Apple Hired An Engineering Director From Cable TV, And He Says He's Up To 'Something Big'

Jean-François Mulé

Apple hasn't come out with a TV yet, but it's still hiring the kinds of people who can help it make such a product.

The latest to join is an engineering director named Jean-François Mulé.

Mulé comes from the technology side of the cable industry. He spent six years at a firm called CableLabs. His speciality seems to be building technologies like VoIP and WiFi into existing cable infrastructure.

If we were in a speculative, tea leaf-reading mood, we'd take Mulé's hiring as a hint Apple is trying to figure out how to play nice with existing cable providers with its TV products, rather than trying to go around them.

Some reports have said slow negotiations with cable providers are the reason there is still not Apple TV set on the market.

The Verge's Vlad Savov spotted the hiring news on LinkedIn, where Mulé says he's "part of something big" at Apple.

Here's how Mulé describes what he did at CableLabs for six years on his LinkedIn profile:

• Program Owner for PeerConnect™, Cable's Peering Registry, a service to assist cable operators in connecting VoIP islands end-to-end over IP. Initiated program vision and led business case analysis for IP communications for SMS-MMS, voice and video. Developed IP session routing architecture resulting in compliant systems deployed in most cable networks. Managed all program aspects including planning, P&L ownership, operator relationships, recruitment, platform development and operations management. Launched PeerConnect™ service platform in production.

• Development Program Lead for Wireless responsible for driving technology choices on Wi-Fi gateways, device management, inter-operator Wi-Fi roaming and mobile offload services using femtocells & Wi-Fi.

• Strategy and Development Lead for HD Voice working with operators and vendors to deploy superior home phone product. Developed vision and execution plan for HD-capable CPEs and delivered vendor specifications. Implemented collaboration with DECT Forum for retail market enablement of HD handsets.

• Driving force behind IP initiatives steering the directions and adoption of IP technologies across the CableLabs programs including DOCSIS, DOCSIS 3.0 IPv6, geo-location for emergency calls, Wi-Fi service map aggregators, APIs for Second Screen applications as TV companions in a multi-screen world.

• As time permitted, acting liaison manager with Cable Europe Labs, European cable operators, IETF and ISOC.

• Articulate speaker and recognized industry spokesperson. Passed experience as a Chair in IMTC and IETF working groups. Several IETF RFC publications; acknowledged in over 30 RFCs.