Apple iTV
Having dominated the smartphone, tablet, PMP, laptop and all-in-one markets Apple looks set to turn its attentions to the TV sector with numerous reports suggesting the Cupertino-based company is planning to update its current Apple TV offering next year and launch its first full blown television sets dubbed Apple iTV.
Far from confirmed, Apple iTV rumours have been circulating for a number of months kicking into overdrive following the publication of the official Steve Jobs biography in which the Apple co-founder and former CEO said he had “finally cracked” how to change the television market.
"I'd like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,” Jobs reportedly said. “It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it."
Far from confirmed, Apple iTV rumours have been circulating for a number of months kicking into overdrive following the publication of the official Steve Jobs biography in which the Apple co-founder and former CEO said he had “finally cracked” how to change the television market.
"I'd like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,” Jobs reportedly said. “It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it."
Apple iTV: Release date
Although far from confirmed the Apple iTV release date has become one of the most talked about upcoming announcements of the year with Apple CEO Tim Cook recently offering the closest indication yet that the iPhone and iPad maker is planning to out a full television service.
Speaking to NBC News, Mr Cook confirmed the TV market was "of intense interest," to the folks at Cupertino.
Speaking earlier this year at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, Cook described the current Apple TV offering as a ‘hobby’, whilst revealing Apple shifted just shy of 3 million Apple TV units during 2011, 1 million of which came in the year’s final quarter.
Stating that Apple “doesn’t do hobbies as a general rule,” Cook revealed that the existing Apple TV unit was testing the waters of the television sector stating the company would need something “special” in order to make TV a “serious category” for Apple.
“The reason we call it a hobby is because we don’t want to send a message to you or our shareholders that we think the market for it is the size of our other businesses,“ Cook said of Apple TV. He added that he believed Apple could “find something that was larger” so that its ventures into the television industry “could go more main-market.”
Speaking earlier this year at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, Cook described the current Apple TV offering as a ‘hobby’, whilst revealing Apple shifted just shy of 3 million Apple TV units during 2011, 1 million of which came in the year’s final quarter.
Stating that Apple “doesn’t do hobbies as a general rule,” Cook revealed that the existing Apple TV unit was testing the waters of the television sector stating the company would need something “special” in order to make TV a “serious category” for Apple.
“The reason we call it a hobby is because we don’t want to send a message to you or our shareholders that we think the market for it is the size of our other businesses,“ Cook said of Apple TV. He added that he believed Apple could “find something that was larger” so that its ventures into the television industry “could go more main-market.”
Jefferies analyst Peter Misek claims he saw "early production evidence of iTV" on a trip to Apple manufacturing plants in China during the summer. Suggesting Apple will produce between two and five million units ready for a launch. Misek said the manufacturer would introduce a number of "specialty components" to the process.
Adding to this onslaught of speculation is the latest news from the Wall Street Journal that Foxconn and Sharp are currently developing prototype designs in Asia. An unnamed source inside one of Apple’s suppliers apparently told the WSJ that the companies were working on a number of prototypes but that: “It isn’t a formal product yet. It is still in the early stages of testing”.
Apple iTV specifications and display
Engadget predicts an A5 processor and 1080p video - neither of which are a huge surprise, granted.
Australian tech site Smarthouse says that the Apple iTV will come in three sizes, including 32-inch and 55-inch models.
Sources at "a major Japanese company who are involved in manufacturing the TV" reckon the sets will have the same processor as the forthcoming iPad 3, which presumably means an Apple A6.
Smarthouse isn't usually the go-to site for Apple rumours, but its report echoes similar claims by respected Apple analyst Gene Munster, who told the recent Future of Media conference that Apple will make its TV in a range of sizes.
March, June and December 2012 rumours pointed at Sharp being the manufacturing partner. SlashGear says work on components is already under way. In mid April, Sharp announced it had begun production of 32-inch HI-DPI LCD panels at its Kameyama Plant No. 2 - could these be the panels destined for the Apple iTV?
Apple contractor Foxconn's parent company has made a rather large investment in Sharp - does this indicate something we wonder?
Both companies were apparently working together to 'test' TV designs in the December 2012 rumours.
Apple iTV operating system
As with the Apple TV, any iTV is likely to run iOS, albeit in slightly disguised form. Compatibility with other iOS devices is a given: current Apple TVs already accept video streamed via AirPlay and access shared iTunes libraries. We'll be amazed if the iTV doesn't get apps.
Expect Apple iTV and Apple TV to work more like iOS does on the iPad; the newest iOS 6 Beta for the Apple TV enables app icons to be moved around the homescreen just like on the iPhone and iPad.
That has led some observers to conclude that the rumoured App Storefor Apple's favourite 'hobby project' might be on the way sooner rather than later.
Apple iTV and iCloud
Steve Jobs told his biographer: "I'd like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use. It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it."
According to one source which claims to have seen the device, the new TV has Siri and FaceTime.
Apple iTV remote control
Munster says the iTV will come with an ordinary remote control, and will be controllable with iPhones, iPod touches and iPads, but the real remote control will be Siri.
Apple's voice recognition system will be the heart of the new Apple TV, enabling you to choose channels and control the TV's functions with voice alone. That means " the simplest user interface you could imagine" is voice.
However, according to a new patent filed in March 2012, Apple has come up with the design for an advanced universal remote that would also be compatible with your iPhone and iPad.
Apple iTV AirPlay mirroring
After AirPlay mirroring from Mac to Apple TV was present in the developer preview of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, it's not a great leap to suggest that the Apple iTV could mirror the display of your Mac or iPad wirelessly too. AirPlay mirroring is now 1080p with the new iPad and new Apple TV.
When a prototype was reportedly 'seen' it did feature AirPlay.
Apple iTV programmes
While the iTV will get content from iTunes and iCloud, it's not going to be completely separate from current TV broadcasters: Munster says that you'll still need a cable TV subscription and decoder because Apple doesn't have enough content.
We're not sure whether it would play nicely with Freeview and Freeview HD here in the UK, but perhaps a DVB-T compatible unit will arrive as part of a second generation.
As of 6 March 2012, rumours were continually doing the rounds that, as theNew York Post reports, Apple is planning to launch a music streaming service this side of Christmas.
On 13 March, Les Moonves, who is CEO at CBS, says he was the recipient of a pitch from Steve Jobs regarding his network's participation in asubscription-based service, but turned him down. Apple is also rumoured to be talking about getting partners involved for movie streaming.
His reasoning? Moonves says he was worried about damaging the network's existing revenue streams through broadcast and cable television.
The main question is whether Apple will open the door for third-party content, like the BBC iPlayer, Sky Go and 4oD and other apps we've seen on connected TV platforms. These may well arrive with apps - the Apple TV SDK will pull on the iTV ecosystem and we're expecting apps to be available for Apple TV too.
Mind you, it's also been claimed that Apple will seek to cut traditional TV providers out of the content loop.
Apple iTV price
Gene Munster reckons that the iTV will be twice the price of a similarly sized TV. Ouch. However, new March 2012 rumours point at a subsidised launch -courtesy of various partners.
Apple iTV picture quality
If the iTV does appear, it won't leave manufacturers quaking in their boots. That's according to Samsung's Chris Moseley who told Pocket-Lint in early February 2012 that the firm isn't overly concerned with what Apple launches if it decides to enter the TV market
"We've not seen what they've done but what we can say is that they don't have 10,000 people in R&D in the vision category," he says.
"They don't have the best scaling engine in the world and they don't have world renowned picture quality that has been awarded more than anyone else."
Apple iTV gaming and apps
Although most of the rumours so far have been about the hardware involved in the iTV, gaming may be a major focus of the new device. Apple CEO Tim Cook was spotted in mid-April at the HQ of Valve Software, the company behind gaming platform Steam. Some rumours are drawing more from this meeting, saying Apple could be producing a Kinect-style gesture-based console. But this is likely to be part and parcel of the iTV.
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