AT&T converts mobile into TV remote

Starting Tuesday, customers of AT&T in the US will be able to control their televisions using their mobile phones.

Homezone, a $9.99 (£5.20) a-month service the company hopes will win back much needed cable customers, allows customers to program or delete recordings from their set-top boxes using dual-mode handsets.

The service also allows users to interact with video on demand, caller ID and photography stored on a PC.

AT&T SAID it had expanded the service’s on-demand content offerings via the internet to include thousands of additional program titles. The firm recently struck a deal with content company, Akimbo to provide titles to Homezone customers.

AT&T’s has several content alliances including Yahoo! and Movielink.

At the same time, AT&T launched its long-delayed U-verseSM TV offering, which includes Homezone and AT&T’s DISH Network.

U-verseSM uses AT&T’s new fiber network to deliver television and internet. Services will be initially available in limited areas across the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan statistical area (MSA), though the company intends to increase availability throughout the area on an ongoing basis, it said.