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Several years ago Intel attempted to team up with TV manufacturers to produce the first line of Google TVs, ultimately Intel failed to win... Intel Launching Its Own Cable TV Service

Several years ago Intel attempted to team up with TV manufacturers to produce the first line of Google TVs, ultimately Intel failed to win over manufacturers and Google TV 1.0 failed to impress.

Jump forward several years later and the microprocessor company is not only preparing to enter the smart TV market, it’s planning to do so by launching a nationwide cable TV network that will combine both traditional cable offerings with 21st century streaming movie and TV products.

Intel Cable TV

Intel plans to roll out its new platform and its own created cable TV boxes on a city-by-city basis, a move that will allow the company to focus on licensing issues by demographic. By rolling out its platform city-by-city Intel will be able to hyper-focus on licensing rights which are often hard to secure, especially for company’s that take on too much at once.

A source close to the company tells TechCrunch:

A source in the video distribution industry directly familiar with Intel’s plans and content dealings tells TechCrunch the semiconductor company is dead serious about getting its chips into the living room. After its effort to convince smart TV manufacturers to use its chips in the initial launch of Google TV failed a few years ago, it’s decided to go it alone. The source said that Intel was frustrated with “everyone doing a half-assed Google TV so it’s going to do it themselves and do it right.”

The plan is to create a set-top box and subscription TV service that would appeal to people who want streaming TV access but don’t want to entirely cut the cable cord and lose key content like sports.

A rumor announced several months ago claimed Intel would even add facial recognition to its cable TV platform in order to better target the TV experience to users in the room. Intel has not confirmed nor denied that rumor at this time.

Giant tech firms over the last several years have complained that cable TV in the traditional sense is dating and there right. Turn on a TV and browse through the UI offered on current cable boxes, its the same played out user interface we have seen a thousand times.

Exactly what the mix of cable TV and streaming services from Intel will look like is still unknown but just about anything has to be better then current offerings.

Would you subscribe to Intel cable TV?

[Image via Gizmodo]