英特尔电视欲与苹果试比高？

英特尔电视

    我们掌握的情况：只言片语。本周《华尔街日报》（The Wall Street Journal）有报道称，英特尔（Intel）负责电视战略的团队——也就是所谓的“英特尔媒体”（Intel Media）纵队——由曾就职于英国广播公司（BBC）以及微软（Microsoft）的公司副总裁埃里克•胡格斯领导。正在开发的机顶盒可能具备语音和面部识别以及社交功能，能更好地打造多用户的“共享体验”。另外，英特尔还在考虑“虚拟运营商”方案，即在互联网平台提供一系列电视节目，这和他们目前的解决方案很像。

    预计上市时间：原本是2012年年底，但被证实与玛雅人的世界末日预言一样不靠谱。现在呢？从2013年年中到年底都有可能。换言之：尚不清楚。

Intel TV

    What we know: Not a whole lot. According to areport this week from The Wall Street Journal, the group in charge of Intel's (INTC) TV strategy, dubbed Intel Media, is run by Erik Huggers, a corporate VP who once worked for the BBC and Microsoft (MSFT). A set-top box may be in the works touting speech and face recognition, as well as social features, making for more of a "shared experience" with multiple users. Intel's also kicking around an idea called the "virtual operator," which would basically offer TV channels in Internet bundles similar to the way they're offered today.

    ETA: Originally end of 2012, but that proved about as accurate as the Mayan apocalypse. Now? Anywhere from mid-2013 to end-of-the-year. In other words: unclear.

苹果电视

    我们掌握的情况：各种传言满天飞。我们能确定的是，苹果（Apple）肯定有动作。蒂姆•库克在2012年底接受美国全国广播公司（NBC）的布赖恩•威廉斯采访时就有所暗示。他说：“当我走进客厅，打开电视，我感觉自己好像穿越到了二三十年前。这是一个很有意思的领域。我只能说这么多。”这算是证实吗？算不上。但鉴于苹果公司最近承认正对产品开发加倍保密，这恐怕是我们可能听到的该公司最肯定的回答了。这款电视机或者电视服务最终是什么面貌，谁都不知道。或许会是一款由苹果公司设计的真正的电视机，具有别出心裁的软件界面与精巧的外观，两者交相辉映。

    当然，狂热粉丝们做了不少展望。“我们预期美观的设计会是一个看点，但最重要的特色还是能使用电视作为客厅多重设备的主接口。”

    投资银行Piper Jaffray的吉恩•蒙斯特的报告中写道。蒙斯特认为，电视将包含Siri和FaceTime的功能，但不会有独立销售的电视频道。《财富》杂志（Fortune）甚至尝试着列举了《苹果电视必备的11项功能》。

    预计上市时间：蒙斯特预计，该设备可能在2013年11月假日销售季前上市。售价将在1,500到2,000美元之间，屏幕尺寸将在42英寸到55英寸。如果他说的没错，那么只有五个字送给大家：开始存钱吧。

    译者：项航

Apple TV

    What we know: The rumors just won't die. What we do know is Apple (AAPL) is certainly cooking upsomething there. Tim Cook just about hinted as much in an interview with NBC's Brian Williams at the end of last year. "When I go into my living room and turn on the TV, I feel like I have gone backwards in time by 20 to 30 years," Cook said. "It's an area of intense interest. I can't say more than that." Confirmation? Not quite. But as close as a "yes" as we'll probably ever get from a company that also recently admitted it's doubling down on secrecy when it comes to product development. And what that TV device/service will ultimately look like is anyone's guess. Maybe it'll be an actual TV set designed by Jony Ive & Co. with an inventive software interface to rival its inevitably slick physical appearance.

    There are certainly no shortage of fanboy mock-ups in that area. (See here or here.) "We expect the beauty of the design to be a feature, but the most important feature will be the ability to use the TV as the main interface for the living room across multiple devices," writes Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster in a report this week. Munster thinks the TV will include Siri and FaceTime features but not unbundled channels. Fortune even took a crack at coming up with 11 features the Apple TV must have.

    ETA: Munster expects such a device could arrive this November in time for the holiday season, priced somewhere between $1,500 and $2,000 with screen sizes in the 42"-55" range. If he's right, three words: start saving now.