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Intel agreed to purchase Texas Instruments’ (TI) cable modem product line, saying it will enhance their cable industry and consumer electronics focus. Intel’s system on a chip (SoC) products, using their Atom processors, will be brought in. TI’s PUMA chips, or at least their technology, will be used in set-top boxes (STBs), residential gateway and cable modems along with Intel’s SoCs. DOCSIS is Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification which will also be part of Intel’s cable offerings.
Much of TI’s cable modem team was based in Israel and have been offered jobs there with Intel’s Digital Home Division, according to their press release.
Slashgear speculates that Intel may have made the acquisition to shift the set-top boxes to the Google TV platform. Intel was a launch partner of the Google TV project, along with Dish Network, Logitech and Sony. Google’s set-top box would deliver internet content, browsing, and searching as well as provide a different and more powerful UI to television content delivered by existing cable companies through their own STBs.
Google TV would use Android 2.1 OS. Now you know why we care.