Erik Huggers, Corporate VP & GM for Intel Media just confirmed that Intel is working on an IPTV concept. We all know that Apple is reportedly working on a new television, but we never knew that Intel is already ahead in the race. Giant Tech Firms like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Intel and HP are on a serious note to bring about a radical change in the television viewing experience. Media is one market that is always left behind and these tech firms have decided to venture on this market by ditching the traditional cable television and DTH services. Its good to hear from Erik Huggers that Intel is already in its final stages of testing the IPTV and consumers can soon get their hands on it. He also mentioned that Intel has been working on this concept for over a year now to establish Intel Media which is a new division at Intel right now. Intel has been secretive about this concept and has already hired people from top entertainment companies like BBC and Netflix to work on this. Apple and Google have been in this market for a long time but Intel has plans to ‘change the whole TV viewing experience’ and do what the other companies couldn’t do all these years. The set top box will stream media content directly from the internet and apart from streaming TV shows, movies and music, users will also have access to Intel’s market place to download apps and games. Social media and social sharing will be given much importance – says Erik Huggers. Intel also plans to offer customers the option to customise their channels and even subscribe to specific content in a channel which is a step ahead than what traditional DTH players offer in the name of customization. Erik Huggers feels that the real value of entertainment lies in creating a more flexible environment to the end users. Intel plans to leverage on the internet and the cloud by introducing a new feature called Cloud DVR, which will allow users to watch any past TV shows at anytime without the need to record it in advance. The set top box will also feature a camera on its top which does more than just video calling. Intel plans to use the camera to target ads that are specific to the viewer. The camera will be used to distinguish users and display ads which might appeal to the user based on their inferred interests rather than blindly shooting ads at whoever is watching the screen. There are also privacy concerns when a camera is always watching the user. However Intel has some plans to provide enhanced security to prevent privacy breach. The set of box will have an Intel made chip under the hood and Intel has already stopped selling chips for Google TV and Apple TV to boost the sales of Intel’s own IPTV. Intel has been successful in all its ventures and hope its mission to change the television viewing experience lands the company in greater heights.
