1STnTENDERBITS

hammeroftruth said:

I wonder if Apple bought up those ips so that Qualcomm couldn’t get them. 

They could make a great competing modem that they could license. 

Can you imagine the shock of Fandroids discovering their super fast 5G modem in their Android device is made by Apple?

Does the current administration want to go easy on Qualcomm in exchange for 5G network hardware they will make? I never understood why they don’t want Qualcomm to get its comeuppance. 

Apple isn't getting into the component business.  They like healthy margins.  
The US gov't doesn't want Qualcomm hindered because they fear harming Qualcomm harms the US' position in 5G infrastructure.  Chinese companies like Huawei already have strong headway towards a dominant position in building out 5G infrastructure.  The US gov't doesn't want the world's 5G backbone to be Chinese.

Soli said:

As far as I can tell Comcast still owns 1/3 of Hulu.

Technically yes, Comcast still owns a third of Hulu.  They are simply a stock holder though.  Disney has operational control.  
https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/05/14/disney-gains-immediate-operational-control-of-hulu-with-full-92-billion-buyout-by-2024

9secondkox2 said:

Sucks to be the consumer these days. 

For a while it seemed things were we’re lining up nicely to ditch the greedy cable companies and get great new tech deals with just a couple providers. 

It never seemed like things were lining up like that.  Almost everyone knew this was going to be the eventual outcome.  There was never going to be any other outcome but this.  We also know that once erbody and they momma launch their streaming service, most of them will eventually fail and get acquired.  We'll have the inevitable market contraction and be back to the industry being controlled by a few players.  @Soli is right.  A-la-carte was never going to be a thing.  Same type of thing happened with the breakups of Bell and Standard Oil.  

mark fearing said:

1STnTENDERBITS said:

Part of these efforts included hiring luminaries in the modem world, including former Intel executive Umashankar Thyagarajan, an engineer thought to have played a key role in the development of Intel's XMM 8160 5G modem.

Understanding that Mr. Thyagarajan is an excellent "get" for Apple, maybe listing the XMM 8160 modem as a highlight of his talents isn't the best way to go.  I mean the failure of development on the XMM 8160 is, what some say, the reason Apple settled with Qualcomm, Intel left the mobile chip business, and Apple is buying their mobile shop.  It's probably the last thing I'd want mentioned on my list of accomplishments.

We simply don't know what aspects Apple was unhappy with- cost, size, materials, quality, or maybe something related to battery use. And perhaps Apple has inhouse engineering already able to tackle any issues. It's even possible that intel was hamstrung trying to meet Apple's demands while producing something to sell to everyone else.

As with most of these stories, it's worth considering what we don't know before jumping to a conclusion that the engineering was at fault. I think an educated guess is that Apple asked for A,B,C,D and Intel wanted to produce A,B,C because they needed to meet specs for others in the market. It's easier for Apple to spec, design, and manufacture EXACTLY what they need and only what THEY need.

Honestly it doesn't matter what Apple was unhappy with in this situation. My comment is about AI's inclusion of the XMM 8160 on Mr. T's notables.  That failure is not something someone wants to be associated with imo.  It would be like saying I worked on Samsung's Note 7 or VW's emissions program.

AppleExposed said:

How does this affect other vendors who may be using Intels modems?

1STnTENDERBITS said:

Part of these efforts included hiring luminaries in the modem world, including former Intel executive Umashankar Thyagarajan, an engineer thought to have played a key role in the development of Intel's XMM 8160 5G modem.

Understanding that Mr. Thyagarajan is an excellent "get" for Apple, maybe listing the XMM 8160 modem as a highlight of his talents isn't the best way to go.  I mean the failure of development on the XMM 8160 is, what some say, the reason Apple settled with Qualcomm, Intel left the mobile chip business, and Apple is buying their mobile shop.  It's probably the last thing I'd want mentioned on my list of accomplishments.

Of course not. He's the king of dragons.

Afaik, there were no other vendors using Intel modems.  I think [think] Apple was their only modem customer.  It's why they were losing money.  Component manufacture only makes sense at volume.  Apple alone wasn't enough volume for intel to be profitable.  I believe Intel took the initial losses hoping to grow it mobile business to include other vendors... piggybacking of their relationship with Apple.  Problem was, Intel has always had a reputation for missing deadlines.  Well earned reputation.  Crappy, but totally okay for PC's.  Not so for mobile.  Mobile is a yearly grind.  Incessant and unforgiving.  Deliver the new chip or GTFOH.  That XMM 8160 was rumored to have problems from the get go and never got back on track.  Hopefully for Apple, there's some wheat in that chaff from Intel.  

mercel said:

Free or pay for TV?  

anantksundaram said:

I lost interest at “subscribe”. You can bet it’s not free. 

Yeah, subscribe typically means pay on a regular interim.

Part of these efforts included hiring luminaries in the modem world, including former Intel executive Umashankar Thyagarajan, an engineer thought to have played a key role in the development of Intel's XMM 8160 5G modem.

Understanding that Mr. Thyagarajan is an excellent "get" for Apple, maybe listing the XMM 8160 modem as a highlight of his talents isn't the best way to go.  I mean the failure of development on the XMM 8160 is, what some say, the reason Apple settled with Qualcomm, Intel left the mobile chip business, and Apple is buying their mobile shop.  It's probably the last thing I'd want mentioned on my list of accomplishments.