Verizon is making PC-to-TV features and the ability to manage digital video recordings from any Internet-enabled mobile phone -- two features previously available only to subscribers who took the multiroom DVR package -- available to all DVR customers.
Verizon's Home Media DVR service, $19.99 per month, provides multiroom capabilities; the standard HD DVR is $15.99 per month. Earlier this year, the telco opened up Web-based DVR scheduling to all customers, which had previously been available only to Home Media DVR customers.
Currently, no major U.S. cable operators offer similar PC-to-TV features or remote DVR programming capabilities, while competitors including TiVo, AT&T U-verse TV and DirecTV tout Web-based DVR access. Meanwhile Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Bright House Networks plan to introduce multiroom DVR later this year.
"Once again, Verizon FiOS is delivering what cable can only dream of," Verizon Telecom vice president of marketing Shawn Strickland said in announcing the wider availability of the features.
With the FiOS Media Manager software, customers can wirelessly stream personal photos, music and videos from their computer to their TV screens. In addition, the feature includes access to online videos from Blip.tv, Dailymotion and Veoh.
