In the latest news and rumors on the Apple TV set (a.k.a. iTV) comes the news that Apple is using Sharp for production of an Apple TV set, which could come to life in 2012. This follows on the heels of last week's iPad 3 release news that also included Sharp.
“It’s a huge deal for Sharp because they spent significant amounts of capital to try and expand capacity and upgrade their facilities. It gives Apple a partner that they can control manufacturing and secure supply at a lower price,” Peter Misek said in an interview with BusinessWeek.
Think of all of the Apple TV apps that could emerge here ... between iCloud and the streaming of movies an TV shows, there's room for third-party apps that could combine music and video in all sorts of new ways. Apple TV is sure to create a powerful user experience as well, given the history of Apple to take existing technologies and ideas and recast them as a well-honed and thought through experience. The Steve Jobs biography told us that Steve Jobs said he had "cracked the code” on online TV. Plus, they're looking to improve the existing Apple TV box, which so far has been called an "experiment” by Steve Jobs. AllThingsD thinks that Apple would be way out in front of other manufacturers, who are probably scrambling to create their own rival. AppleInsider agrees.
We could see the inclusion of Siri on an Apple TV set, eliminating the need to program the VCR, set your Tivo or DVR or any other existing options. You could just tell your Apple TV what to play. iTunes and iCloud can bring the movies and TV show experience. The new Apple Thunderbolt display shows that Apple has upped the ante on its display technology in a way that could support hi-def video and HDMI, and, there was an Apple TV update as part of the last iTunes update, proof positive that something is happening under the hood. Apple has a history of adding cryptic mysterious lines of code in an attempt to include new features for testing while not giving the secret away.
In the Apple TV vs. Hulu Plus challenge, Apple TV has the potential to provide the device, the media (with iTunes and iCloud powering movies and TV shows) and the full Apple ecosystem and ecosystem, while Hulu Plus just has content from select partners, leaving them with only a partial offering. In the Apple TV vs. Google TV throwdown, we have an almost side-by side sameness, except Google has so far shown no interest in creating the devoce of a TV set, leaving that to partners.
Check out more about steaming music sites in the Spacelab Streaming Music Guide.
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