With an Intel-designed set-top box, people won't have to own DVRs or even plan to record programs.
Negotiations with media companies for content rights could delay new services and limit some features, though Intel vows to enter some markets by the end of the year.
"I've never seen as much innovation in television as there is right now," says Ulf Ewaldsson, chief technology officer at Swedish telecom-equipment giant Ericsson, which plans to step up its own TV efforts
Most TV services also lag the Web and mobile apps in helping discover new content.
Microsoft is also promoting voice recognition as it positions its videogame consoles and companion Kinect controller for a broad role in home entertainment. The company's Xbox One, due out this fall, allows customers to turn on multiple living-room devices by simply saying "Xbox On,"
Microsoft has experimented in other areas—including offering an Apple TV-like set-top box without videogame capability, building Xbox circuitry into TVs and adding DVR capability to Xbox models, people familiar with its prototypes have said.
One feature Intel has decided not to pursue for now is a camera equipped with facial recognition software to help personalize offerings for each user in a household. Mr. Huggers says the technology didn't work well enough in the low lighting common when watching TV and raised privacy questions.