Verizon Unveils their Vision for the Web-Connected TV
In the U.S., Verizon FiOS customers will soon receive an update to their set-top boxes that will connect their TVs to the web in an entirely new way. The company is preparing a major upgrade to their TV widgets platform which currently serves basic info like weather and traffic. The upgrade will open that platform up to third-party developers. To demonstrate the capabilities of the upcoming SDK, the company built widgets that integrate both Facebook and Twitter with your TV viewing experience. In addition, DVRs will soon be able to access internet content from YouTube and several other video-sharing portals. And all of this web content is seamlessly woven within Verizon's on-screen guide alongside traditional programming information.
Is that Twitter on My TV?
Any serious Twitter user will tell you that half the fun of watching a major television event or popular show is tuning into the backchannel provided by those twittering their thoughts and reactions to what's being broadcast. An excellent example of this type of live backchannel was seen during President Obama's recent public address - a hotly tracked item on Twitter where the hashtag to follow was #NSOTU (aka "Not State of the Union.") Even lawmakers were getting in on the action by twittering from the House floor while listening to Obama speak.
This real-time view into the reactions of the crowd has been at times insightful, at other times humorous, but is always an interesting and interactive way to participate in any event, including something shown on TV. Yet when it comes to Twitter and the television, it's often a two-screen experience involving a web-connected laptop or phone and the TV itself.
But with Verizon's new widget platform, developers will be able to build widgets like this one which displays Twitter updates on your TV. But unlike Twitter's own search tool that only lists the trending topics, Verizon's widget demonstrates how Twitter could enhance your TV-viewing experience in a whole new way. When launching this widget, for example, one of the options is "current channel." Select that and all of a sudden you're seeing the tweets related specifically to the program or movie that you're currently viewing.
Another widget, this one for Facebook users, lets you update your status with a message about what you're watching. It also provides access to your friends and your photo albums.
These two widgets were built in-house by Verizon engineers and won't necessarily ship with the upcoming update to the DVR... but they could. In a recent demonstration of the software's capabilities, Joseph Ambeault, Director of Consumer Product Development Video, hinted that the company had talked to various internet companies about their providing widgets for the new platform. However, he would not confirm any specifics. (There were some very cagey head rolls - half nods, half shakes - when providing the non-answers, though!). We specifically asked about Twitter, but the Verizon representative said he could not comment. We're taking the decided ambiguity to mean talks began but nothing is official.
In fact, seeing the widget in action makes us wonder - is this a part of Twitter's mysterious business model? It very well could be. Verizon's widgets, which could potentially reach several million customers here in the United States, will be monetized through on-screen advertisements like banner ads. These ads, similar in look and feel to those seen on the web, will launch a quick TV commercial when selected with the remote control.
The Widget Ecosystem
At present, Verizon has widgets for weather, traffic, headlines, horoscopes, and community information. There's also an ESPN Fantasy Football widget which provides stats on your players and scores. But when the widget platform goes live, the potential for an entire ecosystem of widgets will explode. However, the questions as to how this ecosystem will look and behave are things Verizon is still figuring out as, up until now, they've solely focused on the technical aspects of the solution.
What they can say now is that widgets will be programmed using LUA, a standard technology which many game developers will be familiar with already. The process for signing up to create a widget won't involve any laborious steps, either. Instead, there will be a quick web form to fill out and then developers can gain access to the company's SDK (software development kit). According to Verizon, they're not interested in tightly controlling which widgets become available to their FiOS customers - they just want to provide tools for widget creation and sharing. As Ambeault describes it, the ecosystem's level of openness will be "somewhere in between Apple and Google" - a reference to the variation between the App Store approval process for the locked-down iPhones versus the wide-open Google Android platform.
Also of note, Verizon seems less interested in competing with the other newly launched widget platforms, like the Yahoo/Intel TV widgets that are being integrated into new televisions themselves, and are more interested in working to port those widgets to their platform. But when asked if they were working with Yahoo, the only answer was yet another cryptic head roll.
Internet Video with No Extra Box (Just a Computer)
Another aspect to the upgraded Verizon Web + TV experience is the introduction of internet content, searchable through their "Interactive Media Guide." When the new software launches, Verizon FiOS DVRs will stream software from YouTube, DailyMotion, Break.com, Blip.tv, and Veoh. The format conversion that makes this possible actually takes place on a computer connected on the home network running Verizon Media Manager software, not on the DVR itself. Verizon says they configure this software for consumers at the time of installation.
This Media Manager software also allows customers to stream videos and photos from their PC to TV.
Beyond the Net
Multiple upgrades to the DVR software will take place over the course of the coming year. The first upgrade, due out this summer, will deliver new features like the updated program guide with its richer contextual menus. Here, for example, customers will find things like colorful thumbnails of movies when searching through on-demand titles - an experience somewhat reminiscent of Netflix. Also included will be the ability to preview programs from channels you don't currently subscribe to and the option to then order the channel using your remote. Most notably, though, the summer upgrade (from version 1.6 to 1.7 of Verizon's 2nd-generation software) will introduce the internet video content. Later this fall, the widget SDK will launch.
Given Verizon's position as a TV company, phone company, ISP, and wireless provider, they plan to maximize their new software across all various platforms. Already Verizon mobile phones can access TV through V-Cast, but in the future they may be able to use the widgets too. Mobile phone users can also program their DVRs remotely.
Of course, this news is only of interest to Verizon FiOS customers - still a relatively small market here in the U.S. when compared to cable but one that's growing in key markets. However, Verizon's move is raising the bar as to what consumers will come to expect from their web-connected TVs in the future, whether the web content comes from Verizon, is built into the TV itself, or arrives as part of whatever comes next.
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Looks good... now all they need is to be nation-wide. They still haven't made it into the 4th largest city (Houston) but somehow managed to gives access to a city that saw JFK assassinated.
I wonder how AT&T's Uverse will respond. They have the same type of platform for delivery -- they just need to make good updates to software and UI. Also, what about Hulu?
Very interesting...
@Andrew: Verizon said no Hulu - here's why: their plan is to compete with Hulu by offering the same thing Hulu does and then some. Hulu offers current shows and back catalogs of select shows. And right now, you can find back episodes of shows through VZ's VOD listings (I didn't even realize this until yesterday - I thought VOD was for movies!.) VZ's plan is to grow that catalog immensely, providing even more shows that Hulu does. The example the VZ rep said was something along the lines of "what if you wanted to watch a show from the beginning?" (Insert drool here). The point is, that's coming and that's going to be their focus - TV on demand through their platform, not somebody else's. No timeframe on how soon that's all happening but it's not a technical issue any more. The catalog grows all the time, keep an eye out.
Yes, that's Twitter & Facebook!
Posted by: Sarah Perez
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March 11, 2009 8:15 AM
About time! What the heck is DirecTV waiting for with their Internet enabled devices? @boxee is the closest thing i can find to a complete package. i'm projecting a 100" image... I want an appropriate interface, I want my media, and I demand social integration!
Posted by: Jason Nelson
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March 11, 2009 8:26 AM
DirecTV seems to have been all but paralyzed by their on-again/off-again relationship with TiVo and concern over folks ripping video. I'll bet they're getting the same sort of pressure from the networks that led to the Hulu-Boxee Conflict of 2009. It's easy to build an internet TV platform when don't have to deal with folks with content.
Posted by: Ken Sheppardson
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March 11, 2009 9:10 AM
I heard DirecTV and TiVo made up and are seeing each other again.
Posted by: Josh Haley
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March 11, 2009 9:17 AM
Ken Sheppardson: Perhaps. Me thinks DirecTV is distracted with gee wiz features. I also wonder if some of DirecTV's challenges are a side effect of http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=118. The streaming of DVR programming to PC is nifty, but if I'm already at home, why do I want to use my computer to watch TV? That's what the displays in my living room, bedroom and kitchen are for! What I really want to do is leverage my investment in AV equipment. The set-top is a computer!
Posted by: Jason Nelson
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March 11, 2009 9:27 AM
IIRC, the last and only DirecTV TiVo-powered HD device was the HR10-250, which came out in the spring 2004. Last summer they announced they were back together with TiVo, and that they'd have new devices in the second half of 2009. That's 5 years between devices. BTW, in 1/2006 DirecTV announced a partnership with Microsoft to bring DirecTV to the HTPC. In 12/2008 after many demos and delays, DirecTV pulled the plug on their HTPC tuner. I have no idea what they're planning these days, nor do I think they do.
Posted by: Ken Sheppardson
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March 11, 2009 9:34 AM
Bold move for a telco.. Kudos...
Here similar service ... http://TwiTR.Me
http://Twitter.Com/TweetOnTV
Jason: Oh, no... you're not going to get me to go down the HTPC vs. set top box rabbit hole :-) Personally, I don't care how big the box under/next to my TV happens to be, who makes it, or what you call it. I just want local and basic cable network shows on demand, HD sports, HD first run movies, a streaming movie library ala Netflix, any and all video and pictures I've shot myself all available on whichever screens I choose using a single remote to navigate a single, unified UI. First one there wins.
Posted by: Ken Sheppardson
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March 11, 2009 9:42 AM
We've started to track the developer conversations for cable and fibre at http://sw.tearn.com/search/label/broadcast Thanks for surfacing this emerging trend.
Enjoyed having you at the demo, Sarah. And you've captured it well! As with all things the strength of the underlying network is the real key. U-Verse has some issues because the fiber only runs to the curb. That pure fiber connection to your computer and your TV - as is only offered by Verizon at this date - makes all the difference.
Ken: I know, I know. But if we don't fall down the rabbit hole from time to time, #boxee and ilk won't receive the promotion and encouragement they deserve. That means if we're not building our own tools, we'll have to wait around longer, right? :-)
Posted by: Jason Nelson
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March 11, 2009 11:58 AM
Indian TV Shows and Geo News channels at http://www.nawabshahtown.com/tv/
When internet video is piped in thru the IMG, how will it handle the ever increasing native 16x9 videos, because as of now, Fios is still using the antiquated 4x3 Aspect Ratio on their guide. This year Comcast will deploy their 16x9 guide, with AT&T, DirectTV, and Dish already sporting 16x9 HD guides.
With Fios being HD driven, how is their 4x3 guide going to play nice with 16x9 internet video? Did I hear distortion/cropping?
Great start Verizon. Living on the Eastside in Seattle we have FiOS and Comcast battling for our TV, Voice and Internet business. Just having FiOS in the neighborhood forced Comcast to roll DOCSIS 3 to us and up BW to 22+ Mbps. I am loving every minute of it.
Lean forward content on a lean back platform. Not sure how well this works, particularly when laptop TV seems to be the growing thing.
Posted by: Ian D. Nock
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March 11, 2009 4:03 PM
No Hulu? No Partridge Family? That's a big mistake. What about AOL TV? Will I be able watch Gilligan on a big screen? What's VZ got against classic TV? What about all the free movies on the net? By limiting us to things of VZs choosing, we all lose out.
Content is great, but what about user experience.
Personally, I think DirecTv has a superior channel guide than FiOS. All the great content offerings are meaningless if the end user can't find anything easily.
Juicen, got this feedback to your concern from Ambeault - hope it helps:Graphics rendering of the guide is different from video rendering.
Our platform supports 16:9 video today. And we are implementing a 16:9 guide (graphics rendering) in the near future.
We can handle any video format in its native aspect ratio today.
Roland Reinhart: Agreed on the DirecTV UI over FiOS. Not all upside, though. Whenever DirecTV rolls out an update, the family groans. They simply don't have the curiosity to invest their time in exploring new features until their peers start talking about it. It makes me think of Facebook.
For new players, while they don't have the cash flow from legacy customers, they have more freedom to innovate. If they can survive, that's good for us until we move on to the next big thing.
Posted by: Jason Nelson
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March 12, 2009 2:56 PM
Ian D. Nock: Don't you think we're moving toward a blend of lean back and lean forward?
If I could interact with what's on TV on my laptop, that would be an advertising coup. Why should I have to use Google to try and search for what I'm thinking when I can see it on the large scree (aka TV) in front of me?
For example, if you're watching a home improvement show on TLC, you could copy and modify the improvement on your laptop, and then use a directory and order management system to place an order with a local contractor. The content producer would receive a cut and pass a percentage upstream.
That might also eliminate the piracy concern. Advertisers would want sponsored content to get out anyway it can so we can buy their stuff.
Everyone wins. :)
Posted by: Jason Nelson
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March 12, 2009 3:15 PM
Thanks for the feedback you got Bob.
It's good to hear Verizon is fianlly going to update their guide to 16x9. Hopefully that means TRUE 16x9 in HD.
Now all they have to do is support NetFlix's on demand service and it will be perfect.
Juicen, I have to return to my earlier post about "the underlying network is everything." It's an accepted engineering fact that fiber is fastest - and fiber dedicated to your home is only being offered by one company in the Tampa Bay area (starts with a V, ends with an N). That means no need to compress anything - your HD signal, regardless of the number of TVs (we send it out just as we receive it from the content provider, with 112 channels and counting); your Internet connection (up to 50 Mbps down and up to 20 Mbps up; typically 20/5 for most consumers); and voice. So it will be a true 16x9, in HD - regardless of the number of sets, your on-line activities, etc. Good stuff...
You know what sounds awesome? Verizon doing user-interfaces - they're soooo good at it. I mean, have you ever used a verizon phone?
Sigh...
For new players, while they don't have the cash flow from legacy customers, they have more freedom to innovate. If they can survive, that's good for us until we move on to the next big thing.
DirecTV seems to have been all but paralyzed by their on-again/off-again relationship with TiVo and concern over folks ripping video. I'll bet they're getting the same sort of pressure from the networks that led to the Hulu-Boxee Conflict of 2009. It's easy to build an internet TV platform when don't have to deal with folks with content.
For new players, while they don't have the cash flow from legacy customers, they have more freedom to innovate. If they can survive, that's good for us until we move on to the next big thing.
26.Now all they have to do is support NetFlix's on demand service and it will be perfect.
The point is, that's coming and that's going to be their focus - TV on demand through their platform, not somebody else's. No timeframe on how soon that's all happening but it's not a technical issue any more
i agree with bodrum.
its look like good.