Apple Rumored To Be Building Chic TV Prototypes

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Oct 27, 2011 11:51 AM, By Michael Grotticelli

Apple has been working on antecedent HD radio sets given at least September, according to researcher Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray, an general investment bank and bonds firm. The conjecture is that the new models will add an Internet connection to capacitate OTT services (like the stream Apple TV box) that allows users to purchase programming a la carte, and, similar to the iPod and iPhone before it, could change the way consumers obtain and devour their TV shows.

Munster mentioned the data comes from a September discussion with a "contact shut to an Asian part supplier" that he would not name. Steve Job's biography, that went on sale this week, mentioned that Jobs certified before his demise that they had "cracked" the process of a chic TV interface.

Munster refers to January meetings with other Asian sources, that he mentioned moreover indicated that Apple is investing in production services and securing reserve for LCD displays. The screens, however, could be for gadgets in sizes trimming from 3.5in to 50in, giving no coherent denote that a TV set is the finish goal.

The largest shade sizes now used by Apple are 27in, and are found in the iMac, Cinema Display and Thunderbolt Display.

Munster moreover remarkable that Apple has filed for a number of TV-related patents, inclusive a from October 2006 involving browsing and recording live TV. A obvious published in January 2011, Munster reported, papers a network that could "include a set-top box with or without a digital video tape deck (DVR) (or, personal video tape deck (PVR). In other e.g. implementations, a manifestation with built-in functionality (e.g, a television)."

What Jobs may have advance up with, Munster speculated and "Electronista" reported, is a way of blending live TV with formerly prisoner shows on iCloud. He moreover draft that the Siri voice order network could be lengthened to a TV, elucidate long-standing interface problems.

On the stream Apple TV set-top, for instance, typing in titles may be exceedingly vapid even when using a related iPhone or iPad.

If Apple ships a TV next year, Munster estimated that of a likely 220 million in complete 2012 flat-panel TV sales, Apple could take about 1.4 million, descending inside of a subset of 106 million Internet-ready units. If Apple hits the 1.4 million mark, it's believed that the device could add $2.5 billion to the company's 2012 revenue, followed by $4 billion in 2013 and $6 billion in 2014.