Cisco Systems Inc. is expected to announce its entry into competition with Google Inc., Apple Inc. and others in the living room combination of the Web and TV.
But instead of selling its new set-top boxes directly to consumers, the San Jose, Calif. company (NASDAQ:CSCO) reportedly plans to sell through cable companies.
This would expand Cisco's existing relationships with cable operators, who it now sells set-top boxes to that already have some Web capability. The new boxes will offer broader access to the Internet, competing more directly with new devices from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Cable service providers will be able to customize the boxes and set the prices for them.
The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources who said that the new hybrid cable-Web product will be announced today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nev
Apple operates a full-service retail store in the ABQ Uptown retail center in Albuquerque at Louisiana and Indian School Road NE.