Intel expected to unveil cable service, set-top box at CES
Chipmaker Intel is reportedly planning to unveil a new set-top box and accompanying cable service at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January.
Citing sources familiar with Intel’s plans, TechCrunch reported on Monday that Intel’s “virtual cable TV service” and hardware are in the works, and that the company also has a plan to secure the necessary licensing agreements to release such a product. Apple, which has been long rumored to be interested in building either a television set or a set-top box, is said to have been held back at least in part by media companies who are reluctant to offer necessary agreements.
Citing one source, Monday’s report claimed that Intel has become tired of “everyone doing a half-assed Google TV.” That’s prompted the company to step in and “do it right” by building their own service and hardware.
“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,” author Josh Constine wrote. “The service would pipe in both traditional channels and streaming content such as Redbox’s streaming service.”
Intel reportedly plans to unveil the “first version” of what’s called an “evolving set-top box” at its CES event on Jan. 7.
Rumors of a full-fledged Apple television set have persisted for years, but the possibility of the company instead releasing a greatly enhanced Apple TV set-top box as an accessory for third-party televisions was raised this August. A report from The Wall Street Journal revealed that Apple was considering building its own cable box that would include an iOS-like user interface and advanced cloud-based DVR functionality that would blur the line between live and on-demand content.
With Apple allegedly interested in expanding its current Apple TV accessory, and Intel reportedly planning to unveil a new platform in the immediate future, Google has signaled that it wishes to get out of the set-top box business. Earlier this month, one report claimed that Google was working on a deal to sell its Motorola Home Business, responsible for building boxes for cable providers.
Google’s shift would sell off a major portion of the $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility it bought a year ago. Some industry watchers had initially speculated that Motorola’s set-top box business might have been a key part of the acquisition for Google, as the company offers its own Android-based Google TV business.
Last chance to get The Ultimate Music Bundle with Tuneup
While this deal may sound to good to be true – it simply just sounds great. The Ultimate Music Bundle will take your Mac’s music-playing ability to new heights…and for 89% off the regular price.
That’s right – you can stack up on 8 top music applications for only $39 for a limited time thanks to this iPhone Hacks Deals offer.
The 8 apps in The Ultimate Music Bundle include (Note: Regular price of each app is in parentheses):
- TuneUp – TuneUp “automagically” cleans up your messy iTunes library, intelligently fixes bad song information (like “Track 01”) by digitally listening to your music, finds and removes annoying duplicate songs, fills in missing album artwork in just a few clicks, delivers lyrics, concert alerts, music videos, artist bios, and more!
- MegaSeg DJ – MegaSeg DJ is rock solid software with killer performance, intuitive features, and clean design. It’s simple software that can turn any aspiring DJ into the one running the show.
- Ondesoft Audio Recorder – Record audio on your Mac anywhere, anytime, with Ondesoft Audio Recorder. You can record voice and music directly from a microphone, CD player, line-in devices or any other application from the web and the app will easily save your files into numerous formats so they stay compatible to your needs.
- SOS Online Backup – An annual (1-year) 50GB storage plan for this award-winning automatic backup web application. Simply and securely backup 50GB worth of documents, music files, videos, and more.
- The T-Pain Engine – Choose from dozens of killer beats or customize your own! Sing or rap, add the official T-Pain Effect – and then post songs for all to hear, straight to the web via SoundCloud.
- Tracks – Tracks enables you to play and browse iTunes music right from your menubar. You can quickly access Tracks to instantly browse your iTunes library and extend your search to remote songs, play iTunes music store previews or buy songs instantly.
- Flip4Mac Studio – With Flip4Mac you can watch, edit and convert Windows Media on your Mac. Other features include the ability to create your own iPhone ringtones, share movies with friends and family working on Windows, and convert Windows Media audio for iTunes.
- Boom for Mac – Boost clearer and louder volume right on your Mac with Boom. Equalize your Mac’s sound to enhance your audio experience using its system-wide Mac equalizer and customizable presets. Additionally, you can amplify sound from iTunes, Hulu, YouTube, and other volume-enabled platforms.
There’s a lot more to the apps in this package, so head over to the iPhone Hacks Deals page to check out all that they have to offer.
The Ultimate Music Bundle is a deal that we don’t usually offer here at iPhone Hacks, but with all that’s been jammed into this bundle, it was really music to our ears – both literally and figuratively. We’re sure it will be for you as well. Pick up The Ultimate Music Bundle from iPhone Hacks Deals for only $39 today – and give yourself the gift of great sound before this last chance to do so passes you by!
Custom Search Web Apple to Refresh MacBook Pro and MacBook Air in June 2013 with Upgraded Internals
Apple planning to refresh the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air lineup in June next year, right in time for WWDC, the company’s annual developer conference. Apple’s conversations with Taiwan-based supply chain makers, who’ve been told to prepare quotations for their products and services needed for manufacturing MacBooks.
Apple has issued requests for quotations (RFQ) to Taiwan-based supply chain makers for the revision of several notebook models including MacBook Pro and MacBook Air series in June 2013, causing ultrabook vendors to be concerned, according to supply chain makers.
The sources pointed out that the MacBook Air for 2013 will feature a new processor platform, but its industrial design will not see any major changes.
The “new processor platform” likely refers to Intel’s successor to the Ivy Bridge platform, codenamed Haswell. Haswell chips, expected to be released around March to June next year, are being developed keeping in mind power efficiency and integrated GPU performance. Both these factors are of high importance to Apple’s MacBook lineup, especially the MacBook Air.
Be a great issue of concern for Ultrabook vendors, who expect Apple to drop the pricing of current generation MacBook Airs once the new models come out. Although Apple follows this practice when pricing iOS devices, it hasn’t yet done so for the already complicated Mac line of products.
While there are no explicit indications, the upcoming refresh could also mean the death of non-Retina MacBook Pros, which currently exist only to fill the pricing gap created by Retina MacBook Pros. Apple could certainly use Haswell’s integrated GPU performance boost to power the high-res Retina displays.
How To Enable Hidden Topography Mode in Google Maps For iPhone
The Topography mode lets you see relief maps of 3D terrain, which is very useful if you’re going hiking, mountain biking, skiing etc. in rough terrain areas.
It’s not clear why Google decided to drop the feature in the final release. Petrich has released a new jailbreak tweak that makes it very easy to enable the hidden Topography mode in the sidebar of Google Maps for iPhone app for free on Cydia.
You can follow these simple steps to enable the Topography feature on your jailbroken iPhone:
- Launch Cydia
Tap on Sources
Then tap on the Edit button
Then the Add button and enter the following URL
Then tap on the Add Source button
After Ryan’s repository is successfully added, tap on search tab and look for “Topography”
Select “Topography for Google Maps” from the search results
Tap on the Install button
Then tap on the Confirm button
After “Topography for Google Maps” is successfully installed, tap on the Restart Springboard button.
That’s it, now when you tap on the pull-tab in the lower right corner, you should see Topography mode in addition to Traffic, Public Transit, Satellite and Google Earth mode.