CNN: Apple to start making TVs, report says

[MotionMan]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/06/22/apple.tv/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Apple to start making TVs, report says

(CNN) -- Apple might want to sell you your next TV.

Technology blog DailyTech on Wednesday was quoting an unnamed "former Apple executive" who said Apple plans to enter the television display market by the end of the year.

Apple plans to "blow Netflix and all those other guys away" with a console that would have Apple TV and iTunes built into it, the source reportedly told DailyTech.

The report says Apple plans to team up with an existing manufacturer to provide televisions that would be branded under the Apple name.

"You'll go into an Apple retail store and be able to walk out with a TV," said the former exec, who DailyTech said spoke under the condition of anonymity. "It's perfect."

Brian White, an analyst with Ticonderoga Securities, was bullish on the prospect of Apple entering what he described as the $100 billion LCD television market.

"In our view, the combination of Apple's powerful ecosystem, industrial design savvy, powerful brand and ability to reinvent product categories could make Apple a powerful force in the TV world in the coming years," White wrote in a report on the article.

He wrote that during a trip to China last year, Ticonderoga was "the first to uncover data points" suggesting Apple planned to release a "smart TV" by the end of the year.

Apple already makes an Apple TV device which, amid a string of recent successes such as the iPhone and iPad, has floundered by the Cupertino, California tech giant's standards.

The system, first introduced in 2007, is a box-like gadget that lets users stream Web content, such as Netflix streaming video, on their TVs. But even Apple CEO Steve Jobs was forced to acknowledge that Apple TV has "never been a huge hit."

In September, Apple slashed its price from $299 to $99, but even that hasn't made the service a household name.

A move into television would likely keep Apple neck-and-neck with one of its chief rivals: Google.

Google TV is a similar product to the current Apple TV. And Google also is widely expected to expand its service by integrating with actual televisions.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.

Will it look like this?

MotionMan

 

[Kaido]

960 x 540 iFrame resolution, here we come! :awe:

 

[sportage]

Yeah right.... Go fer it apple.

 

[ultimatebob]

Hmm... I can already watch as many HD movies as I want from Netflix for $8.99 a month, using practically any internet connected device that I can plug into my existing HDTV.

Why am I going to shell out extra $$$ for an premium priced Apple TV, only to have to rent individual movies from iTunes for $4 each? Hell... at that price, I might as well just use the Pay Per View feature on the box that the cable company gave me.

 

[Pardus]

It will prob use a thunderbolt connector instead of HDMI.

 

[endlessmike133]

Apple is gonna revolutionize TVs like they did Cell Phones (and to a lesser extent MP3 players).

watch

 

[silverpig]

This might work IF they add a Netflix-like service with unlimited watching for ~$10/mo.

That ain't gonna happen though.

Heck, I bought an AppleTV2 and jailbroke it to put Plex on it as quickly as I possibly could.

 

[Zaap]

Eeeesh. Apple may as well change their name to Samsung and start making iWasher/dryers, iClock radios, dish washers, can openers and every other thing that too-huge global conglomerates make in their quest for generic irrelevance. I just don't get the thrill in rooting for apple to become so overblown and impersonal and boooring that you'll eventually be buying your apple iShaver in a blister pack at the local thrifty mart right next to the same crap from GE and Sony.

Stick to what you do Apple, and do it well. Becoming just another overextended conglomerate slappinga recognized label on tons of iComsumer crap is not the way to go.

 

[ultimatebob]

Apple is gonna revolutionize TVs like they did Cell Phones (and to a lesser extent MP3 players).

watch

I wish them luck, but their existing TV products haven't thrilled me.

 

[endlessmike133]

Eeeesh. Apple may as well change their name to Samsung and start making iWasher/dryers, iClock radios, dish washers, can openers and every other thing that too-huge global conglomerates make in their quest for generic irrelevance. I just don't get the thrill in rooting for apple to become so overblown and impersonal and boooring that you'll eventually be buying your apple iShaver in a blister pack at the local thrifty mart right next to the same crap from GE and Sony.

Stick to what you do Apple, and do it well. Becoming just another overextended conglomerate slappinga recognized label on tons of iComsumer crap is not the way to go.

lol wat

 

[wantedSpidy]

people are lazy, people want integrated solutions. Apple will give it a shot I think. If the price point is right, people will buy into it.

Media center with a nice LED TV? Yes please, but obviously I'm not going to pay a crazy premium for the product.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I welcome the chance to pick up a refurb Apple TV or a used one if they follow a predictable upgrade cycle...

It won't be a knock it out of the park hit like the iPad or some other products, but there's a market and they'll make some cash selling TVs...

 

[ctark]

Love how CNN picks up on a stupid internet rumor. Sure it might be true, but there's just as much chance its nothing. I saw this several days ago somewhere else.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

42" model starting at only $4999.

 

[mmntech]

Love how CNN picks up on a stupid internet rumor. Sure it might be true, but there's just as much chance its nothing. I saw this several days ago somewhere else.

Takes a lot to fill 24 hours.

The Cinema Display has always been a beautiful monitor. They'll integrate an Apple TV and toss a few HDMI connectors on the back. Probably charge an arm and a leg for it. People will buy it.

Remember when Apple used to make computers?

 

[Zaap]

...and toss a few HDMI connectors on the back.

Nah. Too much function would spoil the design. It'd have one Apple iConnector, and if you want HDMI, pony up $85 for the iConnector to HDMI adapter.

 

[Kaido]

I think that a TV with an integrated iOS product is kind of silly. Look at the current AppleTV - only 720p output and you'll have to upgrade to the AppleTV 3 to get 1080p. And then 2K and UltraHD and whatnot will come out, but you'll be stuck with a non-upgradable television set and won't be able to play the newer stuff. Apple could offer a swapout chip, which they won't, and it wouldn't matter anyway since the television's resolution is subject to change as technology progresses, so you'd need to buy an entirely new set to keep up anyway.

Unless they offered a Retina TV. I'd be game for that :awe:

 

[CptObvious]

TVs would seem to be a bad move IMO. Break down often, low profit margins, and not much value added over a add-on box.

I think Apple would do well in making their own swappable lens camera, especially as DSLRs are becoming more video-capable. I see the same problems with DSLRs now as with pre-iPhone phones - too many buttons and too much menu-diving. Some of the internal designs of DSLRs seem outdated. I found this out when trying to swap out the focusing screen on my Nikon, to find that most DSLRs hold this fragile piece of plastic in place with a flimsy wire and don't seal it from from dust, making it nearly impossible to keep clean.

 

[AMDZen]

Considering there are only really 5 actual manufacturers of LCD panels in the entire world, they'll just repackage one and sell it for twice as much. And people will buy it because there is an apple sign on it.

1. LG/Philips
2. Samsung
3. AU Optronics
4. CheMei
5. CPT/CMO/Innolux

 

[James Bond]

I remember when I first heard that Apple was making a phone.

I lol'd.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Considering there are only really 5 actual manufacturers of LCD panels in the entire world, they'll just repackage one and sell it for twice as much. And people will buy it because there is an apple sign on it.

1. LG/Philips
2. Samsung
3. AU Optronics
4. CheMei
5. CPT/CMO/Innolux

Oh just like the Apple Cinema Display. Oh wait, that's competitively priced for its specs.

 

[wirednuts]

see? ive been screaming since win7 came out for microsoft to make a "Windows Media Center TV" thats just basically a flatscreen with a proprietary atom htpc inside of it.

but no. dont listen to me and let apple make the first iTV. then spend the next 5 years playing ketchup. good job microsoft. keep working on wp7 updates.

 

[yottabit]

I honestly don't think apple would actually go into this unless they felt they could revolutionize the market in some way. I think they learned enough from AppleTV that they in fact can't just slap the apple logo on something and have it sell like hotcakes. I'd expect to see either a revolutionary display technology or (more likely) very clever integration with other devices. Imagine being able to use your TV as a second display for your an iphone/pod/pad, or other forms of integration.

This makes me think of the mysterious offers made on Hulu

 

[wirednuts]

thats what im sayin yottabit- i think just about 110% of the people i show off my htpc system to want it bad. they see whats on my tv screen, and what i can do with it, but as soon as they find out its a $700 computer running it, they start getting sketchy.

so they want an htpc, but they dont want the headaches. i think apple is finally going to bring computers and tv's together in a way that people love. wait till they put out a 52" touchscreen with iOS built in... now were talking grand possibilities.

 

[wirednuts]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/06/22/apple.tv/index.html?hpt=hp_t2



Will it look like this?

MotionMan

i remember as a kid that was the most expensive futuristic thing ever