Let’s see, where’s my “Internet TV is the future” drum. I need to bang it yet again. WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM! Internet TV is the future! As if the looming Apple television (said to not have a cable jack), the inroads Google is making with cable-free TV in Kansas City, the emphasis Hulu and Netflix have placed on original programming, and a bunch of other developments weren’t enough, now Intel is getting in on Internet TV as well.

The chip maker is planning to stretch beyond chips and launch a web-based TV service as soon as the end of this year, says the Wall Street Journal:

The TV offering would use Intel technology, and in at least some scenarios under consideration, would use Intel’s name. In its presentations to media companies, Intel says it is making its own set-top box to carry the TV service, and it has demonstrated an interface for users to browse programs.

Intel has told media companies it hopes to launch a service by the end of 2012, though it faces hurdles such as scarce bandwidth and the high price of TV programming.

Well, yeah, those ARE hurdles, Intel. Really, really tall ones, in fact. I think what’s significant here isn’t how good or bad Intel’s service will actually be, when and if it launches, but that Intel is getting into this racket at all. That’s a sign that the big tech strategists are playing drums similar to mine.

Meanwhile, Apple is rumored to begin TV production in May, have them on sale by the end of the year.