Related Sections: Downloading HDTV Internet
Verizon FiOS TV upgrading to version 1.7 next month
Today at Verizon's New York City headquarters the company showed off some upgrades to FiOS TV that are coming in September. One of the most noticeable upgrades in the new FiOS, version 1.7, is that premium channels like HBO and Showtime will now be able to promote specific shows when non-subscribers tune to those channels.
So if you don't have Showtime, instead of seeing a regular to-subscribe-fork-over-another-$9.99-a-month message when you flip to that channel, you'll see something like the screen above. FiOS already lets you subscribe to individual premium channels via your remote control (as opposed to a phone call), which has led to a huge spike in impulse-buying those channels, company reps said. Now they're taking it a step further with channels promoting shows and offering sample episodes for free.
Also coming up with version 1.7 is bidirectional side-loading of devices. What the frak is that? Verizon FiOS already lets you browse media (videos, music and photos) from computers on your home network; now you'll be able to browse media on devices attached to those computers via USB — portable media players, cameras, phones or whatever. There's no software to install, no delay; just plug them in and they'll show up in your FiOS Media Manager menu. Nice.
Lastly, look for major enhancements to FiOS's app store, the Widget Bazaar, next month as well.
While we're on the topic, anyone else disappointed with how slowly FiOS TV is spreading to new areas? And are you few lucky subscribers looking forward to these upgrades?
By Old Man Dotes at 5:25 PM ON 08/19/09
I have FiOS for Internet and landline (I only have the landline because my Luddite wife insists on it). I have Dish Network satellite TV, and as soon as my contract expires, that's history. I am going to Hulu/YouTube/other-internet-streaming TV.
By Former Fan at 6:01 PM ON 08/19/09
I a FIOS area last month and now have Charter. I could cry. The programming is terrible, there is clearly no focus on keeping up. They have very few features by comparison and the quality of picture is clearly inferior. I didn't think I would notice but it is obvious in HD. Please come to MN...we have few other options.
By dch at 6:02 PM ON 08/19/09
"anyone else disappointed with how slowly FiOS TV is spreading to new areas?"
What in this economy isn't slow??
By Thundr at 8:55 PM ON 08/19/09
I've had Fios over a year now and I concur with the other poster in that their channel lineup sucks. Had Comcast Digital before and thought fios was the second coming. The biggest thing I found out was the free movie section. Now don't get me wrong Fios has a free movie section on the menu but hardly anything there and what is there is garbage. Comcast on the other hand has an awesome free movie section with lots of different genres and everything. The internet is everything they claim, I pay for 20 mbps and regularly get that and sometimes higher after midnight. Also on another note, have yet to experience any down time due to storms or the like with Fios, not a problem in over a year.
By gizzmogeek at 9:38 AM ON 08/20/09
I've had Fios for about 2 years now, we got it pretty early and I have been thankful every day for that. The channel lineup beat my local Comcast lineup hands down. "Thundr" above made a comment about the Free Movies not having a lot. I originally thought the same thing but have noticed in the past week that there is suddenly a lot more Free Movies out there that are pretty current and surprisingly free. I was pleased. I love Fios and am very very happy to have it.
By Picorosan at 10:04 AM ON 08/20/09
The only upgrade I want FIOS to have is their HD DVR. The storage space is pitiful and not upgradeable even though the unit has a usb port.
By kash at 11:18 AM ON 08/20/09
I hate that Verizon is taking so long to get Fios in my area. I live in uptown manhattan but we're stuck with Time Warner or Dish service. It's very annoying. A few months ago when Time Warner announced a cap on bandwidth, I was ready to move to Fios, only to find out, it's not offered in my area. http://ziggytek.com/
By darkavatar at 5:56 PM ON 08/20/09
I have Fios HD DVR and it is the worst piece of tech i ever had in my life, it has so many bugs it feels I'm running windows 95 xD
i had Tivo before for years and i'm now researching to see if i can get a Tivo HD and if it will work with Fios 100%
Did i mention there is not one day i don't want to trow the Fios DVR out of the window ?
By Drew from Dover at 6:06 PM ON 08/22/09
Great! The USB will work, unless you don't have a DVR in which case forget it.
All I care about is them fixing the audio on WGN, Comedy Central, Discovery and Disney so they don't sound like I'm listening to a telephone call (albeit in stereo). After that I'll be interested in watching a "Tudors" preview.
By BillS at 10:16 AM ON 08/27/09
I have had FIOS for about two years. I have had no outages - unlike Comcast Internet. As to their TV service. It has been pretty good - would like to see them add some more HD movies.
And to darkavatar. I have my Tivo HD hooked up to FIOS, have two cable cards and added an external 500GB drive.
Compared to Tivo EVERYONE's DVR is sad.
By sbguymm at 2:34 PM ON 09/02/09
The slow growth of FIOS is not because of the economy, it's a result of cities holding up LFA (Local Franchise Agreements) for video. Verizon won't enter a community without being able to offer triple play services. If you live in a Verizon area, contact your local government officals and let them know you are demanding they streamline the LFA process. It's the only way things will get better. Here in CA, all the communities that VZ had planned to enter held up their LFAs and VZ cancelled the projects. Only 1 is planned for 2010 for the same reason.
Kash - you should see FIOS in Manhattan shortly. The issue there was getting MDUs that worked and they are beginning to get them rolled out.
By duh at 8:19 PM ON 09/25/09
FYI, sbguymm, Los Angeles has already sign their LFA and VZ is not expanding anywhere in Los Angeles. So the LFA excuse doesn't hold up. FIOS expansion has been put on hold to make sure the VZ bottomline looks good. Simple as that.
By Generic at 7:35 AM ON 12/28/09
Hi! Thanks for sharing! I came acroos th similar article at http://www.picktorrent.com and it stimulated me to write a comment.
My parents had verizon fios installed last week. According to my dad, this box was necessary for the computer TV tuner card to work (the cable out is connected to the computer). However, we received no software to change channels and the TV tuner card won't receive any of the digital channels. So right now, it looks like they'll need to get a set top box for the PC to tune in everything.
The black box is called a Network Interface Module and it is used for getting the guide, guide data and access to video on demand to the set top box. I don't know how it does it but that is what it is for.
The TV tuner card. Is that the cable card provided by Verizon or something that you already had? I am not too familar with either one but you will need a cable card provided by Verizon to access the digital channels. I think they are only charging about $2/mo for it.
By Nancy84 at 2:52 AM ON 03/12/10
t's the only way things will get better. Here in CA, all the communities that VZ ( http://www.rapidsloth.com ) had planned to enter held up their LFAs and VZ cancelled the projects. Only 1 is planned for 2010 for the same reason.
on your cellphone!
Text DVICE to 72434
editor@dvice.com
Nancy84:
t's the only way things will get better. Here in CA, all the communities that VZ ( ...More »