will it work? Maybe.
Homezone allows subscribers to download movies from the website Movielink for a small fee and view them on TV. Though the content available probably won’t be as broad as current cable operator offerings, the seamless interactive program guide allows customers to flip through channels, order movies, or even listen to music via Yahoo’s music service Lauchcast, or view photos uploaded to Yahoo Photos, etc. Also, through the same connection, users can now use their TV to access music and photos on their computer.
Unfortunately, users won’t be able to surf just any site. It’s no secret that AT&T & Yahoo have been buddy buddy since 2001. Thus, here we have an early example of potentially huge technology limited by content deals. Yahoo is the current content provider in this case.
But still, the idea of easily accessing your computer in the other room to listen to music or view saved photos on your TV seems cool, though much is left to just how “seamless” the interface will seem to you and me…