Apple Partnering With Sharp for iTV in 2013
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With its partnership with Samsung in tatters, it seems Apple is joining forces with Sharp to work on their majestic iTV. Sharp is reportedly building TFT LCD panels for the iTV, which up until recently, have just been rumors and speculation. This is not to be confused with Apple Tv, the small box that serves as a digital receiver and provides online and television content to any PC or mac, essentially giving a computer a TV feel. The iTV will be a full-blown television, screen and all, integrated with Apple’s features, and most likely following suit to their other products and revolutionizing the medium. In the past, Apple has had a long-standing relationship with Samsung, which both parties benefited from. Samsung is one of the world’s leaders in making memory sticks, and conveniently Apple is one of the world’s biggest consumers of memory sticks, as almost all of their products use flash memory. Samsung manufactured the A4 processor, which was in Apple’s original iPad and the iPhone 3Gs. It is said that about 25% of the parts in the iPhone 4 belong to Samsung. However, now that these two powerhouse companies are aggressively going after each other in court over various patent infringement claims, Sharp has happily swopped in and filled the void. This new deal with Sharp will give Apple more control over their manufacturing. “It gives Apple a partner that they can control manufacturing and secure supply at a lower price” said tech analyst Peter Misek.
Rumors that Apple had a TV in the works have been circulating for some time, but after the release of the biography of the late Steve Jobs, there has been an increase in excitement. According to the book, Jobs is quoted as saying that he had finally found a way to create a television that was worthy enough to be under Apple’s brand. The struggle reportedly was more about how to make the iTV revolutionary as opposed to just aesthetically awesome. The answer – Siri. The voice-controlled artificial intelligence that made a huge splash with its debut with the new iPhone 4s is definitely of the revolutionary caliber, and the final piece in Job’s TV puzzle it would seem. The inclusion of Siri into a television does away completely with the need for a remote of any kind. Simply tell Siri to “play the latest episode of….” Or “play silly videos of cats” and Siri does the rest. She has already proved to us on our phones that she is capable of doing the heavy lifting after we make a request. Nick Bilton, a tech reporter for the New York Times claims that we should expect to see the first iTV – the fruits of Apple’s labor since 2007, in late 2012 or early 2013. Obviously, Apple has a lot of kinks to work out between now and then, but you have to admit, the possibility of a TV with Sharp technology combined with Siri is going to be mind blowing.
