Apple iTV is rumored to be launched this year, Steve Jobs wanted to create an integrated TV with the simplest user interface, will Apple succeed in making a TV that will have the same impact as the iPhone and iPad?
Apple TV
The Apple TV is a tiny device that plays content on your widescreen TV. The device is so small it fits in the palm of your hand, and setup is so easy all you have to do is plus the power cord to the wall and connect the Apple TV to the widescreen TV with the HDMI cable.
The device will then stream everything to your widescreen TV using your home wireless network. You can stream music, photos, YouTube, iTunes and more from your computer to your widescreen TV.
With Apple’s proprietary protocol AirPlay, it’s even simpler to play content from your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch on your HDTV via Apple TV. Your iOS device can also become your game controller while you play the game from your iOS device on your HDTV.
There were a lot of rumors about Apple getting into the gaming console business based on the Apple TV however, Apple CEO Tim Cook said, “I’m not interested in being in the console business in what is thought of as traditional gaming,”
You can draw your own conclusion based on that statement, but I see things may change in the future and Apple might actually get into the gaming console business with a futuristic twist that is very different from the traditional gaming.
Apple iTV
The Apple iTV, is shrouded in secrecy we don’t have much detail on it other than rumors here and there or some leaked news we read about from time to time.
What we know is that Apple is most likely working secretly on some type of a revolutionary TV. This can be read in Apple CEO Tim Cook statement during an NBC interview. “When I go into my living room and turn on the TV, I feel like I have gone backwards in time by 20 to 30 years, It’s an area of intense interest. I can’t say more than that.”
Apple iTV Design and Specs
So what is this iTV going to be? What will it look like? In terms of functionality, it will be more like an iOS device like the iPhone and iPad. It will definitely have a widescreen display most likely using the Retina Display. Per Wikipedia, “Retina Display is a brand name used by Apple for liquid crystal displays which they claim have a high enough pixel density that the human eye is unable to notice pixelation at a typical viewing distance.
It’s impossible for Apple to have the kind of content like the regular TV broadcasts we know, so I guess cable TV subscription will be needed with the Apple iTV anyway.
I don’t think Apple’s aim is to go against the big TV makers like Sony and Samsung who have thousands of people in R&D in the vision and graphics display category alone. I think their aim will be making a decent looking TV with acceptable picture quality with the simplest user interface.
In his biography, Steve Jobs said: “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”
We can think of the simplest user interface being voice recognition technology like Siri. So a remote control may not be needed after all. This is as simple an interface as it gets. I’m sure IOS device like the iPhone and iPad will be made to control the iTV, this will translate into more iPad sales as people will want to control certain function on the iTV plus stream content to it and play games at the same time.
Make no mistake, even though Apple CEO said that he was not interested in gaming console business, gaming remains at the heart of this iTV approach and will include or become the focus of some type of gaming console not long after its launch which is rumored to be in 2013 by the way.
