Verizon introduced a number of interactive features for FiOS TV service in New York. These include:
- Streaming of Recorded HD Video -- Verizon's Home Media DVR now allows customers to stream recorded high-definition (HD) programs to six other TV sets throughout the home equipped with HD set-top boxes. The feature, which has been available for standard-definition programming,includes the ability to watch three separately recorded shows on three sets at the same time, plus pause recorded programming in one room and continue watching in another.
- New channel sorting options -- Verizon FiOS TV customers now can create two separate lists of favorite channels for family members.
- "Wait for Me" -- Customers can pause live programming, change channels, and then return to the paused program and pick up where they left off.
- New free widgets -- including: daily national news and sports headlines; community news, based on the customer's zip code; daily horoscopes; What's Hot on FiOS TV.
- Instant Upgrades -- Customers can watch VOD offerings from HBO, Cinemax and more by subscribing to these premium channel packages straight from the VOD menu. Customers who subscribe to a DVR can instantly upgrade to Verizon's Home Media DVR, bundled with the free Media Manager service, without calling Verizon to sign up.
- Free casual games -- With the remote control, a customer can access chess, solitaire, wordplay and Sudoku from the FiOS TV Main Menu and play any one of them, at any time.
- VOD Performance Enhancement -- Faster response times will enable customers to search and select VOD titles more quickly than before.
Verizon will also launch several other new features before year-end, including:
- Fantasy Football -- FiOS TV customers who are registered users of ESPN Fantasy Football will have instant on-screen access to personalized NFL statistics, including rosters, box scores, scoring leaders and player information. FiOS TV customers will be able to access ESPN Fantasy Sports through FiOS TV widgets or games.
- "My Videos" -- Customers will be able to access personal videos stored on their home computers and enjoy them on their TV sets. This feature is accessed through Verizon's Media Manager service, which already allows customers to stream personal music and photographs from their PCs to their TVs.
- Remote DVR Programming -- Customers who subscribe to FiOS TV's Media Manager service will be able to remotely program their FiOS TV DVRs and set their Parental Controls through select Verizon Wireless handsets and through Verizon's FiOS TV Central Web site.
