Apple may enter TV segment with voice controlled TV

Apple Inc., is rumored to be readying the launch of a revolutionary new TV set by the end of 2012. Though the corporation has declined comment on this news, media reports including the influential Wall Street Journal claim that Apple executives are meeting large media companies to explore ideas. Apple already makes the Apple TV set top box that plays movies and stored TV programs from the iCloud repository. The meetings with media executives may simply be to create some exclusive content for the iCloud that would not be available through normal cable TV channels. That kind of move would not attract the level of media attention now being seen.

Apple TV rumored launch in end 2012

The speculation on Apple's move into the TV industry draws inspiration from the remark that Steve Jobs was reported to have made to some friends that he had finally cracked the problem of wireless streaming of TV programs. This remark had been quoted by Walter Isaacson, his official biographer. As another source of fuel for this speculation, Gene Munster, a respected Apple watcher, claims to have received reports from Asian components suppliers of a major Apple move into the TV industry.

Entering the TV industry is quite easy for Apple. They could simply bundle the set top box with a monitor to produce a TV set. One set of rumors claim that Apple is working with Sharp to make three sizes of LCD screens between 32 and 55 inches that would carry the Apple logo. Sharp is said to have replaced Samsung as Apple's LCD supplier due to the ongoing patent litigation on smart phones between the two companies. Such a product would be very uncharacteristic of Apple which has always launched revolutionary new products that transform the industry they enter.

One possibility could be that the Apple TV, inevitably already dubbed iTV in the rumor mills, will be voice activated making the use of the remote control obsolete. The iPhone 4 already incorporates the Siri software app where commands spoken at normal voice levels perform a variety of functions. The Siri also remembers usage history over time and adapts to the user's common preferences to speed up choice. Incorporating an upgraded version of Siri into the Apple TV set would be an advance over current TV technology.

Apple also has the AirPlay application where any material downloaded on one Apple device becomes wirelessly available on all other Apple devices owned by the user. For example, music downloaded on a desktop computer would automatically be available on the smart phone or tablet. That feature could be applied to the iTV, so that the programmes could be selected from the iCloud using the iPhone or iPad and played simultaneously on all devices. It would also give the user the option to play part of the TV program at home and continue watching it on an iPhone or iPad while commuting to work.

While these features would certainly appeal, they still do not add up to an industry transformation level of technology advancement. Apple certainly needs a dramatic new product to signal that its creative juices continue to flow in the post-Steve Jobs era. It looks as though such rumors will continue to emerge through most of 2012 until Apple themselves are ready to reveal their plans.

Via: CNet