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Cable Technology Feature Article

February 24, 2010

With Verizon's Mobile Remote, Cell Phone Can Double As TV Remote

By Madhubanti Rudra, TMCnet Contributor


With FiOS (News - Alert) TV in your living room, rarely would you miss your favorite TV shows. Now that Veizon has made Remote Management Application available to customers, FiOS TV subscribers can expect an enhanced television experience. All they have to do is to reach for their Motorola Droid or HTC (News - Alert) Imagio mobile phone to stay tuned to their favorite TV programs.
 
No more tension when the television remote is not by your side and your favorite show is already in the air; in an attempt to marry in-home FiOS network to the cell phone, Verizon (News - Alert) has introduced the FiOS Mobile Remote to enable FIOS customers use their mobile phones as television remote control. All FiOS TV customers, including the small business owners can now enjoy unparallel phone-to-TV experiences, given that they have an HD set-top box and use either a Motorola (News - Alert) Droid or HTC Imagio mobile phone.
 
'With FiOS Mobile Remote we're leveraging the in-home FiOS network to marry the cell phone to the TV for simpler, more convenient navigation, along with entirely new phone-to-TV experiences that cable can't match,” Shawn Strickland, vice president of FiOS product management for Verizon said. “This kind of feature underscores for customers how powerful the FiOS in-home network is -- and the potential it has for constant innovation,” he further added.
 
Verizon’s mobile remote comes with virtually the same functionalities as the standard FiOS remote, plus an enhanced feature list. With the mobile remote in hands, the users can instantly transfer photos from the handset to the TV screen. This and an array of other features will now be available with the Verizon’s mobile remote.
 
But first there must be compatibility between FiOS network and the cell phone used by the customer. In order to attain this compatibility, the customers will need to register their wireless telephone number, using the mobile Remote Widget on FiOS TV. They can choose between Motorola Droid and HTC Imagio. Customers can register their handsets on their home FiOS TV, or on others.
 
 
Once paired to FiOS network, the Mobile Remote will offer an array of features to the Motorola Droid and HTC Imagio subscribers.
 
With “My Remote” feature, a customer can control FiOS TV set-top box from the mobile device for changing channels, adjusting volume, managing parental controls and using DVR functionality such as pause, rewind, fast forward or record live programming. It also allows the customers to manage the Facebook (News - Alert) and Twitter widget applications.
 
The “My Favorites” feature will allow the users to import to the mobile device favorite-channels lists currently stored on the TV set.
 
Verizon’s Mobile Remote expands the FiOS TV customers’ remote control capability.

Madhubanti Rudra is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Michael Dinan