The iTV rumors have been circulating for quite some time but Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg, has come across information and he claims that it will launch in September. If all of his information is correct, then iTV may help finally provide some much needed competition to the cable industry.
There are a lot of things that you can probably predict, App Store access, Mobileme picture and video sharing, and the iPad will act as a big ass remote. “The iPad will be the preferred input device for the iTV. You"ll be able to editing videos, control games, and extend the interactive television experience. Imagine watching monday night football on the TV while viewing/exploring other camera angles on the iPad.”
More specifically, the apps on the iTV will become the channels that you’re accustomed to with traditional TV. This makes sense, rather than watching ABC, you would fire up the ABC app, same with CBS or NBC. But how Apple and the content providers plan to implement advertising is unknown. Rose boldly states that you can “say goodbye to your monthly cable bill”.
If Apple can truly implement the iTV as a serious cable competitor, it will be a big win for the consumers in the US who typically have little choice when choosing a content provider. Rose is about 50% accurate on his Apple predictions; while he nailed previous iPod rumors, he also missed the call by saying that MacBook’s would support Blu-Ray drives.
Apple typically holds a press conference in the Fall to announce the new iPod lineup, its likely that they would announce iTV at the same time too.