If you recall, we reported on a rumor last month that Apple was looking to turn their TV product into something more than just a hobby. Well it looks like the gossip mill is turning again as more analyst chime in on a possible TV set from the Cupertino company.
9to5Mac is reporting today that Gene Muster, of Piper Jaffray, has predicted we will indeed see a new Apple-branded television set by 2012 accompanied by a host of unique features.
Obviously Apple TV services would be built in, but he predicts it will also have DVR capibilities, live programming and television channels via iTunes, and 1080p gaming via the App Store.
The prophecies don’t stop there. Analyst Peter Misek believes a Netflix-like $10 a month subscription could be in the works for future iTunes programming. He also believes that networks removing channels from iPad apps could be a clue that they are “negotiating some sort of deal with Apple.”
A subscription service could be likely, considering all of the data storage Apple has acquired in the past year. They just ordered 12 Petabytes (12 million gigabytes) of storage from Isilon Systems, and let’s not forget about that large data center they’ve been building in North Carolina.
While an Apple-branded TV doesn’t seem feasible, they’ve certainly managed to surprise me before. I just don’t see them taking a big risk with such an expensive product. Hopefully we’ll get some more details at this year’s WWDC.
You think we’ll see an Apple TV set anytime soon?