More 3D Joy: AT&T U-Verse to offer ESPN 3D right away, for a small fee

We’re just 2 short days away from the launch of the first full-on 3D HDTV channel in the US, and U-verse will be ready to rock and roll, if early reports are to be believed. The third broadcaster to announce it will carry ESPN 3D after DirecTV and Comcast already jumped into the party, it did stand out from the crowd by also announcing it will charge an extra fee to people requiring the 3D mojo on their systems, the only one to do so.

$10 per month adds the “3D Technology Package” to your U-verse viewing package — similar to Comcast and different from DirecTV’s approach, it will work with existing boxes but will require a switch to “3d” mode on the box, which is an interesting compromise without needing to replace existing boxes, which we like.

Color us a bit skeptical even so about the future of 3D TV in the mainstream, even if others think differently, including ESPN. Here’s to hoping this HD 3D trend doesn’t fade into the sunset in the near future, wasting millions of dollars in the process.

Stepping Up: AT&T adds 6 new MTV-based channels to their U-verse packages

More HD channel choice is a rallying cry we’ve been shouting for awhile now, and some companies are really listening (and some aren’t, as we’ve reported). AT&T has started to listen, adding 6 new HD channels to their U-Verse packages.

The channels: MTV HD, VH1 HD, CMT HD, Nickelodeon HD, COMEDY CENTRAL HD and Spike HD add up to lots of music and entertainment in HD, which always sets our pulse to racing.

Hopefully other companies sit up and take notice, while AT&T now has packages offering over 100 HD channels, which should bring in a few customers, we would think. We’ll keep an eye on other companies and see how they respond to this shot over the bow aimed at Comcast, DirecTV and other providers.

4 is better than 3: AT&T to offer new “quad-play” package

AT&T and DirecTV actually partnered up for HDTV and related TV services a few months back, but it’s now “official” and reps should know how to combine packages and features, and save you valuable cash. But there’s a new wrinkle that’s keeping things in the provider race interesting.

AT&T is now offering a “quad” plan that combines wireless with the typical triple play trio of TV, internet and phone, which could bust the industry open as vendors seek to lure new customers with ever-increasing new features. It’s the first of its kind (not the last, with several cable companies recently buying up some 700Mhz bandwidth), and it should be pretty popular with consumers, always looking to save money these days.

It’s almost a certainty other companies will follow with “quad-play” offerings of their own, which means competition, which in turn means good deals for all of us.