Those are the questions that have been surrounding the rumored (at this point mythic) Apple HDTV. Yearly predictions about the manufacture and shipping of an Apple ‘iTV‘ have repeatedly been proven false.

Last year, cable companies were (plausibly) blamed for the product’s delay after pressing for a large amount of control over content during negotiations with Apple.

At the beginning of 2013, analysts began switching up their game, predicting that the iTV would not be appearing during the coming year.

This week, Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White has been quoted by BGR as saying, once again, that the iTV will launch in the second half of 2013.

The analyst states the HDTV will 60 inches, with smaller sizes also available. He goes on to speculate that the device will come with an “iRing” finger interface device for the TV and a portable 9.7-inch tablet-like “mini-iTV” which can display content from the larger screen. White prices the TV set packages at around $1,500 to $2,500.

So, those are the latest rumors about the fabled “iTV.” There’s even a possibility that they could even be accurate this time, but gamblers would be wise to place their bets elsewhere. The Brian White who outlined this week’s rumors is the same Brian White who relayed rumors that Sharp would begin shipping LCD display panels to Foxconn at the end of last summer.

This week, an anti-rumor has surfaced that suggests the Apple HDTV might still be a long way off. The research arm of BTIG released its predictions for 2013 today, and one of the big predictions is that Apple will not release its long-awaited TV set this year. BTIG states that the device is being delayed by the logistics of providing nationwide coverage, digital right management concerns, and legal concerns over net neutrality. All of these issues stem from the strong content monopoly cable companies have enjoyed for decades, and fit with previous rumors that cable companies are holding up the next big revolution in television.

In a more upbeat prediction, BTIG has also predicted that Apple will launch an internet radio service to compete with Pandora and Spotify. This “iRadio” would be integrated with iTunes to provide links for music and concert ticket purchases.

(via BGR)

Apple has been focusing on keeping their advertising simple, focused and product-oriented for a long time. This commercial is consistent with that very successful strategy. The spot is focused on what Apple believes will set the New iPad apart from all other tablets in the market and the competition: the retina display.

The commercial shows the new iPad being used to edit a photo, read a book, watch a movie and draw a picture. Under a simple piano soundtrack, a clear voice doesn’t mention price or any specifications but the copy delivers the message simply, “When a screen becomes this good, colors are more vibrant. Words are pin sharp. Everything is more brilliant. Because when a screen becomes this good, it’s simply you and the things you care about. The stunning Retina Display on the new iPad.”

Steve Job’s vision, according to Walter Issacson in his biography of the founder of Apple, was to develop and create an integrated device built on the intuitive design interface made famous by Apple and combined with seamless access to a user’s media library. Jobs told Issacson he’d cracked it and that the world would see the fruits of his vision by the end of the year.

Apple has had a small set-top box that allows users to download movies from the iTune store for years. Until now the initiative had been considered “a hobby” by company executives, but Apple appears to be accelerating work on a TV product and solution. The company is planning to introduce a streaming TV service by Christmas according to a recent report in the New York Post.

Apple is exploring the possibility of offering TV channels as “apps.” The idea is based on the success of the application-based software model that has been so successful and popular for the iPhone. Only hold up appears to be getting the big entertainment content companies to allow their property to be distributed by Apple. It’s the same scenario Apple faced with record labels with iTunes over a decade ago.

According to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, the company’s share price could reach new heights (possibly even $1,000 per share) if Apple’s new Television effort can repeat the success the company had in the music and mobile industries. Analysts seem to agree. Gene Muster of Piper Jaffray predicted in an interview last week with Bloomberg that Apple TV could be “the biggest thing in consumer electronics since the smartphone.”

Scarcely had the dust settled on the unveiling of the Apple TV when rumors began to fly that Apple was planning to move deeper into the television market. Sooner or later, the rumors went, Apple would move beyond the simple set-top box and release their own Apple-branded television. Much like rumors of an iPad Mini, predictions of an iTV have heated up periodically, with many in the blogosphere certain that the device was coming soon, only to be proven wrong when the expected announcement never came.

An Apple-branded TV is much more likely, however, than an iPad Mini. The Apple TV is by all accounts a fine device, but a television with Apple TV-like functionality fully integrated is exactly the sort of thing Apple likes to do. Even so, WSJ’s rumors put the device still in a relatively early phase. That being so, we’re much more likely to see an Apple TV 3 long before we see any kind of iTV device.

What do you think? Will Apple make an iTV? Would you want one if they did? Let us know in the comments.

[Source: The Wall Street Journal]

Before we get into the sources of such speculation, let’s just acknowledge that the concept itself makes a great deal of sense. Netflix has built a very solid brand for itself over the years, despite a bit of tarnishing in recent weeks, but it’s already getting competition from major web players like Amazon and Google. Apple, with its popular devices, operating systems, and iTunes store, as well as its existing competition with Amazon and Google seems like an ideal candidate for such a service. Let’s not forget about Apple TV and its rumored foray into actual televisions.

Jay Yarow at Business Insider reports on a note from Peter Misek at Jeffries, who says, “As part of Apple’s roll-out of cloud video services (and eventually an iTV), we believe Apple has unannounced deals with all/most of the studios/TV networks that are similar to the subscription streaming deal between Amazon and CBS.”

He also points out that Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer recently said that “some neat stuff is coming” for iTunes movies and TV content.

Meanwhile, AppDevice is running a story today called “Exclusive: Apple to Launch iTunes Replay in the COming Weeks,” which says the publication “has been told and was able to independently confirm that Apple is on the edge of finally launching a full fledged re-downloading and possibly streaming service named iTunes replay.”

This would reportedly include re-downloading and possibly streaming of not only music, but TV shows and movies.

Don’t forget that Google is now renting movies via the Android Market (not to mention YouTube) – the prime competitor to Apple’s App Store.

Either way, it looks like consumers are going to have more and more options for renting streaming movies from various devices, including the desktop, moving forward. Facebook movie rental appears to be on the rise as well.

Apple TV and Google TV will compete with one another, but they offer different functionalities. Apple brings web content to your TV, but Google’s aim is to let you search across your existing TV service provider and the web in one "seamless" experience. There is more to both than that, but that is the main difference. More about Apple TV here and more about Google TV here. 

Don’t expect Google to create its own content. Schmidt reportedly told Reuters, "We will work with content providers, but it is very unlikely that we will get into actual content production." 

Creating content has never really been Google’s style anyway. Google TV should do for finding TV shows what Google the search engine has done for finding web results, or what Google News has done for finding news articles. 

Both Apple TV and Google TV should be able to find their audiences. Apple’s $99 price tag may go a long way into getting it into more living rooms, while Google’s integration with Dish Network will likely appeal to customers of that service. 

Either way, one thing is clear: TV watchers are going to get more and more choices for connected TV, and this space is getting more and more interesting by the day.

"Apple will broadcast its September 1 event online using Apple’s industry-leading HTTP Live Streaming, which is based on open standards," the company says.

The whole thing is so open, you have to use a Mac running Safari on Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard, an iPhone or iPod Touch running iOS 3.0 or higher or an iPad. In other words you have to have bought an Apple device to view it.

It is also so open that the announcement makes it a point to say, "This broadcast is the property of Apple and is protected by US copyright law and international treaties. Any reproduction or distribution is strictly prohibited without prior written approval from Apple."

The event itself is expected to center around updates to iTunes, iPods and possibly TV. According to the Wall Street Journal, FOX and ABC will announce 99 cent rentals of TV shows through iTunes. "People familiar with the matter" are cited.

According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Apple will announce a set-top box for video that will include Netflix programming and a revamped version of Apple TV that will cost $99. The publication also says that Apple will release a revamped version of iTunes and an upgraded iPod Touch with higher screen resolution.

The whole thing should be a big win for Netflix.

Though he says Apple TV will be renamed, he says to expect an App Store for interactive TV apps that will eventually "destroy the television side of the cable and satellite industry". He says your only requirement will be to access "on-demand stations" with an Internet connection. "Say goodbye to your monthly cable bill," he proclaims.

Apple’s product is rumored to cost around $99, which would be substantially less than Dish Network’s Google TV offering if a recent survey from the company is any indication. "At $99 your parents, grandparents, and friends will have an iTV," says Rose.  "Sharing pictures/videos from your iPhone will happen with the push of a button.  Imagine getting a notification of new family videos the next time you turn on your TV. My mom will love this feature." 

Of couse Google TV will come in many different forms – not just the Dish Network offering. Rose also says the iPad will become one big remote. Clearly the competition between Apple and Google will continue in this space, and why I hesitate to dismiss all of Rose’s predictions completely, some of them may be a long way off if they are true at all.

For instance, I don’t see this taking the place of cable/satellite without all of the networks jumping on board, and that will probably not be so simple. I’d have to give the edge to Google in this area, as it is launching Google TV with Dish Network as a partner – people won’t have to give up the channels they like to use Google TV. They will get the best of both worlds – TV and Internet/Apps.

Google TV will be integrated with Android, making a wide range of Android devices remote controls in a sense. This was discussed by the company at Google I/O. Given that Android runs on so many devices, whereas iOS only runs on select Apple devices, the window for integration would appear to be much greater for Google.

Rose is surely right about one thing – this will indeed be a hot space to watch over the next year or so.

Do you think Google TV is destined to fail, or does its outlook look better than its predecessors? Tell us what you think.

Google unveiled Google TV a couple weeks ago at its developer conference, Google I/O. The company brought along launch partners Intel, Adobe, Sony, Best Buy, Logitech, and DISH Network for the ride. Watching the presentation (though fraught with technical difficulties related to connectivity), I have to say they made a pretty convincing case for Google TV, despite the lack of mainstream success for other connected TV products.

Google TV is the platform, but will launch on Sony TVs and Blu-ray players, a Logitech set-top box, and integration through DISH Network’s HD DVR boxes. Jobs says nobody’s willing to buy another set-top box.

"The problem with innovation in the television industry is the go-to-market strategy – the television industry fundamentally has a subsidized business model that gives everybody a set-top box for free or for ten dollars a month and that pretty much squashes any opportunity for innovation because nobody’s willing to buy a set-top box. Ask TiVo. Ask Replay TV, Ask Roku. Ask Vudu. Ask us. Ask Google in a few months…Sony’s tried as well. Panasonic’s tried. They’ve all failed."

While Jobs’ comments appear to be a jab at Google (he certainly has every right to make jabs, considering how many Google took at Apple at I/O), but by this logic, it’s really Logitech’s product that would fail. Again, Google TV is the platform, which will no doubt be available on numerous devices after the initial launch (think about a Netflix streaming-like model, which is doing pretty well). With Sony as a partner, don’t be surprised to see Google TV make its way to the Playstation, for example (more on why Google and Sony partnered with one another here).

Sidenote: Watch our interview from Google I/O with Ashish Arora, the Vice President and General Manager of Logitech Digital Home, about Logitech’s role in Google TV here:

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The point is that Google TV will be on a variety of different devices that people will either already have or buy for the whole package. Google TV will just be a feature. DISH Network subscribers will already have their DVR boxes awaiting integration. People will already be buying TVs (maybe Google TV as a feature of a Sony TV will be an extra incentive to buy that particular TV). People are already buying Blu-ray players.

Jobs talked about how there are no nationwide cable companies, but Dish Network is nationwide, and it is already making moves that could grow its user base significantly before Google TV even comes out. This week, they announced "Free HD for life" that is sure to attract some subscribers. The more subscribers Dish Network attracts, the more Google TV users there will be by default. Last week, Dish Network also announced plans to launch local broadcast channels in 29 new markets, making it the first and only pay-TV provider to offer local channels to consumers in every market nationwide, according to the company.

With regards to TV, Jobs also said, "I’m sure smarter people than us will figure this out." Watch the video here at All Things Digital to see Jobs’ entire response to the TV question (which is really more about Apple’s outlook for the space than Google’s product of course). They also have a clip of Jobs talking about Apple’s relationship with Google. The most memorable quote from that is, "Just because we’re competing with somebody doesn’t mean we have to be rude."

Google TV ‘s Success Would Have Big Implications for Businesses

Assuming that Google TV does not fail, and incurs wide adoption, businesses are going to have a lot of new opportunities to reach customers. It is true that people are spending more and more time online. They’re watching more online video. This would no doubt only be amplified if they were to get a "seamless" interface merging their TV watching and online video-watching experiences. Keep in mind, with Google TV, the web is just a button-push away from the same remote as the TV channels. That includes search.

Businesses are going to want to start thinking about optimizing their sites for the big screen, as well as for the mobile screen, if they are not already doing so (it’s probably a good idea anyway, because more and more people are already hooking up PCs to their TVs). A couple of other things to think about if Google TV really takes off include:

- Optimizing video content is going to be more important than ever – not just optimizing the content itself, in terms of quality, but making your videos visible in search results in Google and YouTube.

- Having an Android app will be more critical than it already is. Android apps will be accessible via Google TV. This is another way to get to viewers right in their living room.

Advertising

There will be new advertising opportunities with Google TV. First of all, existing ones will be transported to the television by default (via the web). This makes online advertising in general not quite synonymous with television advertising, but it’s putting it in the same box (the idiot box, if you will).

As Danny Sullivan noted in an interview with WebProNews at Google I/O, Google TV puts Gogle into a place where people are spending hous of thier day and not getting a chance to see Google’s ads:

More WebProNews Videos

At Google I/O, Google VP, Engineering Vic Gundotra said that just like they’ve built ad formats for Android, they’ll probably do the same for Google TV too.

Is Jobs right about Google TV? Do you think it will fail? Share your thoughts.