Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is enhancing how users in its Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay area markets interact with their FiOS TV experience with a new version of its FiOS TV Interactive Media Guide (IMG).
IMG allows users to pull together content from broadcast TV, the Internet and users’ own personal media into one media-management system. Since the IMG was initially introduced in 2007, the IMB has become a tool that includes applications for social networking, Internet video, media streaming, account management and multi-screen/mobile viewing.
Based on customer feedback Verizon received in product development labs, field trials and social media forums, Verizon created over 25 new upgrades to FiOS TV IMG that customers in both the Pittsburgh area and the ILEC’s six-county Florida service area can now access.
Customers can access the IMG’s new features–including new DVR enhancements (DVR chaptering and Multi-hub DVR), personalization features (parental control and guide customization), and improved search capabilities–via FiOS TV remote control or through Verizon’s FiOS Mobile application. The FiOS mobile application enables users to use their smart phone (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad or Android) into a remote control.
At a time when Verizon has scaled back its FiOS rollout plans, the service provider’s move to create an enhanced IMG is a sign it’s focusing adding more value to its FTTH-based product beyond just offering a faster bandwidth pipe.