There has been talk about the new Apple product informally dubbed “iTV”, as to what it will including, and when it will be released.
Well, I have absolutely no idea.
But… There are some people with some pretty interesting insight into the situation. A while back you may have heard a rumor about Apple talking with TV content providers, and now it seems as if the puzzle pieces of this “iTV” are fitting together now. And according to sources we could see most of this materialize by the end of the year. If all of the rumors are true, 2012 could be a huge year for this multi-billion dollar company…
The New York Post reported yesterday that Apple plans on launching their own TV Subscription Service by the end of the year. The estimated time of arrival would be around Christmas.
“For months, Apple’s point man, Eddie Cue, has been leading talks with content providers, which have largely balked at the tech giant’s efforts to exert control over all aspects of the video service, including pricing, sources said.
Apple’s negotiating stance can be summed up as “we decide the price, we decide what content,” according to one source familiar with the talks.
“They want everything for nothing,” said another media executive, echoing similar tense negotiations Apple has had in the past with magazine publishers and music companies.”
So that being said all the rumors about Apple talking to content providers is suddenly coming together to create one big “mega rumor”:
“They want to create the interface, and they wanted to work with the cable guys to manage bandwidth across the TV and broadband pipeline,” said one source familiar with the talks.
Instead, cable executives pretty much shut the door, preferring to keep Apple at a safe distance from the lucrative $150 billion pay-TV business.”
The plan is to offer subscription based “Channel Apps“. This would allow you to let’s say, subscribe to MTV or VH1 at a monthly price and make the app available to you with access to that channel at anytime. Now there’s no official word on any of this or whether is will be available for other iDevices or even “iTV”. But having the option to pick and choose which channels you want to purchase would be amazing. I have to pay for 1000 channels, while I only watch about 10 of them. This would also be a great addition to the upcoming Apple TV 3 which is due to launch alongside the iPad 3 or whatever it’s called.
Apple could really make a storm with a new TV and a TV subscriber service launching together. There’s no official dates for any of this but like always, time will tell.
So here’s to a future with Apple’s rumored TV service. I know I’ll be a subscriber, will you?
