uverse

After 10 years, I'm done waiting for TiVo

The last straw broke last month, when, after a DSL outage, I could no longer connect to the TiVo service.

I got the dreaded N17 error message that says, "Failed while negotiating." The only support guidance TiVo offers is (I'm not joking) to unplug the TiVo and plug it back in. Nothing helped. I trolled forums, restarted my modem, changed my router DNS settings, rebooted over and over, even switched to another TiVo, and connected to a Sprint Overdrive, just to troubleshoot and get guide info. I just couldn't get it working. I tweeted TiVo for … Read more

Will more competition finally mean better TV?

Instead of a bloody price war between cable operators and phone companies in the TV market, battle lines are now being drawn over who has the most compelling new features.

Digital video recorders, on-demand services, and more recently Web sites such as Hulu.com have taught people that they don't have to be beholden to a TV schedule. But the TV industry is about to be shaken up even more as phone companies and cable operators, which are all vying for your viewing eyeballs, add new features to their services to lure customers.

So what's it mean for … Read more

AT&T: Blame the economy, not the iPhone

Updated at 9:18 a.m. PDT: Analysis added about AT&T's iPhone subsidy and its labor costs. Comments also added from the company's conference call.

AT&T is pinning the more than 9 percent dip in profits for the first quarter on the slumping economy and expenses related to its retirement plan--and not on hefty subsidies associated with the popular iPhone.

AT&T said Wednesday it earned $3.1 billion, or 53 cents per share, in the first quarter. This figure is down from $3.5 billion, or 57 cents per share, during the … Read more

iPhone sales buoy AT&T earnings

AT&T's profits were up slightly in the third quarter, thanks in large part to the popularity of the Apple iPhone 3G.

The nation's largest phone company announced on Wednesday a 5.5 percent boost in profits for the third quarter. Net income for the company increased to $3.2 billion on sales of $31.2 billion, which were up about 4 percent, compared to the same quarter a year ago.

Wireless, which accounts for about 40 percent of AT&T's total revenue, once again saved the day for AT&T, proving that it … Read more

AT&T reorganizes at the top

AT&T is shuffling its top management team in an effort to tie its wireless and wireline businesses more tightly together.

Specifically, the company is divvying up its management organization into four major divisions: consumer, business, infrastructure, and diversified businesses. Previously, the company organized the company by customer segment and further delineated between wireless and wireline services.

"The management changes further align our employee teams, product offerings and resources around consumer and business customer segments, and integrate the management of our core infrastructure capabilities," the company said in an e-mail statement. "Our customers want a One AT&T experience and these changes help us do that for both consumers and businesses."… Read more

AT&T rolls out upgrade to U-verse DVRs

AT&T is upgrading the digital video recorder on its U-Verse Internet-based television service, allowing users to record and play back multiple programs on up to eight televisions.

The upgrade, called Total Home DVR, is free as part of a U-verse subscription, which costs from $44 to $99 a month. The service is already available in the San Francisco Bay Area and is expected to be rolled out to all customers by the end of the year, the company said.

Total Home DVR, which can store up to 133 hours of standard-definition programs or 37 hours of high-definition programming, … Read more

AT&T offers free Wi-Fi and superfast broadband

AT&T said Wednesday that it will soon offer its broadband subscribers unlimited free Wi-Fi access in its hot spots, as well as a new supercharged 10Mbps tier of service.

Free Wi-Fi will be offered only to AT&T broadband subscribers who subscribe to services with 1.5Mbps downloads or higher. Subscribers who only have the company's wireless service will not be offered free Wi-Fi.

This means that users of the iPhone, which has Wi-Fi built in and is exclusively sold in the U.S. for AT&T's network, will only be able to take … Read more

AT&T picks Sun to serve up video

Editor's note: The original version of this blog incorrectly stated that AT&T is using the Sun Streaming System. The text has since been corrected.

Sun Microsystems said Wednesday that AT&T plans to use its Sun Fire servers and storage arrays to power its Internet Protocol television service, called U-Verse.

The deal is significant for Sun because it could be a foot in the door to eventually sell AT&T its new, advanced Sun Streaming System, which includes Sun Fire servers and other technology that can be used to stream 160,000 simultaneous IP video … Read more

Microsoft, I want my multiroom DVR

Microsoft said Monday that's it's revamped its IPTV software, now called MediaRoom. In a feature published Monday on CNET News.com, I've already gone into some depth about what the new software offers and what it means for the telco TV market.

But I also wanted to point out an important feature the new software doesn't offer: multiroom DVR. This service would be a dream come true for me. Even though I've got three TVs in my tiny apartment in New York City, my roommate and I still fight over the TV in the living … Read more