Verizon is also introducing Internet Radio for its FiOS TV subscribers, providing access to hundreds of stations nationwide and the ability to stream music from the PC to the TV.

“Adding YouTube and Internet Radio to FiOS TV further expands our customers’ digital home-entertainment world by giving them access to an unprecedented amount of online content on the biggest screen in their home – their TV,” Verizon vice president of consumer strategy Shawn Strickland said in a statement. “When customers connect their homes to our all-fiber network, their TV and Internet worlds seamlessly come together to create experiences cable can’t deliver. We are working with some of the most popular companies on the Web to create a high-quality, engaging Internet-to-TV experience that will only grow richer with time.”

All these features can be controlled by Verizon’s new “Mobile Remote.” The system, introduced in February,  allows owners of Motorola’s Droid phone or the HTC Imagio to use their mobile devices as TV remote controls. The service also lets users transfer photos from their mobile devices to their TV screen.

Too boot, Verizon will make Media Manager available to all its FiOS TV HD subscribers.

Effective immediately, FiOS TV customers who have an HD set-top box and a can use the phones as a television remote control. The mobile remote has virtually the same functionality as the standard FiOS remote, plus additional features including instantly transferring photos from the handset to the TV screen. Verizon will expand this service, Verizon FiOS Mobile Remote, to additional mobile phones in the coming months.

“With FiOS Mobile Remote we’re leveraging the in-home FiOS network to marry the cell phone to the TV for simpler, more convenient navigation, along with entirely new phone-to-TV experiences that cable can’t match,” said Shawn Strickland, vice president of FiOS product management for Verizon. “This kind of feature underscores for customers how powerful the FiOS in-home network is — and the potential it has for constant innovation.”

FiOS TV customers, including small-business customers, access the new feature through the applications store on their mobile phone handset and then pair the device with their in-home FiOS network by opening up the Mobile Remote Widget on FiOS TV and selecting either the Motorola Droid or HTC Imagio icon. Customers will be asked to register their wireless telephone number, using the widget. Customers can register their handsets on any FiOS TV, at home or away.

Once set up, FiOS Mobile Remote offers these features for Motorola Droid and HTC Imagio customers:

• My Remote — Controls a FiOS TV set-top box from the mobile device, with features including changing channels, adjusting volume, managing parental controls and using DVR functionality such as pause, rewind, fast forward or record live programming. Customers can also use the handset to control the FiOS TV onscreen full QWERTY keyboard, or use their handset’s keyboard to search for TV programming and video-on-demand titles or manage the Facebook and Twitter widget applications.
• My Photos — Photos stored on the handset can be instantly transferred from the phone to the TV, with two options. With the touch of a finger, subscribers can flick one picture at a time and see it appear on the TV screen. Subscribers can also display an entire slide show of stored pictures.
• My Favorites — Users can import to the mobile device favorite-channels lists currently stored on the TV set. The mobile device can then be used to flip through and select channels from the lists.
• Tele- TV Mute — Automatically mutes the TV when a call is answered with the handset and resumes the previous TV-volume level after the call is ended.

Mobile Remote is easy to set up. You simply access the feature through the application store on the mobile handset and then pair the device with the in-home Wi-Fi network by opening up the Mobile Remote Widget on the TV and selecting either the Motorola Droid or HTC Imagio icon. You will then be asked to register your telephone number using the Widget, and you’re all set to go.

From the opening ceremony on Feb. 12, Verizon will offer subscribers enhanced, interactive TV experience, VOD, HD TV, broadband and Verizon Wireless’ V CAST service. FiOS TV customers will be able to watch more than 835 hours of Winter Olympics programming – the most total hours ever offered for a Winter Olympics. Vancouver will also be the first Winter Olympics available entirely in HD.

“Verizon’s advanced fiber-optic and wireless networks will help deliver the ultimate Olympics experience to our customers this winter,” said Terry Denson, vice president of content strategy and acquisition for Verizon. “They’ll see the best that Verizon and NBC Universal have to offer – on any screen, including video on demand, HD, Verizon Wireless’ V CAST service and more. And, they’ll be able to follow all the action, in depth and as it happens.”

Verizon’s Olympics experience also includes:

• Interactive TV: Customers will have access to an on-screen interactive application with real-time medal counts, athlete bios, team USA reports, Olympic news and more. The interactive TV experience is available to all FiOS TV customers during Olympics programming on USA, MSNBC and CNBC.
• HD Coverage: For the first time, the Olympics will be available entirely in HD. Customers will be able to see HD coverage of every event, including alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsled, cross-country, curling, figure skating, ice hockey and snowboarding.
• Video on Demand: NBC Universal is making exciting highlights and full-event rewinds available on FiOS TV VOD. For the last month, Verizon FiOS TV customers have been able to enjoy more than 20 five- to seven-minute highlight clips – in SD and HD – including trivia, a countdown to Vancouver and an exploration of Canada’s Olympic park in Calgary. During the games, NBCU will offer more than 100 highlight clips – approximately 15 per day – in addition to up to five full-length daily event replays. More than 30 percent of this will be available from NBCU in HD.
• Online: Verizon’s FiOS Internet and High Speed Internet customers will have access to more than 400 hours of live event competition and more than 1,000 hours of on-demand access to full-event replays from Vancouver, as well as extensive highlights such as event recaps, best-of montages, commentator analysis and athlete-specific clips.

The 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games will run for some 17 days and nights, covering every sport, medal, champion and exciting moment.

While the Internet Radio product is available nationwide to FiOS customers who subscribe to both pay TV and high-speed Internet services, Verizon describes the launch as a “beta” offering, noting that it wants to get feedback from subscribers who use it.

Verizon struck a deal with radio giant Clear Channel Communications to use that company’s iHeart Radio app, which gives subscribers access to 387 stations nationwide in 19 genres, including Dance, Active Rock, Country, and Alternative. Subscribers will also be able to use the FiOS TV Media Manager application to add other radio stations to the Internet Radio application, and to listen to them either on a PC or a TV.

“We pre-populate it with over 350 options. But also for folks that are a little more savvy and comfortable with using their computer to customize their TV experience, they can actually go surf the Internet, find that URL with the radio station that they’re most interested in, and add that right into their TV experience,” said Joe Ambeault, Verizon’s director of consumer product management and entertainment services.

The Internet Radio application uses the FiOS TV Media Manager platform, which Verizon also uses to allow FiOS customers to program their DVRs remotely.