3 posts categorized "AT&T"
And Why Not The Energy Channel?
July 09, 2009 4:07 PM in Alan Weinkrantz , AT&T , G.hn , U-verse | 0 comments | 0 TrackBack
AT&T has just served
up a slew of new features that I recently received overnight. The biggest news was the software update that allows my
family to enjoy new Total Home DVR capabilities and navigation enhancements,
plus a new and visually enhanced look and feel which you can see here
The other new features that were added for
all U-verse TV customers include a new Mobile Remote Access App for the iPhone,
enhancements to AT&T’s Web Remote Access app and a free month of Starz in
July as a customer appreciation promotion.
You can view a demo of these enhancements here, and a demo of U-verse Mobile Remote
Access App for iPhone here.
With all the great technology and all the great channels, I
wonder: why not a channel that is
tied to my utility company (in my case, CPS / San Antonio), that would let me
watch and monitor the family’s energy consumption?
And while we’re away- why not a special app on my iPhone that is tied
to my G.hn wired home network, so I can monitor the house and all energy
consumption when we’re away? Even
with Microsoft’s recent announcement, promoting its new hohm offering, it’s not quite enough.
My take is that Microsoft with it being the middleware provider to AT&T and other telcos around
the world, should address how they could tie their software platform to my soon
to be G.hn-based network to not only enjoy great broadcast programming, but
help my family save money and help make my home a bit more green.
Now Available: A Service Provider's Perspective on G.hn
May 18, 2009 2:05 PM in Alan Weinkrantz , AT&T , EveryWire , EveryWire.com , G.hn , Home Networking , HomeGrid Forum , Tom Starr , U-verse , Wired Home Networking | 1 comments | 0 TrackBack
The service provider landscape continues to dramatically change, with growing emphasis on increasingly complex multi-play offerings that include Internet Protocol-based voice, video, and high-speed data.
These services need to not only be delivered to the home, but throughout the home to everywhere they are needed.
What role will the service
provider play in whole-home networking?
And what do these companies require from the next-generation wired networking technologies that
will come to market? Find out by
downloading the new webinar from HomeGrid
Forum.
WHAT: This new webinar will deliver a service provider’s perspective on next-generation wired home networking, including:
·
Technical
requirements for a next-generation standard
·
Critical
improvements necessary for adoption
·
Considerations
in transitioning from current- to next-generation standards
·
Differences
in implementation in single and multi-dwelling units
· Advantages of single vs. multiple standards/approaches
WHO: The webinar is presented by Tom Starr, lead member of technical staff at AT&T, and Mario Finocchiaro, director of business development for Aware, Inc. and secretary of the HomeGrid Forum. (Note: I recently had the chance to interview AT&T's Tom Starr, Lead Member of Technical Staff, which you may read here.)
WHERE: To download the webinar and other materials from HomeGrid
Forum, visit the organization’s Resource Library at http://www.homegridforum.org/resource_library
WHEN: The webinar is available now.
AT&T Participating in G.hn Standard Development
February 19, 2009 10:02 PM in Alan Weinkrantz , AT&T , EveryWire , EveryWire.com , G.hn , HomePNA , P1901 , Tom Starr , U-verse , Wired Home Networking | 0 comments | 0 TrackBack
I recently had a chance to visit with Tom Starr, Lead Member of Technical Staff for AT&T. Tom is a recent AT&T award winner.
It stands to reason that the world’s largest telecommunications company would have an interested in G.hn. After all, the company has over 1,000,000 American homes on its HomePNA based wired network that runs its U-verse triple play offering.
After installing this many homes you learn a lot about wiring and the realities that not all homes are wired equally. In a perfect world, you’d have what Tom kept referring to “no new wires,” but the reality is that each home has different wiring types in each room that lend themselves better at connectivity and delivering services.
From day one, Tom has been active and working with the ITU’s development of the G.hn standard (which is now officially called G.9960). He told me that AT&T is watching the development of the G.hn standard for a few reasons:
- Connect to any room no matter what the wiring type may be. Get to a point where the customer can self-install new hardware- something considered to be the holy grail of any video provider
- Have built-in diagnostics and tools that allow for remote manageability and ease of use.
- Have multiple supply sources. And when you have an industry standard like G.hn, you get to a certain point of critical mass where you will have many technology, equipment, parts and product marketers all supplying the channel with compatible and industry standard offerings. This helps grow the industry ecosystem and supply chain.
I’ve been an AT&T U-verse customer for over three years. Some of my readers may also know my 3Screens blog, in which I write a consumer facing blog about AT&T’s three screen strategy.
Everywire is a blog that will talk about G.hn and related wired networking news.
Subscribe to this blog's feed