Intel sells failed internet TV project to Verizon
Nearly a year ago, Intel announced plans to create an internet television service,poc
and the hardware to access it. Months went by after the initial announcement – leaving investors and fans of the proposed service with many questions about its future.
Today, those questions have been answered: Intel is selling the service to Verizon. According to Intel’s press release, the telecom giant is purchasing “Intel Media Assets,” including intellectual property and “other assets that enable Intel’s OnCue Cloud TV platform.” The nearly 350 employees who were working in the Intel Media division will be offered employment by Verizon, as well.
Said Intel CEO Lowell McAdam on Verizon’s ability to take this internet television service to the next level:
The OnCue platform and team will help Verizon bring next-generation video services to audiences who increasingly expect to view content when, where and how they want it. Verizon already has extensive video content relationships, fixed and wireless delivery networks, and customer relationships in both the home and on mobile. This transaction provides us with the capabilities to build a powerful, capitally efficient engine for future growth and innovation. We will have the opportunity to enhance, expand, accelerate and integrate our delivery of video products and services to better serve audiences on a wide array of devices.
Intel’s problems in launching the service started when the chipmaker was unable to secure vital content partnerships with media companies around the world. Verizon, on the other hand, already has those partnerships in place; and adding another service to those agreements will be an easy task for the telecom giant.
Still, this is a setback for those who are looking to cut the cable cord for good. Whereas Intel Media would’ve created a semi-open, easily-accessible internet television service, Verizon will very likely lock the service to customers of its FiOS home and Verizon Wireless network subscribers – and if that’s the case, it won’t be cheap, either.
What’s your take on this announcement? Are you glad to see the service that so many Intel employees have worked on launch? Or is it bittersweet, since Verizon will take the project in a different direction?
[Intel via The Verge]Image via PC Games Hardware
