The FCC filing was first spotted by Variety but details are still thin. The few pages of the manual we have seen describe OTT (the term many industry insiders use for streaming) as “the delivery of video via the internet directly into user-connected devices, allowing access to services anywhere, anytime, on any device.”
What exactly this device will be used for is unknown at this time. The device does talk about DIRECTV but the documents Variety found says nothing about DIRECTV NOW. The device seems to only work with stream and according to the paperwork, the new Android TV player won’t work with DIRECTV’s existing Genie hardware. The new device will have Ethernet, digital audio, HDMI and USB ports but no built-in antenna port. (AT&T may be planning on a USB powered antenna tuner.)
So what AT&T has planned for this device is unknown. Just because DIRECTV NOW is not mentioned in the FCC filing could mean that this will be for traditional DIRECTV customers. Yet AT&T has recently said that they plan to put DIRECTV NOW and DIRECTV customers on the same app with their new beta app that is currently in testing. This will mean your DIRECTV and DIRECTV NOW login will work on one app. That makes it likely that this device will work for both DIRECTV NOW and DIRECTV customers.
The timing of this filing suggests a 2018 CES release in January. (Assuming everything goes well through the filing and testing.)
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