Apple has taken over the music download business with the iPod and iTunes. It has made a huge dent in the smartphone business with the iPhone. But is the company thinking about the television as its next opportunity? That"s the newest rumor on the Internet today. The Daily Tech web site has posted up a story using an unnamed "former Apple executive" as a source who claims that Apple is planning to launch a television product with its iOS operating system running inside.
The story claims that Apple wants to merge its iTunes download service with its Apple TV hardware in a television display. The unnamed former Apple exec says that the company wants to "blow Netflix and all those other guys away" with this kind of hardware set up. The article claims that Apple is partnering with another well known TV maker that will actually create the TVs. However, those products will be rebranded as Apple television sets. The source is again quoted as saying, "You"ll go into an Apple retail store and be able to walk out with a TV. It"s perfect." The launch of the Apple TV might happen this fall but it could also be pushed back into sometime in 2012, according to the story.
Obviously this kind of Apple Tv set up is similar to what Google has been trying to do with its Google TV-branded products. However TVs and set-top boxes with the Google TV software have yet to catch on with the public in part because many TV networks have not allowed Google TV-based products to view their Internet-based videos. However its possible that Apple"s brand name might make a TV-based product more appearing to the general consumer.