So Was This the Verizon TV Tablet?

By  |  Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 11:30 am

You may remember my post earlier this month on a supposed Verizon TV tablet. Well, it became reality I guess, somewhat. Verizon on Wednesday demoed an upcoming iPad app that would allow its users to watch live television from it’s FiOS service. The app would essentially stream whatever is being played on the users home FiOS box.

According to Verizon CIO Shaygan Kheradpir, the company is in the process of getting the go-ahead from the content owners — the technology to make this app a reality is already in place. If Verizon gets it out quick enough, it could be one of the first with live streaming capabilities.

Probably not though — Kheradpir said the app is targeted for a fourth quarter release. But it could be faster if the content owners move quickly to give Verizon the go ahead, his comments seem to suggest.

Dish has announced a Sling-based app for iOS and Blackberry, but that is not slated to debut until October. Other offerings, such as AT&T’s UVerse TV app, allow for streaming but it’s prerecorded content delivered from the company itself and not the user’s set-top box at home.

Now, I’m not saying that the Verizon TV tablet as reported is not going to materialize, but it looks clear that the company is at least ready to work with already existing platforms — which is a good business move overall.

[Hat tip: GigaOm]

 
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2 Comments For This Post

  1. @heulenwolf Says:

    So…how would the video be encoded to transit the WiFi network? Is FIOS TV already delivered as IPTV and the iPad app would just have the right addresses to receive the stream? Is Verizon embedding a re-branded Slingbox in their FIOS Router?

  2. iphone 5 Says:

    I would guess this is the end of the Verizon TV tablet. If an app can provide the main service that the tablet was predicted to do, then there is no reason for the product.