A “home network” used to be a computer connected to a printer. Today consumers have dozens of digital devices in their homes, most of which are capable of sharing media in some way. As more devices and applications enter the market, consumers need to be able to access their media at anytime, anywhere and on any device.
This level of interconnectivity makes the home network look more like a corporate network. Just like business customers need to share data throughout their offices, consumers need to move their photos, videos, music and movies between their digital devices. Verizon’s FiOS service can simplify consumers’ lives by managing the complexity of today’s home network and providing system diagnostics from within our network.
FiOS customers can automatically discover connected devices, whether they’re wired or wireless, and supervise the communications among them. They can use their TVs to view pictures and videos stored on their computers or access content directly from digital cameras and MP3 players. Verizon’s Multi-Room DVR lets a customer use one set top box to record programming and then watch it on up to six other televisions in the home. Our sophisticated network technology also enables the home network to fix itself and allows customers to use self–diagnostic tools to improve performance.
Best of all, FiOS has begun to deliver the long-awaited promise of interactive TV. We started with small Internet applications called widgets that run weather and traffic reports, headline news, even social networking on the TV screen. To encourage more of these services, we’re working with Internet and programming leaders to deliver more advanced applications for the biggest, best and most under-utilized screen in the house: the wide-screen high-definition TV.
Going forward, the home network can be used as a platform to deliver and manage applications for home security, energy management, back-up storage, medical monitoring, emergency response services and a host of other practical services.