Great tech-spectations: What's next in tech for 2013

A boring summer for tech is about to get a lot more exciting. Here's what to expect.

The dog days of summer are here, and with them, a certain ennui seems to have washed over the tech world. But as July becomes August, things will begin to kick into high gear.
The big dogs of the tech industry -- Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and a host of others -- know that the all-important fourth quarter is when shoppers get serious. Last fall's go-to products -- Kindle Fire and Nexus tablets, iPads, iPhones -- are getting long in tooth, and ready for a refresh. Not coincidentally, a lot of the back-to-school sales are 2012 models, sold at blowout prices to clear shelf space for the all-important Christmas season.
The parade of new products starts this week, with launch events from Google and Verizon. Here's what we have to look forward to -- starting now, and continuing into September.

Verizon

2012's Droid Razr Maxx HD boasted unparalleled battery life

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

We don't think of Verizon as a tech powerhouse on the scale of Google or Apple, but Big Red is the No. 1 wireless provider in the U.S., so any new Verizon-friendly devices are a big deal.
What to expect: Last September, Motorola announced a trio of Verizon-exclusive Droid Razr phones -- the Droid Razr HD, the Droid Razr Maxx HD, and the Droid Razr M. Don't be surprised if we see their successors unveiled this week. (Verizon may finally officially announce the launch date of the HTC One on its network, having already confirmed that it's on its way.)
Mark your calendar: July 23, 9 a.m. PT (confirmed)

Google

Sindar Pichai is not a gadget -- but he may unveil one or more on Wednesday

(Credit: Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

May's Google I/O developer event came and went without any big hardware reveals. But we expect Google's just-announced July 24 event -- billed as a breakfast with Android and Chrome head honcho Sundar Pichai -- to be considerably more eventful.
What to expect: The next Nexus 7 tablet is all but confirmed, along with Android 4.3. A Chrome OS upgrade (or new Chromebook) is possible, too. We may even see a successor to the ill-fated Nexus Q, or possibly a watch or video game console.
Mark your calendar: July 24, 8:30 a.m. PT (confirmed)

Motorola Mobility

This appears to be the first official glamor shot of the Moto X intended for the press.

(Credit: theunlockr.com)

The Moto X may be the worst-kept secret in tech right now, but the few remaining questions about the first Motorola smartphone produced under Google's stewardship of the company it purchased in 2011 will be wiped away on August 1. That's when the phone gets its grand unveiling in New York City.
What to expect: We already know quite a bit about the X, but we'll finally get the full list of details -- including price, availability, and supported carriers -- once the phone becomes official.
Mark your calendar: August 1 (confirmed)

Amazon

Jeff Bezos introducing the Kindle Fire HD in 2012

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled the current line of Amazon Kindle Fire tablets (and Kindle e-ink readers) on September 6, 2012. While a 2013 event has yet to be announced, it's a safe bet that the e-commerce giant isn't going into the fall buying season without a full refresh of the line.
What to expect: Amazon's hardware strategy is less about groundbreaking tech and more about delivering amazing value. So while the new Fire tablets and Kindle readers will no doubt offer worthwhile tech upgrades over last year's models, we expect the real news here to be the price: don't be shocked to see a 32GB Fire HD clock in at $199, for instance. Among the wildcards we could see: an Amazon video streaming box (a la Roku or Apple TV) and maybe -- maybe -- the long rumored smartphone.
Mark your calendar: late August or early September (likely)

Microsoft

The original Surface -- poised for improvement.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Microsoft has had a rough time of it lately, with a company wide reorganization, a $900 million writedown on the Surface RT and a very public 180 on the DRM policies of its upcoming Xbox One console. But if you step back, there may be some reasons for optimism.
What to expect: Microsoft already has two keystone products on deck for a fall refresh: the Xbox One is coming in November for $499, and Windows 8.1 is likely to hit in September or October.
Could Microsoft prime the Windows 8.1 pump with a Surface 2? The company has certainly learned some painful lessons with the original model, but a few well-placed tweaks -- and a Haswell upgrade -- could make the product a serious tablet/PC competitor, if not an outright success.
Meanwhile, while Windows Phone remains a fringe player, marketshare has been ticking upward. With solid devices (Lumia 925, Lumia 1020) from Nokia and others, Microsoft's mobile OS seems to be in a better place than, say, BlackBerry. But whether Microsoft is going to release its own phone or perhaps a watch (another watch, that is) remains strictly rumor mill fodder for now.
Mark your calendar: Xbox One releases November (confirmed); Windows 8.1 hits in late Q3 or early Q4; if we get a Surface 2, expect a September or October announcement

Apple

A mockup showing what an Apple iWatch might look like.

(Credit: Sarah Tew and Christopher MacManus/CNET)

Apple's last big product announcement was the iPad Mini back in October of 2012. So far in 2013, it's been very quiet, with only a cameraless iPod Touch, a T-Mobile iPhone, and MacBook Air upgrades hitting stores.
What to expect: Apple has already shown iOS 7 and Mac OS X Mavericks, and the company already previewed a long overdue update to the Mac Pro -- all of them will hit in the third quarter, along with Apple's free iTunes Radio streaming audio service.
The big questions revolve around the iPhone and iPad. The safe bets are a "budget" iPhone (don't be surprised if it's only sold in developing markets like China), an iPhone 5S, and a thinner, lighter iPad 5. In addition to the annual iPod refresh, expect additional Mac upgrades -- the Macbook Pro with Retina Display, iMac, and Mac Mini are still due the upgrades to Intel's Haswell CPU that have already been incorporated into the Air.
Beyond that, the Magic 8 Ball says "Reply Hazy -- Try again." While a refreshed iPad Mini is likely, it's unclear if Apple can squeeze a high-res Retina screen into the Mini's 7.9-inch display in time for the holidays. There are also rumors of a larger-screen iPhone. And the Apple TV box should see some additional apps -- Time Warner Cable and the CW Network -- but whether they'll hit before year's end is anyone's guess.
What about actual new products, rather than upgrades of existing models? Collective wisdom puts the rumored iWatch and Apple HDTV into 2014 (at the earliest, if at all). That said, CEO Tim Cook quipped in April: "I don't want to be more specific, but I'm just saying that we've got some really great stuff coming in the fall and across 2014." Investors and consumers alike are no doubt hoping he and Team Apple will deliver as they transition into the post-Steve Jobs era.
Mark your calendar: mid-September to mid-October (likely); could be one or two events

Best of the rest

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Beyond the confirmed and likely events listed above, look for the Sony PlayStation 4 this holiday season. And Intel's secretive streaming TV box, allegedly dubbed OnCue, may see the light of day later this year -- if and when Intel can get a quorum of TV networks to sign on the dotted line. In the meantime, upstarts like Fan TV will be nipping at their heels.
Of course, that's only the stuff we know about, and can reasonably infer. A corporate merger or two could always shake things up. And the tech world is only a Kickstarter away from something truly disruptive.
Stay tuned.

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Apple developer site targeted in security attack, still down

Apple says its developer site was targeted in an attack, and that any information that was taken was encrypted. The site remains down.

Apple's site for developers was attacked by an intruder last week, the company said Sunday.
In a note to developers, the company said that an "intruder" tried to gain access to developer information, prompting the company to take the service down. Sensitive information on that site was encrypted, Apple said, however it's keeping the site down while security is being hardened. No estimate was provided for when it will be back up.
Apple sent the following to developers on Sunday, detailing some of what happened:

Last Thursday, an intruder attempted to secure personal information of our registered developers from our developer website. Sensitive personal information was encrypted and cannot be accessed, however, we have not been able to rule out the possibility that some developers' names, mailing addresses, and/or email addresses may have been accessed. In the spirit of transparency, we want to inform you of the issue. We took the site down immediately on Thursday and have been working around the clock since then.
In order to prevent a security threat like this from happening again, we're completely overhauling our developer systems, updating our server software, and rebuilding our entire database. We apologize for the significant inconvenience that our downtime has caused you and we expect to have the developer website up again soon.

An Apple spokesman told IEN that the company's developer Web site is "not associated with any customer information" and that "customer information is securely encrypted."
Apple's developer site is home to software downloads, documentation and forums for third-party software developers. The site became inaccessible to registered developers last Thursday, causing angst for users who could not access those features. On Friday the company noted that it would be extending membership periods to cover the outage, and that any published software would not be removed.

The attack comes as Apple's gearing up for two new major releases of iOS and OS X. Developers have been readying their software for the new versions of those operating systems in time for their official release, which Apple has said will come in the fall.
The outage sparked some concerns about there being a larger, behind the scenes security issue. Those concerns, which turned out to be well-founded, were amplified by scattered reports from users saying they had received password reset e-mails, suggesting others were attempting to gain access to their Apple ID accounts.
IEN will keep you updated with additional details as they come.

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SIM card flaw said to allow hijacking of millions of phones

Vulnerability in the security key that protects the card could allow eavesdropping on phone conversations, fraudulent purchases, or impersonation of the handset's owner, a security researcher warns.

A vulnerability on SIM cards used in some mobile phones could allow malware infection and surveillance, a security researcher warns.
Karsten Nohl, founder of Security Research Labs in Berlin, told The New York Times that he has identified a flaw in SIM encryption technology that could allow an attacker to obtain a SIM card's digital key, the 56-digit sequence that allows modification of the card. The flaw, which may affect as many as 750 million mobile phones, could allow eavesdropping on phone conversations, fraudulent purchases, or impersonation of the handset's owner, Nohl warned.

Crypto expert Karsten Nohl.

(Credit: Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

"We can remotely install software on a handset that operates completely independently from your phone," warned Nohl, who said he managed the entire operation in less than two minutes using a standard PC. "We can spy on you. We know your encryption keys for calls. We can read your SMSs. More than just spying, we can steal data from the SIM card, your mobile identity, and charge to your account."
The vulnerability was found in the Digital Encryption Standard, a cryptographic method developed by IBM in the 1970s that is used on about 3 billion cell phones every day. While the encryption method has been beefed up in the past decade, many handsets still use the older standard.
Tests showed that 1,000 cards in Europe and North America exhibited signs of the flaw. Nohl, who plans to detail the flaw at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas next month, said he has already shared the results of his two-year study with GSM Association, a trade group representing the cell phone industry.
GSM Association spokeswoman Claire Cranton told the Times that her organization had already passed the results on members of its group that still rely on the older standard.
"We have been able to consider the implications and provide guidance to those network operators and SIM vendors that may be impacted," Cranton said in a statement.
Nohl, who has a doctorate in computer engineering from the University of Virginia, made headlines in 2008 by publicizing weaknesses in wireless smart card chips used in transit systems around the globe. A year later, he cracked the algorithm used on GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) cell phones, which is designed to prevent attackers from eavesdropping on calls.

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Apple earnings on deck Tuesday

Apple reports its third-quarter results tomorrow, and Wall Street's looking at the iPhone for a bright spot.

Apple announces its third quarter earnings on Tuesday, and -- as usual -- all eyes are on how well the iPhone's selling.
The hit product has become a key part of Apple's business and the fuel to dramatic growth over the past several years, though that growth has slowed.
Reports from some phone carriers have provided a peek at Tuesday's results, specifically Verizon, which reported iPhone sales last week that were more than the carrier originally expected.
Wall Street is expecting Apple to post earnings of $7.31 per share on sales of $35 billion. Those estimates are on the higher end of how much Apple said it expected to bring in when it reported its last quarter back in April -- a range of $33.5 to $35.5 billion in sales.
In either case, that's down from earnings of $9.32 per share, and flat with the $35 billion in sales Apple reported the same quarter a year ago.
One of the key reasons for a dip in the amount of profit Apple's making are gross margins, or how much Apple's making on the products it sells. By Apple's forecast, those are expected to be between 36 and 37 percent, down from the nearly 43 percent from the same quarter a year ago.
During an earnings call earlier this year, Apple noted that some of the change in its margins was due to the company making less on the iPad Mini than some of its other popular products. It also attributed some to a weaker U.S. dollar, adding that things could improve as the company brings down costs.
Wall Street's expecting Apple's sales to work out to around 26.5 million iPhones, which would be half a million more than the company sold during the same time last year. Similarly, Apple's expected to sell 18 million iPads, around 1 million more than last year, though down from the 19.5 it sold last quarter. Other estimates include sales of 3.9 million Macs (versus last year's 4 million), and 4.8 million iPods (down from last year's 6.8 million).
For the next quarter, Wall St. analysts polled by Thomson First Call are expecting Apple to report earnings of $8.16 per share on $37.8 billion in sales, with a margin of 36.8 percent. That would be down from $8.67 profit per share on $36 billion in sales and 40 percent gross margin the company made during the same quarter last year.
Apple will report just after the market closes on Tuesday, followed by a conference call with executives at 2 p.m. PT. CNET will have all the relevant news from both, so stay tuned.

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4 Things You’ll Feel Right Before a Heart Attack

 When your body tries to tell you something, how well do you listen?

With many health issues, your body sends out signals that something has gone awry. Of course, listening to your body when it complains that you just ate too much spicy food or you have a minor cold coming on may not be of life-shattering importance.

However, when it comes to your heart, listening to your body is crucial — because ignoring or misinterpreting these bodily signals can be deadly.

In fact, researchers at Duke University Medical Center have recently determined that unrecognized myocardial infarctions (or “silent” heart attacks, in layman’s terms) are much more common than physicians had previously suspected. And unfortunately, they note these silent heart attacks carry a very high risk of death.

Studies indicate that about 200,000 Americans suffer a heart attack each year without even realizing it. These unrecognized heart attacks account for about one-fourth of all heart attacks, making this a serious public health issue.

Fortunately, according to renowned cardiologist Dr. Chauncey Crandall, you can easily train yourself to listen to your own body’s signals when it comes to the state of your heart health.

Dr. Crandall recently collaborated with Newsmax Health to make available a special video presentation: 4 Things You’ll Feel Right Before a Heart Attack. In this no-cost video, you’ll see four major ways your body tries to warn you — before it’s too late to intervene and survive the damage.

Because, while they are called “silent” heart attacks, your body will warn you of these impending attacks days, weeks, even months before the actual cardiac events. However, symptoms may be mild, vague, or even painless — and many people don’t even realize they’re heart-related.

In particular, four things you could feel are the most sinister signs of a silent heart attack. Just don’t expect the stereotypical “Hollywood” heart attack, where you see an actor clutching at the left side of his chest in severe pain. This is actually less common.

When it comes to surviving a heart attack, statistics show a clear link between delay in treatment and disability or death. That’s why knowing what to look for in terms of symptoms is critical, especially when they’re the kind that most people don’t think to associate with a heart attack — like the four things in this complimentary video presentation: 4 Things You’ll Feel Right Before a Heart Attack. The video also discusses simple strategies to prevent and reverse general heart disease and high cholesterol.

Dr. Crandall, chief of the cardiac transplant program at the esteemed Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic in Florida, practices on the front lines of interventional, vascular, and transplant cardiology. Decades of experience have afforded him the chance to detect little-known warning signs and symptoms like the ones addressed in the video.

Editor’s Note: For a limited time, Newsmax Health is making 4 Things You’ll Feel Before a Heart Attack: A Newsmax Heart Health Special Report available at no charge. Click here to discover how to listen more effectively to your body’s signals about your heart health.

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Will technology ever deliver a perfect speaker or headphone?

Aside from a handful of audiophiles, no one really wants that -- even if it were compact and affordable. Everyone just wants a sound that sounds good to them.

It's got to be the No. 1 audiophile fantasy: someday we'll have a breakthrough that allows speakers to perfectly reproduce sound. Once the engineers find a new way of moving air -- presumably a more accurate method than a vibrating cone, dome, or flat diaphragm -- the heavens will part and we'll suddenly hear the sound of real instruments and singers through our hi-fis. Not so fast -- that would be a great start, but once the sound leaves the speakers and interacts with your living room's acoustics, all bets are off. Put aside the perfect speaker fantasy for a second, even if you had Radiohead in your 14-by-21-foot living room, it wouldn't sound very good. A symphony orchestra would have even less of a chance of unleashing its full potential in such a small space. Remember, the acoustics and spatial characteristics of a club or concert hall have a huge impact on the sound of real instruments; reproduced instruments in your living room wouldn't stand a chance. Unlike a concert hall, your home's acoustics weren't designed with sound in mind.
Then again, perfect fidelity to the original sound of a band playing in a studio wasn't part of the engineers and production team's agenda, and chances are high that a song's final mix never includes the band actually playing the tune from start to finish. Today's music is assembled from bits and pieces of sound, some real, some not. Then it's pitch corrected, processed, compressed, and manipulated in various ways, and perfect speakers would just make all of the trickery all that much more obvious. Fact is, the engineers know that most folks will be listening to their handiwork over less-than-stellar Bluetooth speakers or free earbuds. Play those recordings over a speaker or headphone that exactly reproduces the intricacies of the mix, and it's not going to sound so good.
I'm not claiming that's true for all recordings; just the majority of them. Most people don't buy music based on sound quality and that's fine, but the audiophiles yearning for perfect-sounding gear rarely consider that inconvenient truth. A not-quite-perfect recording can never sound truly lifelike. A perfect speaker won't change that.
We don't really want perfect sound reproduction -- we want sound that sounds good to us. I'm suggesting that instead of waiting for that unattainable breakthrough, just go ahead and buy hi-fis and headphones that make the music you like sound good to you. You like tons of bass? Buy the bassiest headphones or speakers you can find. If you like to listen at superquiet volume levels and still hear all the details in the music, there's gear that will take you there. Good sound truly is in the ear of the beholder.
There's still time to write an article for the You can be the Audiophiliac for a day "contest." Next month, I'll turn over the reins of this blog to one lucky reader. It could be you.

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Apple's quest for an iWatch on every wrist

The challenge for Apple and others trying to crack the code on wearables is to produce an appealing device for a mass market that doesn't need a watch to tell time and doesn't want to get all wound up by an overly complicated gadget.

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Many signs are pointing to Apple incubating a wearable wristband, perhaps an "iWatch," given all the trademark applications the company has filed for the name. Apple is reportedly moving around some of its top engineers, and is hiring experts in sensors and in digital fitness and medical technologies, to build up a special task force to create a product that can follow in the grand footsteps of the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. The company has also filed 79 patents containing the word "wrist."
Read: 9to5Mac: iWatch's novelty emerges as Apple taps sensor and fitness experts
During an interview at the D11 conference in May, Apple CEO Tim Cook, who wears a Nike Fuel Band and has been on Nike's board of directors since 2005, coyly said that he found wearable computing "profoundly interesting" and "ripe for exploration."
It could be that Apple is working on a competitor to Google Glass, but the company isn't telling. Cook has categorized Google Glass, which works with the iPhone, as more of a niche item that's "probably more likely to appeal to certain markets." In any case, the iGlass name is taken -- it's a 3D glassblowing simulation iOS app.
Cook pointed out the difficult task in front of Apple's growing team dedicated to wearables. He cautioned that "you have to convince people it's so incredible you want to wear it," noting that most young people don't wear watches on their wrists.
Apple's team has a great deal of research material to work with in its quest to develop an "incredible" iWatch. The smartwatch category is littered with failed products and teeming with new attempts to crack the code. So far, none of the candidates, which are primarily accessories for Android and iOS smartphones, have reached critical mass.
The Pebble Watch, which has music controls, text messaging, call notifications, and a mini-app platform, and the Martian Passport Watch, which screens phone calls and messages and even makes phone calls, are among the recent entrants. Sony is revamping its Smart Watch, and Samsung and Microsoft are reportedly also working on wrist-bound devices.

A modern smartwatch wouldn't be complete without sensors and apps for fitness and health monitoring, such as those provided by the Jawbone Up, the Nike FuelBand, the Fitbit Flex, and the Basis Band.
No doubt Apple can come up with a compelling design and engineering magic to deliver the most elegant looking smartwatch that materials science and industrial design can render.

Do an image search on "iWatch" and you'll discover plenty of fanciful renderings of the rumored device, from various blogs and Web sites.

(Credit: Screenshot by Edward Moyer/CNET)

The challenge for Apple and others trying to crack the code on wearables is producing a device that appeals to a mass market that doesn't need a watch to tell time or view blockbuster movies. The user experience for the tiny screen must feel intuitive and be simple to operate -- otherwise it will scare away the nongeeks. It can't frustrate users with physical or virtual button controls that require complex combinations to perform a function, or a battery that lasts only a few days.
Apple has done this kind of development triage with its other mobile products, which involves eliminating functions rather than trying to satisfy every possible user need. CNET's Scott Stein has reviewed most of the smartwatches in recent history and is a fan of the iPod Nano watch. He suggests that the key to a successful iWatch is replicating the app platform formula and cool design that fueled the growth of the iPhone and iPad, but at a price far less than that of an iPhone or iPad.
Read: Nine things the iWatch (or any other smartwatch) needs

I'd expect a wearable device to work with multiple apps, not just one. And I'd want to interact via touch, voice, or both, with software hooks into supported apps. Most smartwatches I've seen are limited to a custom app that funnels certain functions. Apple could bake a deeper level of iWatch support right into iOS, and even let other app developers build support for it via an SDK, too. Imagine motion-tracking games, health tech providers building monitoring systems that work via an iWatch...or specific watch apps for other outdoor needs (sports, travel, weather, and so on). Follow a live sports event on your watch with second-screen updates. Load custom Twitter or IM feeds. Turn it into a remote control, or even a wearable baby monitor screen. If there's any way for a smartwatch to break out of its definitional niche and become a killer device, it's with app support.

The iWatch has been pegged by Apple watchers for launch either later this year or next year. Whenever an iWatch appears, the expectations are high that it will redefine the smartwatch category as an extension of the iOS platform, and sell in the tens of millions in the first year. If not, the Apple watchers will start to question whether the company is losing its magic touch.

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Google finalizes Chrome App Launcher for Windows

Moving from developer preview to completed build, the App Launcher lets users open Web-based apps outside of the Chrome browser.

Chrome users who want to open their Web apps without having to first fire up the browser can do just that via the Chrome App Launcher for Windows.
Initially released in February as a developer preview, the App Launcher now is finished and in completed build mode for Windows users.
To grab the App Launcher, open Google Chrome and surf to the launcher link in the Web store. Click on the button to Get the launcher. The App Launcher icon then appears on your Windows taskbar and desktop. Close Chrome. Now, anytime you want to open one of your Chrome Web apps, simply click on the App Launcher icon, choose the app you wish to run, and it automatically pops up in Chrome.
Mac OS X and Linux users still need to stay tuned. Google is reportedly still working on versions of the launcher for those two systems.

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Google Nexus 7 rumor mill churns out leaked photos

Ahead of a mysterious event next week with a Google Android exec, Android Central leaks images and video said to be of the next generation of the pure Android tablet.

If there wasn't enough fanning the Google rumor flames, Android Central posted pictures and video of what it purports to be the likely successor to Google's Nexus 7.
Members of the press received an invitation to a Google event next week, with the only hint about the subject being a host in Sundar Pichai, the head of Android. He took over Android chief Andy Rubin's role when Rubin took on new projects.
Rumors and images were already circulating around a Nexus 7 tablet successor, and the event may be just the way Google decides to unveil it.
The latest images, which have been slightly altered to protect their source referred to as "Brett," show a device with Nexus emblazoned on the back beneath a spec sticker, but there's no telling if this is a prototype, a final product, if the specs are accurate, and so on.

(Credit: Android Central)

Whatever this thing is, it's said to be manufactured by Asus, as the original was. It has two cameras, a Qualcomm APQ8064 motherboard with a Snapdragon S4 pro processor, 4 gigabytes of DDR3L RAM, and stereo speakers.
If this turns out to be the heir to Nexus 7's crown, it still looks a little chubby compared with an iPad Mini.
But a screenshot adds 5 pounds -- isn't that what they always say?
Here's another image of the device, perhaps a little clearer:

Image of alleged Nexus 7.

(Credit: Brett)

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Google joins tech ranks pushing for streaming TV deals

Google revives an attempt to stream television over the Internet, having talked with media companies about licensing their content, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The field is getting crowded with tech companies vying to bring television to the masses over the Internet.
Google has made overtures to media companies about licensing their content for an "over-the-top" service, the kind that delivers video through networks other than cable providers and satellite services, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.
That revives a preliminary attempt by the Mountain View, Calif., company a couple of years ago, according to the report, which adds that Google's pitch has evolved to include a demo of the product.
But before such a service can even become a reality, it's already part of a competitive landscape. Not only will over-the-top services have to compete with cable-television providers like Comcast and satellite pay-TV providers like DirecTV that have been bringing consumers thousand of content options for decades, a handful of tech heavyweights are racing to produce a broadband-based alternative.
Intel has been pursuing a similar service, expected to launch this year, in an effort to be part of the next big tech market, after the company missed the boat on smartphones.
And Apple has long been said to be working on an Internet TV service to fill out its current Apple TV device, which currently has on-demand video services but few live options and nothing that replicates the experience of flipping through multiple channels of live television.
Google already beat Apple to the punch on another form of streaming media. It launched a streaming music service in May, putting Google in competition with the likes of Pandora and Spotify and -- later -- Apple with its iTunes Radio.
Google launched a TV software platform, morphing the Chrome browser to overlay on a Smart TV, in 2010, but it wasn't met with a particularly warm response.
With so many players chasing an over-the-top service, Google and the rest clearly are expecting a welcome embrace for this.

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