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Telco, partners seek to integrate technology in home

By Jeff Smith, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 5, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Qwest Communications is working with DirecTV, Microsoft and other partners on technology to help customers easily move video and other content between devices inside a home.

For example, a control panel, or "user interface," might make it easy for consumers to transfer video, photos and music between their computer and TV. Or, eventually, let them control and monitor all electronic devices and home appliances, even remotely.

"It isn't a question anymore - can you do it?" Dan Yost, Qwest executive vice president of product, said Friday. "The key is how to simplify it for people."

Qwest is putting together demo rooms to showcase some of the technology, Yost said. But he stressed that the Denver telco will add services incrementally, focusing first on communications and entertainment.

"We expect a series of announcements," he said. "This isn't the Big Bang."

Qwest CEO Ed Mueller talked a bit about the concept at an analyst meeting in New York in February. He showed a slide featuring a "Qwest Entertainment Channel" or module, with buttons to control the TV, Internet, movies on demand, photos, music and home automation.

Various versions of "Smart Home" or "Connected Home" technology have been around for years, but the cost of a fully automated home that controls entertainment systems, appliances, security and lights, remains out of reach for most.

"It's futuristic and, with the consumer coming under pressure (because of the weakening economy), I don't think you'll see big strides in the near term," said Donna Jaegers, a telecommunications analyst for Janco Partners in Greenwood Village.

But Jaegers said it makes sense for Qwest and DirecTV, for example, to be working together on helping customers transfer video and other content from the Internet to their TV.

DirecTV, in fact, is testing and plans to launch this quarter an "on demand" service enabling customers to order TV shows, movies and other content mostly from the Internet. The satellite-TV provider plans to have more than 3,000 titles available, much of it free. Dish Network has a smaller service.

Qwest, which resells DirecTV, said the development ties in nicely with its plan to triple Internet speeds to 20 megabits a second in key markets, including selected neighborhoods in Colorado Springs, Denver and Fort Collins.

Customers will be able to use the DirecTV on-demand service at current Internet speeds but might have to wait awhile for a movie to download.

"Obviously, as you move to higher bandwidth speeds, you can get it faster" and the consumer experience is better, Yost said.

Comcast, the country's leader in video-on-demand, also increasingly is looking at ways to integrate devices within the home.

The cable-TV company's "AnyRoom on Demand" lets customers save a program and restart it from another location in the house at a later time.

smithje@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5155