Intel Now Alpha Testing Streaming TV Service
Intel's streaming TV service is code-named Black Box Project.
CNET reports that Intel is now alpha testing its upcoming TV streaming service, code-named "Black Box Project," with thousands of Intel employees, meaning the company is getting closer to a retail release.
The testing actually began in late March in the homes of more than 2,000 Intel employees in Northern California, Arizona, and Oregon -- new testers are being added every day. These employees are required to endure confidentiality training, and only allowed to use the set-top box in their homes with their families.
Several testers have supposedly stepped forward, reporting that the product installed involves early trial hardware and an old version of the user interface design. The software itself will have many similarities to the final version including how users will navigate the system, but the hardware design will be completely different, meaning Intel will likely use the latest and greatest in technology at launch.
"What people are using now is not the final product," one of the people told CNET. Another added that the trial content available on the current box is not representative of what Intel will finally release to retail -- a statement that covers possible leaks of the TV streaming service from here on out.
Based on the sources, Intel is currently gathering information on order taking, usage habits, quality and stability of the service, and the performance of the back-end system. Intel is also evaluating the responsiveness of its "Audience Care" customer service system. Sources said feedback from the employees is incorporated into updates, thus the final product will be completely different than the alpha program.
That said, it's an evolving product based on Intel's design, employee use and their response to features, bugs and more. By the end of the test program, the user interface should be somewhat similar to what Intel plans for the retail version slated to launch by the end of the year, they said.
Intel undoubtedly has time to get the platform right, but CNET points out that the chip maker still has some hurdles to overcome, one of which is landing content deals. Time Warner Cable and other cable TV providers have reportedly pressed content owners not to strike a deal with Intel and other Internet TV providers, fearing that customers will cut the cord. But Intel seems confident that it will have a deal in place before Black Box launches at the end of 2013.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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cscott_it Intel has deep pockets and if their history as an aggressive marketer is any indication, they would be willing to take an initial loss if they thought they would be able to make a long term profit off of the service.Reply
I've just found that there are a few tech companies big enough and aggressive enough that would be folly to entirely write off - Intel is certainly one of them. -
jaber2 As much as Intel is a large company, as much as this is technology front, and as much as I like someone like Intel doing this, still can't understand the reasoning why Intel would be the one doing this, I mean there are plenty of possible startups and others who would be ideal, a cpu company leading the way for broadcast TV is kinda makes me scratch my head and think why?Reply -
captaincharisma intel will kill everyone in the TV market if they can have a service with all the TV channels and make it an " a la crate" systemReply -
Galvin This would be more something that apple would do. But glad someone is doing it, anything to put pressure on cable companies.Reply
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magicandy Reply11057964 said:Time Warner Cable and other cable TV providers have reportedly pressed content owners not to strike a deal with Intel and other Internet TV providers, fearing that customers will cut the cord. But Intel seems confident that it will have a deal in place before Black Box launches at the end of 2013.
They can be confident all they want, it's still got an incredibly low chance of happening. Even Google and Apple couldn't do it, and they were just as serious about it as Intel. I doubt Intel will make any more headway. Cable companies' profits rely on users paying for channels they'll never use (such as ESPN which is hugely expensive), so a la carte streaming is fundamentally incompatible with this business model. The only way Intel will strike any kind of deal is somehow convincing cable companies to drop their decades-old market strategy and completely change their profit model.
This will just end up being a huge loss for them once they hit the content deal wall, just like with Google and Apple.