Stefan Mileschin

With Intel and Apple trying to get cable killing web TV products into the shops, it appears that Sony does not want to be left behind.

According to Variety magazine, Sony will launch a broadband TV service this year that will compete directly with cable.

Like Apple and Intel have mooted, the TV service will offer multiple channels licensed from different content companies and will stream over the Internet.

However, unlike Apple and Intel, Sony is more likely to have the backing of Big Content, which has been dragging its feet to bless the other two.

Technology wise, Variety claims that Sony is just as far along with its own streaming TV service as Intel.

But there are few specifics about how the service will work.

At the moment it looks like Sony will offer a package of linear channels akin to what pay-TV distributors traditionally provide.

Instead of being delivered by a cable, it will arrive on a users' broadband connection. This means that it can be screened on a computer, or an internet ready SmartTelly.

From Sony's perspective it means that it can offer the service in any country it likes and will not be bound by having to install cables.

Rumours are that Sony is thinking of using its PS3 or its Bravia TVs and Blu-Ray players to make its streaming TV reach more homes.

But while Intel and Apple might be worried about the move, it looks like Sony's arch enemies are not them but the traditional cable companies.

In some parts of the world, the cable companies control the data pipes that Sony and its users would have to use and they had been talking about blocking the service. So far no one seems to have suggested a way around that problem. TV screening content needs a fair bit of bandwidth.

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