3Screens

Bad Taste Dept: AT&T Offers Free Ringtone for Dead Person, Michael Jackson

I'm sorry, but I think this is in pretty bad taste.  Get yours free here.

AT&T Demos Hybrid Content Delivery on All Three Screens

If you get past the hype and overlook whatever AT&T has to pony up to pay for the sponsorship of the 2009 Masters, the real deal here is that the phone company as we no longer know it, is demonstrating its ability to deliver hybrid content on three screens.

AT&T announced its complete three-screen coverage of the 2009 Masters Tournament, available on AT&T U-verse^SM TV, the AT&T FanZone (http://fanzone.att.net/) and exclusively on AT&T wireless devices, as well as special 2009 Masters interactive application for all U-verse TV customers.

Under an agreement with the Masters, AT&T will be providing golf fans with extensive live footage and on-demand content from Augusta National across the three screens that matter most to consumers. AT&T wireless customers will also be the only fans with access to live and on-demand Masters programming from their wireless devices with AT&T Mobile TV, MobiTV and Cellular Video (CV) services.

This year, U-verse TV customers will have more ways to follow the tournament with the 2009 Masters app, which features an up to date Leaderboard, player scorecards, stats and bios, news updates, tournament photos, video archives and a course map of Augusta National Golf Club. The U-verse TV interactive app will also give customers the ability to browse a mosaic of channels showing live Masters content at once, and will be available to all U-verse TV customers at no extra charge on channel 619 during the tournament.

 AT&T’s wireless customers can also text GOLF to 21234 to receive customized news alerts on the 2009 Masters Golf Tournament and other golf events. Standard text message rates apply. AT&T wireless customers will also be able to access a top-five Leaderboard available through the AT&T MEdiaTM Net on-device portal.

 All Masters programming will be available to AT&T customers at no additional charge (service and wireless-data-plan subscriptions apply). Content and additional information will also be available on the Masters official Web site, http://www.masters.com. For the complete array of AT&T offerings, visit www.att.com.

How AT&T Got it's Wireless Mojo @ SXSW

Continuing with the story I posted about AT&T delivering the goods by ramping up its service during SXSW, I found this interview over at The Dealio with D'Emilio.

During SXSW, I had a chance to hang out with Chris Hughes and Patrick Asher, and what you see is what you really get.  Chris recently joined AT&T, and  like Chris, Patrick is a Technologist for the company.  Patrick manages their networks.

These guys are passionate and care about what happens when you get 100,000 wired and connected people soaking up bandwidth and putting a network to its test.  At Patrick Asher points out, it took a phone call to John Donovan, AT&T's CTO to make it happen.  And make it happen they did.  Here's their story....

AT&T Delivers as First Responder at SXSW

Yup, there was a hurricane at SXSW in Austin over the weekend that overloaded AT&T's WiFi and Cell Phone service.

Being there, I noticed it was difficult at times to use my iPhone for making phone calls, checking email or posting on Twitter.  

No, it was not a hurricane in the sense of bad weather.

Rather, it was a hurricane of brains, creative types, coders, film makers, web types, with Macs and iPhones in hand that were overloading the network.  At first I thought that AT&T, who was providing the service would have known better that when you mix geeks and bloggers, we stretch the network to the max.

Today it was all good.  

AT&T came through, by tweaking the network and getting things humming again.  So, kudos the AT&T, but... please: for next year, please juice it up starting on day one.

Related media coverage here in the NY Times, Wired, Silicon Alley Insider and of course, all over Twitter...on

How To Save Money with Your iPhone When You Roam Overseas

While AT&T offers international roaming plans for the iPhone, you can rack up a huge bill without knowing it.... until you get home and get the bill.

The problem with AT&T's billing plans is that for $24.99 you get 20MB of Data, or $59.99 for 50MB, or $119.99 for 100 MB, or $199.99 for 200 MB. 

Sounds good, but how do you know how much data you are really sucking up?

My Suggestion:  Don't Pay for Roaming.   This is not all AT&T's fault.  They have to pay reciprocal carriers for airtime and for some reason, when your iPhone sucks up data, they gotta pay the local carrier and in turn you gotta pay AT&T.

Here's How To Save:

1.  Turn Data Roaming "OFF."  Always make sure you have downloaded the latest version of iTunes for your iPhone and when you get to the SETTINGS button, be sure you turn the data roaming "ON/OFF" button on Settings>General>Network>Data Roaming.

2.  Use WiFi Instead of 3G/GPRS/EDGE.  WiFi is readily available in many of the international airports, hotels, bars and cafes which you can use to check email and browse the web.  I did this when I was in Israel in March and it worked just fine.

3.  Turn Fetch New Data "Off."  Check your email and sync your contacts and calendars manually rather than having the phone do it for you.

To engage this features tap on Settings>Fetch New Data>, Change Push to "OFF" and Select "Fetch Manually."

4.  AT&T tries to promote their global data packages.  Don't buy them.  You will have to micro-manage and figure out how much data you have used.  And when you are traveling, it's sometimes good to just shut things off and enjoy your travels, even if it's for business. 

Do you have any AT&T global data billing horror stories to share?  Comment below.

Photo by Alan Weinkrantz (c) 2008 - Shot on location on the beach promenade in Tel Aviv

And Now….boxee.tv on Three Screens

Over the past 6 months a small startup named boxee has been making big waves in the digital media space. The company makes downloadable software for your computer (Mac&Linux at the moment) that weaves personal media, streaming Internet content, and social networking with a visual interface that makes your media come to life.

Boxee is, if you will, sort of what I could call PBS – not Public Broadcasting Service, but rather the Peoples' Broadcasting Service. As you add friends to boxee, you can see what shows they're watching and exchange recommendations with each other. In this way, you have the opportunity to create a bottom up approach to video programming that includes most of the mainstream online TV sites like Hulu, CBS, theWB, and more. It's the people and not the broadcaster who decides what merits viewing in what is becoming and increasingly noisy and crowded marketplace for attention and viewership.

The best way to demonstrate the power, freedom and social community aspect of Boxee was to shoot the video that follows below. While the focus of my review remains on the video content portion, my review illustrates how to use boxee on an iPhone, a laptop and a big screen TV. You get a pretty cool way to enjoy moviews, TV shows, music, photos and streaming content from sites like Hulu, CBS, Comeday Central, Last.fm, Flickr, etc.

I'm just now starting to make new "friends" on boxee and listening to recommendations for programming that I can follow.

But Wait! There's More!

Today, the company will be announcing that Netflix subscriber can play, browse and queue Netflix 'Instant Watch' movies from within boxee.  If they're away from home, they can queue movies from their computer or phone, and then watch them on the big screen when you get home. I was told that Netflix on AppleTV is not currently available as they are working to overcome the hardware limitations of the AppleTV.  Check back with boxee's blog  for progress on this initiative..  The boxee Netflix application was created using the embeddable Silverlight plug-in for Netflix, and they are now recognized as a Netflix affiliate.

Other announcements today include news services and channels such as:

New Content
- TheWB - shows like Angel, Buffy, Firefly, The O.C., Smallville, and In Living Color
- The Boston Globe's Big Picture blog - amazing photos from around the world
- MTVMusic - songs/artists in your collection are now linked with music videos

Updated Content
- Hulu - enhanced UI with access to personal queues from Hulu.com
- YouTube - newly developed interface with improved browsing/playback as well as h264 support
- CNN, Flickr, Picasa - custom interfaces with improved browsing and playback

All in all, a very cool approach to delivering a three screens experience.

Highly Recommended

2009 Predictions and Recommendations to AT&T....

As we approach the new year, you're going to start seeing all sort of "expert" predictions and pontifications from analysts and consultants in the telecom world about what is to come in 2009 with AT&T.

Here's my take, based on the point of view from a real live consumer.

My 2009 predictions and recommendations to AT&T, including a proposed milk shake meeting at the Olmos Soda Fountain in San Antonio or the Mecca Cafe in Dallas with Chairman & CEO, Randall Stephenson.

Read all about it here in my column appearing in the San Antonio Express News.

AT&T's Mobile TV Debuts. How Does It Really Work?

AT&T Mobile TV is launching today in San Antonio, where I live. 

Think  traditional multi-media cell phone meets TV programming.   Currently, AT&T is offering  continuous streaming, full-length live TV programming and sporting events to mobile phones from leading sources: CBS Mobile, CNBC, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX News, FOX Mobile, NBC 2Go, MSNBC, MTV, Nickelodeon, CNN Mobile and PIX.

My review is a bit different.  I asked my buddy, George Kauss, whose previous company, Vesuvius owned the patents to make the technology work. (Their patents were sold to Qualcomm.)   George is now with a new company, Vulano Group.  Here's George's review of the service and how it works.

The service is available on four AT&T handsets: Samsung Access, Samsung Eternity, LG Invision and LG Vu.  For the purposes of this review, I was given the Eternity to try out. 

I like it alot and found myself leaving the phone on and watching CNBC during the day, watching yesterday's  Senate Hearings with the Automobile Industry.  (I am against a bail-out).

Aside from traditional programming  the service includes two channels exclusive to AT&T:

•    CNN Mobile Live provides users with access to 24 hours of breaking news with live streaming anchored coverage from CNN.com Live as well as CNN’s most popular programs, including “American Morning,” “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” “CNN Election Center,” “Larry King Live,” “Anderson Cooper 360º” and “CNN International.”
•    PIX, from Sony Pictures Television, offers a variety of contemporary films, including comedies, cult classics, action films and family favorites from the studio’s vast library.

Costs...
Monthly access packages for AT&T Mobile TV begin at $15 per month for the basic package, which includes unlimited access to Mobile TV. AT&T also offers a Mobile TV plus package for $30 per month, which includes unlimited Mobile TV, unlimited mobile Web browsing on MEdia NetTM and unlimited CV mobile video. Programming is delivered to mobile phones over MediaFLO USA’s own dedicated multicast network, meaning AT&T customers do not incur additional data or voice charges.

In addition to new availability in San Antonio, AT&T Mobile TV is also available in roughly 60 markets including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

BlackBerry Bold Available from AT&T on Tuesday - iPhone vs BlackBerry? Get a BlackBerry and an iPod Touch?

The new BlackBerry Bold goes on sale Tuesday (don't forget to vote for Obama - I  mean, McCain)  and is available at the AT&T stores in your neck of the woods.

My "review" is not a traditional review.  It's a series of hopefully unbiased interviews with friends and colleagues that I knew had either a a BlackBerry or an iPhone.  Since the Bold is brand new, I was really looking for first impressions.

For a thorough review see this one on Gizmodo, or this one from Howard Chui, and this one from CNet. For really great comparative review of the Bold vs. the iPhone, see the iPhoneBlog review here. 

The Bold is a wonderful piece of hardware. The screen is superb.  The keys, I must admit are superior to my iPhone.  But having been a long time previous BlackBerry user, I still lean towards my iPhone, mostly because of the Apple ecosystem that I have embraced.  

As a stand alone single purpose device, the BlackBerry reigns supreme.  Yes, I know you can get on the web, take a few photos and even import music, but as an overall device, coupled and integrated with the Mac, the the iPhone is the better choice.  

Or, if you must have both, get the Bold and an iPod Touch. 

BlackBerry Bold or iPhone? Jay Oatway Chimes in....

Here's Hong Kong based Jay Oatway, who talks about dressing up or dressing down in making your decision on a BlackBerry Bold vs. an iPhone.....  Jay also talks about the upcoming BlackBerry Storm which will have a touch screen interface like the iPhone.