Apple Hires Former CableLabs Exec, And He’s Working On ‘Something Big’

Apple continues to move forward in their acquisition of talent. In a recent move they hired Jean-François Mulé as an Engineering Director. Mr. Mulé was previously the Senior Vice President of Technology Development at CableLabs, where he was the program manager for IP communications via voice and video.

The new hiring was revealed via LinkedIn on October 1, 2013, when Jean-François changed his profile to reflect that he had started a new position in September. According to his profile the new position leaves him “Challenged, inspired and part of something big”. There is no word yet, on what that big thing is, but rumors are already running rampant across the Internet highway.

Mulé’s past experience is primarily in cable technology which leads many to speculate there will be big progress on the Apple TV front.  Rumors have also been circulating for a while that Apple is working on a streaming device that would be compatible with iOS and iCloud, giving Apple a huge boost in the streaming market.

One of the ideas floating around the Apple chats is that he has been hired to work on a television-based product. This rumor is based on comments made by Tim Cook and the late Steve Jobs about a possible break-through that would bring living room technology up with the times. This is not a far stretch considering that it’s been confirmed Apple is talking with cable operators. According to Mike Fries, Liberty Global CEO, “I don’t think they’re going to build a TV. They want to be in the interface business. They want essentially get in between cable operators and customers.” This still hasn’t squashed the rumors that Apple wants to get into the HDTV market.

Right now everything is rumors and guesswork, but that is what Apple thrives on. Anticipations keeps their fans clamoring for the latest in iOS technology. Regardless of which rumors pan out, one thing is obvious, Apples’ acquisition of Jean-François Mulé will bring significant changes to Apple’s long-term plans.

Originally posted 2013-10-03 18:44:23.