Apple HD TV will be with us 'within a year'

The Gadget Show  Thursday 01 December 2011

One of the most intriguing excerpts of the Walter Isaacsson biography of the late Steve Jobs is the revelation from the former Apple boss that he had “finally cracked” the concept of an Apple TV that would beat the AV giants at their own game.

Unsurprisingly, the comments sparked plenty of rumours, and the latest whispers are suggesting Apple’s TV game-changer will be with us this time next year, in plenty of time for the pre-Christmas spending rush.

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Of course, Apple TV already exists in the form of a set-top box – now in its second generation. But while that device has been one of Apple’s more modest successes of recent years, it’s clear that Jobs’ TV concept was envisioned as far more significant – a re-imagining of the concept of television as we know it rather than a box to sit alongside it.

It’s widely agreed that the Apple TV is already in development, especially given the revelation that the latest iOS 5.1 beta release of Apple’s mobile operating system makes mention of “Apple TV v3”, while well-known analyst Gene Munster has nailed his colours to the mast and said anyone looking to invest in a new TV in the next year should wait and see what Apple has lined up.

Speaking at a high-level media conference on the future of media this week, Munster said the Apple HD TV will be a fully fledged standalone TV available in a range of sizes and price points, though it will command a higher price tag than the average TV today.

Where it will stand apart, however – and this is undoubtedly the secret sauce Jobs was referring to – is in its integration with existing Apple services and devices including the likes of Siri, iTunes, iCloud and of course the iPad and iPhone through iOS.

It all sounds promising enough, but it’s worth bearing in mind that we’ve seen nothing whatsoever to confirm any of this. But it’s unlikely Jobs would have made such a bold comment in the first place without there being a fair bit of substance to back it up, and if Apple’s efforts in other markets over the past few years are anything to go by, leading TV manufacturers have every reason to be worried.

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