A coming television set-top box allowing Internet downloads, music, and photo handling was announced January 3 by SBC Communications, in a move seen by analysts as part of the telecom's effort to expand into home entertainment with a $5 billion effort over the next three years.
The set-top will be designed to record and save television shows and access photos and music kept on home computers, SBC said, with owners able to control the box through Cingular wireless telephones. Pricing details weren't yet disclosed, though the company indicated customers would face a one-time lease fee with more fees for some services they didn't yet identify directly.
SBC said they would build the set-top with 2Wire and start selling the product at midyear, hoping to add it onto SBC's high-speed Internet services and for SBC customers buying Echostar's DISH satellite television service.
The company's ultimate goal, according to several reports, is to build and connect customers to high-speed data networking aimed at handling video, voice, and Internet access over a single line.
