AT&T takes on cable with U-verse
By Robert Norrisof The Daily Times Staff
Originally published: October 25. 2009 3:01AM
Last modified: October 24. 2009 11:58PM
Ma Bell is back and she's not wearing a homespun frock with sensible shoes.
She's more like, well, notice the anchorwoman in the photo accompanying this story. That's the image the former rotary-dial phone monopoly is projecting today. This is a tech-savvy Ms. Bell with a dash of glamor. A company at home in a world where the lines are crossed between phones, Internet, television, radio, cinema — virtually all forms of electronic media.
Just as AT&T previously made the leap from land-line to cellular phones, now it's taking on cable TV. Today the company is announcing its new communication-delivery system in the Knoxville area — including Blount County. The launch date is Monday.
U-verse is the name. AT&T is taking a cue from Apple with its iPhone. Start the name with a single letter that connects with the consumer (you or I) and link it with a common word.
It's worked before. Owners of trend-setting technologies sometimes refer to their devices by trade name rather than generic category. Example: "my iPhone" or "my Blackberry" instead of "my cell phone."
U-verse brings together U-verse TV, U-verse Internet, U-verse Voice and AT&T wireless services on one bill with features that, AT&T says, provides a new level of integration, convenience and control.
Where U-verse services are available, local U-verse TV customers can manage and watch recorded programs from a single DVR on any U-verse connected TV in the house with Total Home DVR; watch up to four channels at one time with U-verse TV Multiview; access a high-definition channel lineup with access to more than 110 HD channels; program DVR recordings from a Web-connected mobile phone or PC; personalize on-screen weather, sports, traffic and stock information via AT&T U-bar; stream personal photos and music files from a personnel computer to U-verse TV with Media Share; and check weather conditions and forecasts in any U.S. city with Weather On Demand.
AT&T's retail outlet in Blount County is located at 234 Hamilton Crossing Drive, Alcoa.
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