When Apple TV originally came out, it was made clear that this was a hobby device and not a major focus for Apple. In January of last year Apple reaffirmed the Apple TV was still a hobby area as well. Now, it seems things are finally changing.

Tim Cook recently spoke NBC’s Brian Williams and seemed to have a very different opinion about the idea of getting involved in the fight for your television entertainment needs.

“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,” Cook told Williams. “It’s an area of intense interest. I can’t say more than that.”

With Microsoft and Google both putting more focus into the battle for the living room, Tim Cook’s change in stance isn’t all that surprising. For now it is hard to say what Apple is planning, but don’t be shocked if we see a future push towards creating a bigger multimedia and living room experience with Apple products. That said, this isn’t the first time that Cook has alluded to a possible interest in the TV space, and yet we still haven’t seem much change on that front.

If and when Apple does decide to jump further into the living room, what form would these efforts take? We can’t say for sure, but continued rumors give us a few ideas. We’ve heard in the past that Apple is looking to build a more powerful set-top box that would work with your cable and/or satellite programming. We’ve also heard about the possibility of an Apple-branded television set with a custom menu and other start TV features. All of it should be taken with a grain of salt though, at least until we know more down the road.

Will future efforts continue under the Apple TV brand or something entirely different? Your guess is as good as ours.

[ source ]

The post Tim Cook Briefly Hints at Future Apple TV Efforts appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Apple TV rumors have been floating around for years, and for good reason. The idea of an Apple TV is a tempting one, imagine a smart TV with Apple’s design aesthetic. Sure, not everyone loves Apple but there are plenty of Apple fans out there that would eat this thing up. Apparently, Time Warner’s CEO is one of these individuals.

Speaking at Business Insider’s IGNITE conference, CEO Jeff Bewkes said that an Apple TV set has the ability to change the TV market. In regards to the idea of an Apple Television Jeff Bewkes specifically said: “I hope they do. I think Apple is a great device company. They bring good interface and navigation skills.” While the idea of an Apple TV set is an intriguing one, it’s hard to say how revolutionary it would really be. After all, Apple TV media boxes have been around for a long while now and have yet to break any major ground (that point is arguable).

Should we give up on Apple Television rumors and just move on, or is there still a slight glimmer of hope? Analysts seem to think such a TV is still coming, stating that a 2013 holiday season launch is likely. Keep in mind, analysts have been making “holiday launch” predictions for the Apple Television for a long time now.

One thing worth mentioning though is that Sharp has just announced a 32-inch 4K monitor that uses LGZO LCD technology and is expected to hit the Japanese market in February of 2013. The display has a 3,840 x 2,160 resolution and will be the thinnest display frame on the market. Considering Sharp and Apple’s past display relationship, could such a display end up powering an Apple Television set? Okay, that’s probably just wild and unfounded speculation, but food for thought nonetheless.

After all the rumors and time has passed, what do you think of the idea of an Apple Television? Would you buy such a device at this point or not?

[ source ]

The post Time Warner CEO wants Apple to release a television appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

After getting all sorts of stark denials out of Cupertino, it has now been officially confirmed by Philippe Starck himself that he isn’t working on a new Apple product at all. Instead, it was a private project that he’d been doing for Steve Jobs, which has now been passed on to Laurene Powell, Steve Jobs’ widow. He was tasked with designing a luxury yacht for the Jobs family. It might end up looking nice, but it is certainly not a product that will be released under the Apple banner.

So, at the end of the day, the rumor initiated by Starck himself was really just a way for him to get into the public eye and get all sorts of free press from media outlets and the blogosphere. It worked, perhaps, but may have sullied his name.

[Source]

The post Starck’s “Revolutionary” Apple Product Is Just a Jobs Boat appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Via a translation of his interview with France Info, Starck says that they have been working on “a big project together” and this new project is “quite revolutionary.” He cites the “religious cult of secrecy” for now being able to provide any further details as to what this product may be, but he does indicate that he had met regularly with Steve Jobs before the Apple co-founder passed away last year.

While Starck hasn’t worked with Apple directly before (at least we don’t think he did), he has worked with Parrot to create some premium iPhone speakers and headphones. Given that the new project is “quite revolutionary,” I doubt that it’ll be an incremental design change like what we’ll likely see with the next iPhone or an updated MacBook. So, it may be more likely that this is the new real Apple HDTV. Or it could be something else entirely. For now, we are being teased with some high dangling fruit. And that fruit could be the best ever.

[Source]

The post Starck: Expect “Revolutionary” Apple Product Announcement This Year appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Recently, information came to light about the possibility of an Apple-branded Television set. This news came about from comments Jobs left to Walter Isaacson, the writer of the recently pubihsed biography about the former Apple CEO. In the bio, Jobs spoke of future plans for such a TV set that would possibly integrate Siri, iCloud, and more to provide a high-end multimedia experience from a wonderfully capable HDTV. Many speculations have led to it having all the technologies of an integrated Apple TV entertainment device, and more.

The news of the device has sparked the imaginations of many, including Guilherme M. Schasiepen who has created a fantastic concept design for what he believes an Apple Television should look like. The concept is named the “iTV” and features a super-thin, minimalistic styling that is decisively Apple-esque. According to the concept the device would offer abilities such as Siri Voice Control, multi-touch, FaceTime HD, AirPlay, and no-glasses 3D technology.

According to Scahsiepen, the concept would come in 32, 42, or 50 inch models with at least 1TB of internal storage. As a design concept, I honestly think it is very beautiful and could certainly look a lot like what Apple might truly design. As far as the ‘capabilities’, however, this concept is probably shooting a little too high with 1-2TB of memory and no-glasses 3D; although Apple is very good at creating cutting edge products that redefine expectations, so we really can’t be sure.

What we do know is that if such a product surfaces, Siri is likely to be part of the package. What you have to wonder though is wouldn’t it be more cost effective to just make a more powerful Apple TV Entertainment device that offered Siri, internal storage, and even possibly PVR functions? If such an Apple TV device existed I would certainly consider purchasing it, but a $2000+ priced Apple Television set? For now we will just have to wait and see.

[Source]

The post A Beautiful Dream Of An Apple iTV appeared first on Mobile Magazine.