Verizon adds more Net content to Fios

From CNET News.com: The battle for the 21st century TV viewer is heating up as Verizon Communications adds more Internet content to its Fios TV service. But cable may not be the only competitor Verizon faces as more consumer electronics devices such as Blu-ray players and game consoles add similar Net-based services without an expensive TV service subscription.

Starting Tuesday morning, Verizon Fios TV subscribers will be able to watch YouTube videos and listen to Internet radio from iHeartRadio on their big screen TVs via their Fios TV service. The upgrade, which adds to a growing catalog of Web content available through Fios TV, is free and automatically available for all subscribers.

Verizon first launched these one-click Internet-based applications to provide news headlines and weather to Fios TV viewers. Then it added widgets to allow viewers to see what other people in their vicinity are viewing and to help them discover popular TV shows.

Last summer, it launched its Widget Bazaar, a scaled down version of an application store for the TV, with the vision of opening up a wide range of Internet-based applications to its Fios TV customers. The first apps from the Widget Bazaar offered on the service, Facebook and Twitter, were geared toward social networking.

Now Verizon is adding more Internet video to the mix. It already had some Net-based video from DailyMotion.com, Veho, and BlipTV. But YouTube is the first major Internet video site that the company has added to the service.

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