Until AT&T expands their U-Verse IPTV offering, they’ve partnered with Dish in providing a networked DVR which includes home media features and movie downloads. Beginning today, residents in Ohio and San Antonio can rent a Homezone box for $9.99/mo… on top of their existing monthly Internet and satellite subscription fees. I can’t imagine the few extra features will compel many folks to migrate from a typical Dish DVR and PPV.
Reuters says: The box contains a TiVo-like digital video recorder, or DVR, that records the satellite TV signal on a hard drive. Recordings also can be scheduled remotely via a Web site. Homezone also downloads movies on demand through from the Internet-based Movielink service for additional fees – $4.99 for new releases. AT&T expects to add support for the video-on-demand service Akimbo in the future. Among other functions, the box can show photos and play music from a home computer connected to the Internet gateway.