When it comes to HDTV's, you'd be hard pressed to find a better picture than the one Samsung sets deliver. That said, the rumored Apple iTV will reportedly feature a display from Sharp.
When it comes to HDTV’s, you’d be hard pressed to find a better picture than the one Samsung sets deliver. Sure, there are other great HDTVs from the likes of LG and Sony, but there’s just something about aSamsung HDTV that makes the picture jump off the screen.
Apple and Samsung are currently entangled in patent litigation that spans the globe, so should Apple in fact release an HDTV, we’re a little bummed that it won’t feature a display from Samsung. The Wall Street Journal, citing an investor report from analyst Peter Misek, writes that Apple is hard at work on an HDTV and that it’s already secured a deal with Sharp to supply the screens for what may very well be dubbed the iTV.
Over at Jeffries, analyst Peter Misek suggests that Sharp is retooling a production line at its factory in Sakai specifically to manufacture modified amorphous TFT LCDpanels that will be used in the so-called iTV. If all goes well, the line should be ready for commercial production by February of 2012, which means we could see Apple’s take on the TV by midyear.
Color me skeptical, but I just don’t see anyway an Apple HDTV comes to market in early 2012. A more likely timetable tumbling around in the rumor mill suggests Apple will announce an HDTV in late 2012 ahead of an early 2013 launch.
Interestingly enough, Misek mentions that he’s had discussions with various TV manufacturers and relays that they’re all scrambling to figure out just what exactly an Apple branded HDTV set will do. After seeing the level of disruption Apple introduced into the smartphone market, you can bet that TV manufacturers will take careful steps as to not be caught off guard in much the same way that Microsoft and RIM were when the iPhone was first introduced.
Steve Jobs notably stated in his biography that he was hoping to reinvent Television after having already reinvented the way we listen to music and use our phones.
Regarding an integrated TV set without the plethora of confusing controls that typically plague most remotes, Jobs cryptically told Isaacson:
“I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use. It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.’
