Any search of the internet for “Apple iTV” will serve plenty of results about Apple’s supposedly impending release of an Apple television. It’s a rumor that just won’t die, but it’s one that’s not entirely new.
In fact, the suggestion that Apple may release an “iTV” back in 2010 left UK broadcaster ITV with little choice but to write to the Cupertino outfit outlining its stance on the name. Put simply, Apple can’t use it. At least, not in the UK.
Now the story is rearing its head thanks to a report by the Telegraph, with ITV presumably still not all that keen on Apple stealing its name…
There has even been the crazy notion that Apple could in fact buy one of the UK’s oldest broadcasters just so it can use the name for its phantom television, a prospect that seems ludicrous to anyone living in the real world. That said, this IS Apple, and they DO have a pot of money larger than the Moon.
We find ourselves more interested in whether Apple will actually release a television rather than what an unannounced product will be called. It seems more likely to us that the Apple TV as we know it will go away, being replaced by a full-blown television that takes the same name. If Apple wants to add functionality to the TV that cannot be replicated by a set-top box (think FaceTime, etc) then discontinuing the little black box may make sense, freeing up that all-important name in the process.
What say thee?