AT&T's not messing around with spreading the good word on its U-verse services, as it has just nailed down an agreement to sell the aforementioned products in two of America's largest retail outlets. Beginning this month, U-verse kiosks will emerge in over 600 Circuit City and Walmart locations, which will give unsuspecting consumers the chance to ditch their current cable / satellite / fiber provider and sign up for AT&T's own programming / high-speed internet / digital phone suite. The move comes in the midst of its nationwide Total Home DVR rollout, which enables any connected TV in the crib to watch a recorded SD or HD show. Of course, U-verse still serves a comparatively small amount of the country at present time, but with an initiative like this, we feel pretty good about future expansion.

Juicing up landline phones with internet connectivity and large touchscreen displays isn't exactly a new idea, but AT&T's new three-piece HomeManager system might finally bring it into the mainstream. The Samsung-built HomeManager Frame is the highlight, with a seven-inch touchscreen that enables features like visual voice mail, address book synchronization with certain AT&T cell phones, Yellow Pages, and other internet-enabled content like weather and news, while the HomeManager Handset carries a similar interface over to a more traditional form factor with a smaller color screen, and the HomeManager Base serves as the heart of the system. It certainly looks nifty -- the Frame's interface seems nice and quick -- but just as with OpenFrame, we're not really sure who's in that crossover zone between people who want this kind of gear and people who still have landlines. We'll find out soon -- HomeManager is available now for AT&T customers in Chicago, Atlanta, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles for $299, with more to follow. Check a quick video hands-on after the break.

Read - HomeManager site
Read - 3Screens hands-on