cables

Apple exec: Television may not be in the cards for now

If you're waiting for Apple to revolutionize the TV business, you may be sitting on your hands for a while.

Apple executive Eddy Cue, who runs the company's Internet software and services business, downplayed the idea in a chat with Pacific Crest analyst Andy Hargreaves. His note, published today, was picked up by Fortune.

Apple wouldn't enter a new business unless it could create a great user experience and fix existing problems, Cue told Pacific Crest. While Apple could make an attractive user interface, it still can't address the problems that stem from the pay-TV system, … Read more

Verizon wins FCC approval for spectrum deals -- with caveats

The Federal Communications Commission has approved four separate deals that will transfer wireless spectrum to Verizon Wireless, including the $3.9 billion deal between Verizon and a group of cable operators.

The approved deals will allow Verizon to get nearly 20 megahertz of Advanced Wireless Service spectrum from SpectrumCo, a joint venture that includes cable operators Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and BrightHouse, as well as AWS spectrum from cable operator Cox Communications.

The agency also gave the green light to transfer spectrum licenses from prepaid provider Leap Wireless. In addition, it OK'd the transfer of wireless spectrum licenses between … Read more

New TV Guide app tries to bridge gap between TV and streaming

Finding streaming TV shows or movies is a mess. No service or app has a complete collection, and getting what you want often feels like rummaging at the Internet's garage sale.

Some services have risen up to try to help; the Xbox 360 offers excellent Bing-based search of Xbox media apps, while Fanhattan does the same on iOS, although you have to enter the app to begin searching.

Fanhattan lacks one important feature, though: a listing of shows on actual, live TV.

Bridging the cord-cutting and cable/antenna TV landscape is TV Guide, which tries to implement streaming-media hooks into its existing tradition TV listings service.… Read more

Rumor Has It: Apple TV to be your next cable box?

You've probably heard the one about Apple and the HDTV it's reportedly working on, but have you heard the one about how the next Apple TV could double as a cable box? No? Well according to a Wall Street Journal report, that's exactly what's happening.

In other news, RadioShack reminds us that it exists by possibly joining with Cricket Wireless to offer no-contract phones, and a supersecret event invite from Motorola tells us, well, pretty much nothing. But we do have a couple ideas about what the event is for.

Thanks for watching, and don't … Read more

Apple TV and the quest for cable

Thursday's tech headlines know how to speak your language:

Imaginations are running wild about an Apple TV cable box. The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple is talking to cable providers, but no deals have been made. Earlier this week Apple was granted a patent for its design of a cable box. But Apple is not alone in its hunt for cable deals. Microsoft's Xbox 360 has slowly been adding video from cable providers in its quest to be the one box to rule all home entertainment.

The Sony Reader is back with a new model, selling for $… Read more

Apple TV could double as cable box, report says

Apple's set-top box could be destined to stream live TV channels, according to a new report.

Citing "people familiar with the matter," the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) says that Apple has been in talks with cable operators in the U.S. to pitch its $99 streamer as an alternative to the set top boxes cable subscribers rent.

The report suggests no deals have yet been made toward that goal, but that Apple has at least talked with cable provider Time Warner.

The Apple TV has remained what Apple considers a "hobby" device when compared … Read more

Get a Cisco Linksys cable modem for $37.99

It's bad enough you have to pay such exorbitant rates for broadband Internet access, but a modem rental fee on top of that? Horrors!

In fact, if you're a Comcast subscriber, you may have noticed that the monthly tab for modem rental is now $7. That's $84 per year.

Luckily, there's no law that says you have to lease Comcast's modem (thank goodness, as some other ISPs have started making it mandatory). If you bring your own, you can save that cash instead.

And here's one of the best deals I've seen: Cisco … Read more

Viewers opted for the Web over TV to watch Curiosity's landing

More Curiosity fans took to the Web to watch the rover's highly anticipated landing on Mars than those tuning into cable TV.

According to Mashable, more than 3.2 million people viewed the nail-biting descent nicknamed "seven minutes of terror" via Ustream's live streaming platform on Sunday night.

"More people tuned in to watch the NASA Mars landing coverage on Ustream than many of the top cable news networks during Sunday prime time," Ustream spokesman Tony Riggins told Mashable.

The Mars rover settled into Mars' Gale Crater, surviving its white-knuckle plunge in remarkably good … Read more

Google may ditch Motorola's set-top box unit -- but it shouldn't

Just a few months after the deal closed, Google is reportedly already planning to break up Motorola Mobility and sell off some parts, according to a memo from Light Reading Cable.

In the memo, LRC editor Jeff Baumgartner writes that Google is planning to sell of the set-top box unit, in particular, as the bidding process would get started in September with hopes for a deal completed by the end of the year:

Multiple industry insiders and people in cable M&A circles confirm that Google has not yet started the formal sales process for the Home division, which … Read more