Believe it or not, 2008 is the launch date of AT&T Uverse services. Being less than 4 years old to date, it’s amazing how quickly this service topped the charts beating out long established and well known satellite and cable companies. As with any new product though, the service had it’s drawbacks. Luckily, since U-verse TV is provided on an advanced fiber optic network, there was few complaints about service quality and reliability but it did lack some important features. When it first launched, there were few HD channels available, video-on-demand and the advanced DVR service were not available. In just a year’s time though, AT&T was able to add the missing puzzle pieces. In 2009, video on demand was made available to customers, many HD channels were added, the the DVR was upgraded to what we now know as the Total Home DVR. Being the only multi – room DVR at the time, customers were awe stricken at the functionality. Recording on multiple TVs using one DVR and playing back recorded shows on every TV in the home was, and still is, absolutely fabulous. One of the best features in my opinion is the ability to surf the web on your digital TV using the functionality on the Total Home DVR. The features of the DVR were only matched by the superior quality of Uverse HD channels. If you have an HD TV, and you have Uverse service available in your area, then you have access to the absolute best picture quality available!

For those fortunate enough to have Uverse TV available to them, all I can ask is that you get your money’s worth by taking advantage of all its features and appreciating the quality of the digital programming. As for the rest of us, we may have to settle for the next best TV service provider but we can always hope the Uverse TV will come to our area soon.

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Since it’s launch in the beginning of the millenia, HD has been popular with all technology enthusiasts and couch potatoes alike. It has a evolved from a 720p format all the way up to a 1080i format (check my post about HD & ATT Uverse for more about this). Well, there is only so much fine tuning you can do to HD before we start seeing the cellular structure of people, and I don’t see that as being appealing to anyone but biologist. So where do we go next?…. Along with eye popping color, why not an eye popping picture all together?…. 3D TV of course.  Most people have seen at least one 3D movie, I mean every movie theater features at least 2 3D films at any given time these days. Few people though, have seen a 3D TV in action.

Did you know that the first 3D movie debuted in 1922? 3D is not a new technology although it has, like other technologies, evolved tremendously. The technology behind 3D has all to do with light. In essence, that is how we are able to see anything at all. Light enters your eyes and bounces off of the rods and cons which creates a picture in your mind. When an object is still, the light from it reaches each eye at the same time.When an object is moving, the light no longer reaches each eye at the same time. This is what creates the three dimensional picture that is real life. On a TV, the screen itself never moves therefor, the light from the screen always reaches your each eye at the same time which your brain interprets as a flat or or two-dimensional moving picture. For a 3D TV to create a 3D picture, it has to show you the same image in two slightly different locations to try and somewhat mimic how light reflects off of a real object ultimately creating depth. In order to create this double image that will be properly interpreted by your brain, special lenses are needed. Many people are familiar with 3D glasses which use special lenses. The two identical images that a 3D TV produces are filtered by 3D glasses so that your brain can interpret it as one three dimensional image. 3D glasses will either use passive lenses which use the red and blue color scheme to unify the double picture or they may use the more advanced active lenses which rely on fast flashing double images and infrared technology. Either way, you need 3D glasses to view 3D movie as it is meant to be seen. Without 3D glasses, you will see a somewhat blurry double image which will soon give you a headache.  Just as an HD TV needs the assistance of an HD receiver in order to broadcast HD channels, so does a 3D TV need 3D glasses to properly display a 3D picture. This has probably been the biggest obstacle to the mainstream popularity of 3D TVs. Although they have been available for a couple of years now, the idea of having to put on special glasses to view movies is not appealing to many. Another obstacle is the availability of live 3D programming. TV providers have few options for individuals who want to view 3D channels. For example, AT&T Uverse TV offers one 3D channel, ESPN 3D but I’ve heard that they may be dropping it until 3D picks up a little more popularity. Watching the same 3D DVDs over and over again is far from what we are used to today with all the variety of programs available on the hundreds of channels at out finger tips. Until more networks begin to make shows and movies in a 3D format, 3D TVs will remain far behind HD TVs.

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Whether it be through satellite, or cable, or Uverse TV, America loves their television service.  When television broadcasting first erupted around the 1950′s, service was only $2-$3 dollars a month! In those times individual people (not companies) charged these fees because they knew how to set up a coaxial cable connection at the homes of people who could afford it. At $3 a month though, you only got 1 or channels, so Americans watched TV only to get important news. Today, the average American watches over 140 hours of TV every month. That is like watching TV 24 hours a day for one entire week each month. It’s like watching TV 24 hours a day for 3 months months straight every year, no sleeping! The point is, we watch a lot of TV. Of course, too much of anything is not good for you. To be healthy and productive, you have to create a balance in your life that allows you to get errands done, exercise, and spend time with friends and family, among other things. Cable service has evolved in such a way that you can, if you really want to, lead this healthy,  active lifestyle while still being able to catch your favorite shows.
If there is one thing that I hate about television service, it’s those darn commercials. Although some people don’t mind them and some even enjoy them, I think most people would agree with me about the annoyance of an interlude every 10 minutes. Although many people like to channel surf, more people watch TV because they want to watch their favorite show(s). Before recorders where around, you had to make yourself available for the time slot in which your favorite show would appear. For example, if you love to watch a sitcom that comes on from 8:00-9:00 every night, you would have to arrange your schedule around it.  You get home from work at around 6pm and then you have to prepare dinner. By the time you have finished and eaten, the show is about to begin. By the time the show ends, there is not much time to do anything else because, if you have kids, you have to get them ready for bed and you yourself will have to go to sleep soon too. So, you end up watching more TV to fill the gap before you beddy-bye time. Having a DVR can actually help you watch less TV and get more things done. That 8pm show can be recorded which means you can exercise form 6-7pm, have dinner ready by 8pm, then spend an hour or so of quality time with the family. The last thing to do is send the kids to bed and then you can watch your favorite show and have the ability to skip the commercials. Obviously, that is just my rendition of a perfectly balanced schedule but the point is that you are not bound to your TV when you have a DVR. I definitely don’t mean to make it sound like TV is bad. I think TV is great. I get a lot of very useful information from channels like NatGeo, HGTV, and even MTV (what not to do).  Remember, with digital cable TV, you also have on-demand services at your disposal which can provide you even more control over your TV schedule. If you are like me, you watch more than a one hour program everyday. Even when I do watch 2-3 hours pf programming, I am always watching what I want with my recording programming and on demand selections. No commercials for me and no watching mediocre shows until a good one comes on.

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In technology years, high definition service is already old news although still very popular. It keeps it’s popularity because different factors that effect HD keep getting better. Sometimes it’s a new TV that re-invigorates it or a new format or, as of recently, a network update like that which AT&T Uverse TV service has implemented. Link any chain, HD is only as strong as it’s weakest link. In the case the weakest link has always been the service provider. Now, with fiber optics to patch up the gaps, TV service providers, like AT&T, can really maximize what the technology has to offer. High Definition is a form of television that offers superior digital quality above the current standard definition service. HD offers a 16:9 aspect ratio as compared to SD which is 4:3 which means that the screen is wider than it is tall with an HD TV. It is meant to mimic the movie theater view. Aside from the aspect ratio, HD also provides a crystal clear and quality picture. That is achieved because HD offers a higher resolution by using more than 2 Million pixels. A pixel is simply a very small point on your TV that holds a very small piece of an image. The more pixels you have the more detailed the picture on the screen is. By comparison, a standard definition TV  uses about 500,00 pixels (way less than half of what an HD TV offers). In order to view something in High definition, an HD receiver, HD programming, and an HD TV are required.

• HD receiver/ set top box: Cable companies or any other TV company must provide you with an HD enabled receiver in order for you to view HD from your HD TV. TV companies usually have standard receivers (for standard definition TVs), HD receivers, Standard-DVR receivers (with recording capabilities), and HD-DVR receivers. Most TV companies will provide one receiver for free (usually a not a DVR) and any additional receivers you may need will require a monthly rental fee.
• HD TV: You can buy an HD TV anywhere theses days and the prices get lower and lower as the technology becomes more common place. By the way, HD TVs come in different levels. The levels are usually 720i, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. An HD TV that is 1080p is the best of them all and is closer to blue ray quality than any of other other levels. Make sure to talk with an employee in the electronics store/ department to get a better explanation of what would be better for your preference (and budget).
• HD Programming: Now that you have an HD TV and an HD receiver, you will need HD channels to watch. This is the service that allows your HD receiver and your HD TV to have access to the HD channel range. Keep in mind, not all channels are offered in HD. Those channels that are available in HD are usually duplicates of the standard version. For example, channel 3 is ABC in standard definition but channel 403 is ABC in high definition. In order for a channel to be available in HD, the network that owns the channel has to use HD cameras to film shows or movies. Those that do not o this, will only be able to offer programming in SD regardless of the what equipment you have.

Remember that last link in the chain, the service provider. If you are going to spend all kinds of money on a fancy HD TV, then make sure to choose the TV provider that can maximize what you paid for. If you have Uverse or FiOS services available in your area, that’s the winner.

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Can you imagine going more than a day without using the internet (which not only includes web surfing but also, checking e-mail, gaming, downloading anything, tweeting, and Facebooking). We are so much more dependent on internet service than we think. Given that Fact, it is amazing how little we know about this service that powers our everyday activities so much. It all has to start somewhere:

• Computers are our gateway to the internet (which includes other computer related devices like smartphones and tablets). Computers are considered a piece of hardware which also encompasses things like modems, Ethernet cables, and wireless routers. When you access the internet, there are two computers communicating with each other.  There is your computer known as the ‘client’ which is requesting information. By that I mean when you open a browser and it takes you to a website like this blog , that is your computer asking the internet to find that web address. That request is being sent to another computer which has the information for that website stored. Those computers are known as servers. Server computers are like storage facilities that hold the information for a website and when someone looks for that website, the server computer sends it out to the client computer. Hopefully, I haven’t confused you.
• Protocols are needed to regulate how computers communicate with each other. Protocols are basically rules that computers and other internet enabled devices follow in order to be able to share information. If protocols where not used, then computers (clients and servers) would have to be directly/ physically connected to each other in order for for information to be passed. Protocols create a common language between computers which allows us to find a website housed on a server without having to be directly connected to it. You have seen protocols at work many many times. Look up at the address bar…. Do you notice that at very first letters of this URL (url is another name for web address) are http?  Those first four letters are an example of a protocol. This protocol creates that common language that allows any client computer (like yours) to request and access a website housed on a server computer (like the one that holds the information for this post you are reading). You have probably also heard of an IP address. This is used to give your computer a unique address that allows servers to send you the information you are requesting. Think of it this way, if you didn’t have an IP address to identify your client computer, server computers would get the request that you want to access a website but they wouldn’t know where to send the website information. Protocols also tell your computers how to display a website. Its like a puzzle. They way this blog site is laid out is all do to protocols (and coding).

The complexity of the internet is far and beyond my realm of understanding but you can always use the internet to find more information about it. One last piece of information: your ISP (internet service provider) plays a big role in not only connecting you to the internet cloud but also in how fast you can surf through it. Fiber optic technology brings the bestr out of ISPs and Uverse is AT&Ts best attribute to date.

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We have already discussed how infectious Internet TV is. That being said, it is not surprise that TV providers who care about the needs of thier customers would find a way to make internet TV accessible to all their customers. TV providers that haven’t adapted to this phenomenon are going to be quickly phased out of the larger market of cable TV service. AT&T is not going to be one of those providers. They were actually the first to offer their existing Uverse TV customers a way to access the programming they are already subscribed to from any compatible mobile device.

All U-verse TV customers can get the Uverse TV app free of charge and use it endlessly without any extra fees. With this app, you are able to manage the recordings that are saved on your advanced Total Home DVR. Remember, the Total Home DVR allows you to record from any TV in the home (with a receiver) and everything is stored in your network for easy access of any recorded programs from any TV. You are able to access those recordings anywhere that you have a wi-fi signal with your mobile device. You can watch your recordings or delete them. You can even schedule new recordings right from your smartphone or tablet. This app provides access to a TV Guide that allows you to browse through all the channels you are subscribed to and select anything that you would like to record. Customers with the Uverse 300 package or the Uverse 450 package,will have the ability to watch many shows and movies through their mobile device even though it is not a recording from their DVR. This feature is similar to On Demand. As a customer subscribing to the U-300 or higher, you will have a library of shows and movies that you can download onto your mobile device. You can watch the show/ movie immediately or you can watch it later since it is temporarily stored in your phone. It will usually stay downloaded on your device for about 2 weeks after which it will delete itself to avoid copyright infringement. At anytime, you can delete the file from your device if you find it is using up too much of your storage space. What better way to take full control of yur viewing experience than with Uverse TV and the Uverse TV app?

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The advancements in technology are going up and up and up. The same can be said for the cost of just about anything. I heard on the radio just this morning that the government is considering doing away with the penny because it costs to much money to make them. Even the government is (considering ) cutting some corners.

As digital age babies, the only possible way for us to afford everything that we need is to cut unnecessary things out of our weekly or monthly spending and to take advantage of the discounts. Coincidentally, bundles provide just the type of discounts that people need. Even rich people bundle. You don’t stay rich by giving your money away but that is a good way to stay broke. When referring to your home entertainment services, bundling can include any two products or can include all three. The best savings is in getting the triple bundle with the TV, internet, and phone service. It is easy for companies to sell their internet and TV service because people like to watch TV and they use the internet, a lot! Phone service is a different story. With cell phone service taking hold of almost every aspect of our lives, including phone calls, a home phone seems useless. Those of us who were not weaned on cell phones, know that a phone call is not the only thing that a home phone can provide. Aside from the security that a home phone provides, it can also provide savings through bundling. If you really can’t justify having a home phone, then double bundles still offer great discounts.  People are so fond of these bundles that companies had to find a way to make them better. Low and behold, the Quad bundle is born. Companies like AT&T can offer Quad bundles becuase they also have their our cell phone service branch. In addition to the three home services, you can now bundle in your cell phone service.  Everything is on one bill and you get huge savings from bundling.

The next step in bundling will probably involve outside companies taking all of your bills and putting them in one place. There are companies that are developing billing systems that will allow you to put all of your accounts in one place and pay them all at once. You would never have to go to ten different websites to get all of your accounts paid becuase they would all  be bundled on one billing site. Hopefully, the service will be free because profits for these companies will come from the other companies clamoring to be part of their billing program. This is similar to how Google offers free search and information to consumers for free. Google makes their money from the hundreds of thousands of companies that want to be featured in their search results. Wherever bundling takes us in the future, we can be sure that that path involves saving money.

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Cell phones have been at the forefront of communications technology for several years now. Not only can we make calls with them but we can access the internet, connect instantly through social media, and even have at as our little task organizer. In addition to taking over some of the functions that laptops have been used for, these devices have also taken over most of the tasks associated with home telephones.

A home phone should not be completely abandoned just yet becuse there are important advantages to keeping that home telephone. A fixed telephone service is the most reliable form of communication because it does not depend on wireless signals as cell phones do. In a large disaster where cell phone signals are not available, the digital home phone is working and it has a battery back up unit for extra security.

With a home phone, you can maintain lines of communication with the outside world even if you cannot get out of the house. Another important benefit of home phone services is accessibility for your children. If you are a concerned parent you might not want your kids to have cell phones until they reach a certain age, but they still need to talk to their friends or they might need to reach you in the event of an emergency so having a home phone can be really beneficial in this regard.  A home telephone can be used in case of an emergency if no mobile phone is available. The 911 helpline can respond more quickly to a call from a landline because they automatically have the address from where the call is being made. As useful as cell phones can be in an emergency outside the home, it is a shameful fact that the cell phones use satellite mapping to get an individuals location within a mile or so. The negative implications this has is that emergency personal do not have your exact location and this can be deadly in certain situations.

Why take the risk of not having a home phone when you can both. Cell phones and home phones compliment each other and, believe it or not can save you money. With a company like AT&T that offers TV, Internet,  cell phone service, and the original AT&T home phone service, bundling is the best option to get the best deal.

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It’s really no surprise to see new ways of entertainment, such as Internet TV and online gaming, introduced. As is the nature of life in general, technology will evolve to adapt to the changing whims of society. At the center of this entertainment evolution is the internet. The question that many viewers, networks, and cable TV companies are asking is whether or not this new technology will change the world of cable TV as we know it.

There are a few statistics out there that have look at have studied the phenomenon of internet TV.  One such number indicates that individuals who use the Internet more often, watch 11.5 hours of TV per week. That is three hours less than those who use the internet less frequently. Those who use the internet more because of their work/ career or because they have been weened on it since childhood, will typically attain their news updates and comedy fixes from the internet. Now, those who use the internet less because, for example, their work is more physically demanding or simply because they did not grow up relying it, will usually get their news updates or watch their comedy shows from cable TV networks.

As the numbers show, internet TV is appealing to many people. A survey concluded that 45% of people are actually enjoying this service, especially since they can use their iPods to receive their shows in streaming format. However, 45% of those surveyed decided to stick to the conventional method of viewing cable TV, whereas the remaining 10% were still undecided or neutral about the whole subject. So, both methods of watching television shows have equal numbers of advocates.

A benefit of internet TV is that you won’t have to pay to watch your favorite shows, aside from internet connectivity costs. The networks offering their programs online get their profits from broadcasting 30-second ads during shows. In addition, this new medium allows viewers to watch their shows anywhere and anytime.  However, keep in mind that not all of your shows will be streamed so it will be only through cable TV that  you can watch certain shows and programs. You also want to make sure that your internet speed is fast enough to handle the streaming of long shows and movies. Internet packages from services like AT&T U-Verse are ideal for internet TV users. If you really think about it, people are just not ready to give up the comforts of laying out on the couch with the remote control in hand and watching the big flat screen in the living room.

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• Wave goodbye to free Internet TV (news.cnet.com)

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