It was reported some time ago by WebProNews that Apple might throw their TV hat into the ring and as time has passed it seems to be more prevalent that the super-company may indeed introduce a groundbreaking smart-TV.

Reportedly, the new iTV will sport many of the same features as your iPad and iPhone sporting apps, games and even Siri voice control. According to the article a Canadian research team has been testing an iTV prototype in their labs and their findings about the device are fairly similar to the other iDevices Apple has.

It seems you will be able to do all your favorite TV activities from the comfort of your couch with Siri voice control. Much like the 4S, you’ll be able to give Siri vocal commands and then set back and relax while you enjoy your entertainment; movies, television and more.

It’s also been rumored that the new device may support an iPhone link that will allow you to possibly do many of your iPhone activities, such as stream Netflix, on the iTV. The TV is also said to support Skype and and an iSight camera, which would be an interesting feature.

With all this supported technology, it has to be able to support games and apps, right? Speculation says the new device will be able to support apps and games. With that technology, you’ll be able to enjoy your iTV much like your other iDevices. Apple is very quiet about their work, but it’s rumored that the TV could be released sometime in 2013, although not much is certain.

The survey, obtained by The Verge from an anonymous source, is a customer interest survey conducted by Norwegian firm Confirmit, which has done research for Best Buy in the past. The real question is whether the specs listed in the survey come from actual data about the long-rumored iTV, or are just guesses. Given Apple’s famed secrecy about upcoming products, it is hard to imagine a research firm in Norway obtaining such detailed information about the iTV so far in advance. Nor is it likely that Best Buy would have access to this kind of detail about the iTV this early. Apple frequently shares little (if any) more with retailers than with the public. While most of the specs listed are reasonable, they are also almost certainly guesses.

The Verge has a gallery with screencaps of the iTV related questions. The screencap showing the specs is included below, courtesy of The Verge.

What do you think? Is Best Buy guessing, or could they know something the rest of us don’t? Sound off in the comments.

According to a new report from DigiTimes today, Apple has been trying to buy OLED panels from Samsung and LG, and have not met with much success. Both companies debuted remarkable new OLED and AMOLED based HDTVs at this year’s CES conference. Though it may be disappointing to Apple, it’s not all that surprising that they wouldn’t be eager to share. Apple’s iTV has been generating massive amounts of buzz despite still being little more than a rumor. If Apple really is working on it, as seems likely, it would be a major competitor to Samsung’s and LG’s newest and best products. It stands to reason that they would want to keep the core technology of those products under wraps, at least for a little while.

While rumors of a release date for an iTV have been vague at best, many have suggested that the device would launch in the second half of 2012. If Apple is indeed having difficulty securing display panels, that could be a significant setback that could push any release date into 2013 or later.

Though Munster believes Apple could be ready to release the iTV by late 2012, the question of content still remains. In December there were reports that Apple was meeting with executives from major content providers to discuss Apple’s plans for entering the TV market. Shortly after, there were reports that Apple wanted to offer users access to custom channel lineups, rather than the package-based options currently offered by cable companies. While Apple could easily have an iTV ready by the end of the year, the kind of agreements necessary to implement such a programming model would likely take considerably longer.

Munster’s report noted Apple’s tendency to revolutionize the markets it enters, and believes that if Apple is entering the already quite well-established television market, it must be planning to offer a “revamped TV content solution.”

Munster suggested three alternatives for such a content solution. First, Apple could offer a TV that managed users’ live TV service as provided by their cable company. Rather like TiVo, such an iTV would would integrate users’ pre-existing cable or dish service with Apple’s own software solutions (and maybe DVR). While Munster believes this solution to be “easiest and most likely,” he also says it would be “the least revolutionary.” Such a TV would have much the same functionality as the currently existing Apple TV. While integrating such functionality more deeply with the actual television would be a major step, it is not quite meet the standard of revolution Apple set for itself with previous devices like the iPhone and iPad.

The second option Munster sees involves Apple offering access to live TV from network channels as well as other web-based video options like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon, and others. He also speculates that under this scenario the iTV would get something that Apple TV users have wanted for ages: the App Store. Under this scenario, the iTV integrates Apple TV functionality into the TV, as before, but presents the user with a wider array of content options.

The third scenario is what Apple reportedly wants to do: offer a monthly subscription that allows users to choose live TV channels a la carte from the content providers. This is the option that would require Apple to secure deals with the networks, no small task considering how much they currently make on the traditional cable TV package model.

Though Munster sees the first option as most likely, I’m guessing that Apple will follow a plan similar to what the one that made the iTunes Music Store such a success. Apple will do what it has to to get an iTV into the hands – or onto the walls – of users. Once the device has been available for awhile and is popular with users, Apple will leverage its success to get the kind of content deals it really wants.

[Image Credit: Guilherme Schasiepen]

Reports that Apple is focusing on content for the iTV have gained new credibility in light of a patent recently published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent includes references to menu options concerning television shows that have been recorded directly from a broadcast, in addition to those purchased from content providers (i.e., the iTunes Store). In other words, the iTV may be getting DVR.

Interestingly, there were references to this sort of technology in patents related to the Apple TV several years ago. This suggests that the Apple TV, which Steve Jobs famously referred to as a “hobby,” was originally intended to connect to a cable network and have DVR functionality built in. There was speculation at the time of the original Apple TV’s release that Apple was aiming at the TV market, and would eventually make a full-blown HDTV. The original patents suggest that that is the case, and this most recent patent only makes it look more likely that Apple is preparing to break into the TV market. Whether they can make as much of a splash as they made in the smartphone market remains to be seen.

[Via Patently Apple]

Most of the top 10 have held on to their spots from last year. Coca-Cola retains the #1 spot, followed by IBM, Microsoft, Google, and GE. The big news this year is Apple. In a year when most brands moved no more than a handful of spots in either direction, Apple jumped nine places to become the eighth most valuable brand in the world. With an amazing 58% change in brand value, Apple went from 17th place last year to break into this year’s top 10. Most other companies moved no more than three or four positions. The only change comparable to Apple’s was by Johnson & Johnson, which dropped eight places, falling to 83rd from 75th.

Apple’s surge is impressive, but not all that surprising, given the year the company has had. What will be interesting is to see where Apple is at this point next year, considering the changes in the company at the end of 2011, and the launch of whatever new products – iPad, iPhone, maybe an iTV – coming up this year.

[Source: Interbrand]

Apple first dipped its toes into the TV market with the Apple TV, which Jobs famously called a “hobby” several years ago. Things got more serious with the launch of the much-improved second generation Apple TV in 2010. Ever since then, rumors have been flying that Apple would eventually integrate the functionality of the Apple TV box into an HDTV. These rumors have been heating up in recent months, to the point that it looks as though Apple really does have such a device in the works.

Part of the impetus for this round of rumors comes from Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography of Steve Jobs, wherein Jobs reportedly said that Apple had been working on a TV for years, and that shortly before his death Jobs “cracked it.” Though the company has remained characteristically quiet about the project, that statement has been taken by most to assume that Apple really is preparing to launch an iTV.

The tech industry being what it is, Apple’s competition is not inclined to take such statements lightly, even from a man three months dead. In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald Philip Newton, director of audio-visual for Samsung Australia, insists that Samsung does not see Apple’s rumored iTV as a threat. He insisted that the kind of connectivity Jobs reportedly “cracked” has already been in the TV market for a year, and was in fact “nothing new.” The newness, he claimed, only applies to Apple, who have never participated in the TV business before. Newton also said that although some of Samsung’s competition might suffer from an iTV, Samsung itself was not worried.

Of course, Newton may well be right: Apple is new to the TV market, and notwithstanding the success of the Apple TV, the iTV may turn out to be one of many HDTVs offering internet connectivity. On the other hand, in 2007 Apple launched the iPhone and entered into another market it had no experience with, and we all know how that turned out.

[Source: Sydney Morning Herald]

After owning 42% of the company, Amazon acquired the remaining shares of LoveFilm, a European Netflix-like company, last year. Since then, the company has been making deals to expand the service’s streaming catalog.

Last month, Amazon signed a multi-year agreement with Sony to give members exclusive streaming access to new and forthcoming Sony Pictures TV and film titles. Other recent deals were made with Warner Bros., Entertainment One, StudioCanal, Disney, Momentum and Lionsgate.

Today, Amazon announced deals with BBC Worldwide and ITV.

The BBC deal will give members streaming access to content like Doctor Who, Life On Mars, Spooks, Whitechapel, Planet Earth, and plenty of other shows and documentaries.

LoveFilm CEO Simon Calver says, “We are thrilled to be bringing together great British TV content with Europe’s leading film subscription service. This gives LOVEFiLM an even more powerful, unique offering of instant programming for our members to view across a growing number of platforms, for one low monthly price.”

Lisa Rousseau, Head of UK and Ireland, Sales & Distribution, BBC Worldwide added, “We’ve had a content partnership with LOVEFiLM for several years now and it’s great to see this evolve digitally. We’re delighted to give LoveFilm’s subscribers the opportunity to instantly watch their favourite British shows, wherever and whenever they wish, alongside a diverse range of great programmes and films.”

The ITV deal gives LoveFilm members streaming access to titles from the the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, including Marchlands, Above Suspicion, Prime Suspect, Inspector Morse, Cold Feet, and Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

“We are delighted to be working with LoveFilm to bring a wide range of ITV’s best loved programmes to their subscribers,” said ITV Director of Pay and Distribution, Martin Goswami. “Partnering with LoveFilm’s Instant service is a great example of how ITV is starting to drive new revenue streams by distributing its content across multiple platforms.”

LoveFilm’s instant service is currently available to over 175 Internet-enabled devices, including PCs, PS3, iPad, Xbox 360, and numerous Blu-Ray players and connected TVs.

Retrovo’s data reflects this in a number of ways. First is TV selling price. While certain “name brands” like Sony or Samsung used to command a significantly higher price than “off brands” like Vizio, that is no longer the case. This study shows that the selling price for Sony’s TVs is now roughly comparable to Vizio’s:

Second, and perhaps more telling, is user ratings. The study compares user ratings across major HDTV brands, and finds very little difference. While Samsung is the closest thing to a clear leader the data shows, Samsung TVs are only rated 3% higher than Vizio and LG, which are tied for second place. The lowest rated brand is Sony, but Sony TVs are only rated 2% lower than the next lowest brand, Panasonic, and only 6% lower than the “leader,” Samsung.

More and more, the study says, TV makers are turning to connectivity as a way to differentiate their products. Nearly half of all TVs above 37 inches included internet connectivity of some kind – usually to video services like Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon instant video, or audio services like Pandora. This, however, may not be enough according to the study. As the focus on internet connectivity in the TV market intensifies, the study predicts that software makers like Google, Apple, and Microsoft are well positioned to become major players in the television market. The study specifically cites recent rumors of Apple’s iTV, which may or may not be headed for a late 2012 release. With software makers treating the HDTV the way they’ve been treating the mobile phone – as a platform for software development – they stand to revolutionize the HDTV industry, and leave more traditional TVs in the dust.

What do you think? Are we on the brink of a TV revolution? Sound off in the comments.

[Source: Retrovo Blog]

Other rumored features of the device include Siri integration, the iOS operating system with access to App Store apps (a feature currently lacking with the Apple TV). AirPlay, iCloud, and other means of integrating the television with users’ other Apple devices are likely as well.

Meanwhile, Apple appears to be in negotiations with various entertainment companies to bring customized content to the iTV. According to rumors, Apple wants to offer customers access to customized channel lineups. Unfortunately – but alas, not unexpectedly – the entertainment companies are reluctant to enter into any such arrangement, given the money they make from their current business model.

Assuming that Apple really is working on an iTV, which seems likely at this point, this report about the larger sizes makes sense. However revolutionary the streaming technology, the television market is very much one in which size matters, and Apple has to know that. If Apple intends for the iTV to replace people’s living room TVs, they will have to account for the fact that some of us have very large TVs in our living rooms.

[Source: USA Today]