Hello, I am an employee for ATT and I have seen the ofsprey box and it is amazing. It is small smart and has all the features customers are looking for that will be an alternative to comcast with no DISH. Best part you will get all your locals and all the same channels you have with your current cable provider so there will be no compromise. The box is small the remote has a talk to function and a touchpad like apple TV. As a current DirecTV customer I am excited for this new box because when I travel I can just pack up my box and take my cable with me because all you need is a internet connection and a TV and your up and running.
QUOTE="NashGuy, post: 4277875, member: 136397"]This is a story that I've read and posted about a ton over the past year. My best guess -- putting together all of the clues I've read -- is that this box, code-named Opsrey, with a model number C71, will pull double-duty for AT&T, getting deployed for both their satellite-based DirecTV service as well as a forthcoming streaming version of that service (which will be separate from the existing DirecTV Now service).
Note that the manual filed at the FCC for the C71 says it may be used in conjunction with the "HS27". Currently, DirecTV installs the HS17 home server for their satellite customers, which streams live and DVR'd satellite TV wirelessly to C61 Genie Minis connected to each TV throughout the house. Based on AT&T model naming conventions, it would certainly appear that the HS27 is the next-gen home server and the C71 is the next-gen Genie Mini (although I doubt they'll continue using the Genie branding with this generation of hardware).
But this C71 -- which is powered by Google's Android TV operating system, with access to all the major streaming apps -- also fits the description of the kind of "thin client" box that AT&T's CEO has repeatedly stated will be sent as a self-install STB for customers of their forthcoming "home-centric" streaming version of DirecTV. (By contrast, he refers to DirecTV Now as a "mobile-centric" product.) This new streaming service will be delivered over the exact same new streaming platform that AT&T has been working on this year for DirecTV Now but instead of being delivered to retail devices like Apple TV and Roku, it will be delivered to the C71 (as a standalone unit, no need for the HS27 server or a rooftop dish). Perhaps this service will offer different channel packages than DTV Now too. Maybe it will offer the same channels packages as DTV satellite. Don't know. But since it will be positioned as a premium TV service -- essentially equivalent to DTV satellite -- I expect it will cost more than DTV Now but with a better cloud DVR (permanent storage, lots of storage hours).
This new service, with its dedicated box and remote and full feature set (including, I predict, a no-compromise cloud DVR, 4K HDR, NFL Sunday Ticket, etc.), will be a much more palatable alternative for traditional pay TV subscribers than the various "cord-cutting" cable-replacement services like DTV Now, YouTube TV, etc. Keep in mind that 70% of Americans recently surveyed have no interest in becoming cord-cutters. So this new streaming version of "full" DirecTV is what AT&T will try to shift their satellite customers over to in the next few years, while DTV Now and Watch TV (as well as their standalone OTT services like HBO Now, Boomerang, FilmStruck, etc.) will serve to scoop up younger and more budget-conscious cord-cutters and cord-nevers.
AT&T has stated that this forthcoming streaming version of DTV will also cost somewhat less than traditional satellite-based DTV since the customer acquisition costs will be so much lower. No need to dispatch an installer to put up an unsightly rain-fade-prone dish, wire the house, and leave behind expensive boxes containing hard drives. Just ship the customer a small, cheap C71 box for each TV that they can self-install as easily as they would install a new Roku. I see no reason why AT&T won't completely kill off their long-neglected Uverse TV service once this new service is successfully off the ground. AT&T has stated that their DTV satellite service will increasingly shift emphasis toward serving rural customers, presumably because that demographic is less likely to have the broadband service necessary for streaming.
Execs on AT&T Video Transition Strategy: More OTT with Directv Shifted to Rural Areas - Telecompetitor[/QUOTE]
