back to article Apple's new TV allegedly spotted... in Canadian office

Prototypes of the hotly anticipated Apple TV are sitting in the offices of telcos in Canada, reports newspaper The Globe and Mail. The report adds that the new TVs will feature voice-control through Siri, gesture control and video chat. Apple has sent out the prototypes of its "iTV" device to help it cut deals with local …

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  1. 1Rafayal

    Are they going to be allowed to call it iTV in the UK?

    Wouldnt ITV have something to say about that?

    1. Lallabalalla
      Facepalm

      No bother

      Apple Corps never had any trouble...

    2. jai

      i think, when El Reg includes the name in "speechmarks" that's because it's not an officially designated name, and just what the press are calling it. you have to remember, despite these rumours, Apple have made NO announcement about this product, or if it even exists. So no one actually knows what it's going to be called, if it does exist.

      1. Darryl

        I've noticed from all of the media reports over here (US & Canada) that they seem to think that "iTV" is what the thing will be called, because it's an Apple product and all Apple products (except Macbooks) are named like that.

        One would hope that Apple is smart enough not to take on the original ITV over this, but who knows.

    3. Powelly
      Trollface

      "Wouldnt ITV have something to say about that?"

      Based on the state of ITV's accounts these day Apple could probably buy them for the price of a grand skinny frapumochacino, use the name and dump the rest in a skip.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why an "iTV"?

    All the rumours don't make any sense - it sounds almost exactly like the existing AppleTV plugged into practically any ordinary TV set. If the device exists at all (and I'm still doubting it), there must be a lot more to it than is rumoured.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Whereas I'm with you in that I can't see the point of Apple making an actual TV, the article does refer to voice control and video chatting, neither of which you can currently do with the AppleTV box thanks to it not having a camera or microphone.

      1. Giles Jones Gold badge

        Many people don't like external boxes hanging around, they look naff and it means two remotes instead of one.

        Also as the Internet is now firmly integrated into daily life why not make it more casual to use and more powerful by sticking it on a big screen where you can sit back on your lazyboy with a beer and surf away.

    2. DZ-Jay

      I'll tell you why...

      Have you used a TV lately? Have you seen the hideous and convoluted set of menus to configure the darn thing? Almost all default settings are crap, but adjusting them requires a degree in Crap Interface Design and the serenity and patience of a Tibetan monk. Their remote controls are just as well designed by the same people.

      Configuring any external input is also a hassle. And this is not even counting the "added value" features like Internet access and photo albums. Most people don't use any of that crap because it's such a pain to figure out.

      Now, imagine if you bought your Apple-branded TV set and it looks great the moment you turn it on, with proper colour-corrected schemes and maybe even automatic brightness and contrast adjustment. Imagine being able to hook up your DVD player by just plugging in the cable and clicking a button.

      But most importantly, imagine navigating the entire set of options, channels, and other features with a simple little remote with a handful of buttons.

      -dZ.

      1. craigj

        "Imagine being able to hook up your DVD player by just plugging in the cable and clicking a button."

        Almost like plugging in a scart lead and pressing AV on your remote.

        1. DZ-Jay

          Except it doesn't work like that in most modern TV sets. There is no "AV" on the remote; there is probably an "Input" button that takes you to some menu where you select from a list of arcane options like "Video 1" or "HDMI 3."

          Moreover, finding that button requires hunting it down in remote that may have over 50 buttons, each with tiny labels.

          To a "techie" this may not seem like a big deal, but my Mother has absolutely no idea what an HDMI is, and which one of them is the one hooked up to the DVD vs the grandkids game machine. Someone could certainly change the label, but that requires an entire new set of merit badges in Crappy-Remote-Button-Smashing and Hideous-Interface-From-Hell-Technician.

          -dZ.

          1. Eradicate all BB entrants

            Except for the part .....

            ...... where you have to connect it to a computer with a malware suite called iTunes in order to register the device.

            As for revolutionising TV they are a bit late to the party, I can already do all of what was mentioned on the kinect. Telling my xbox to play brasseye brought a tear to my eye :D

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Better Interface

            I agree with DZ-Jay here. I have a sony tv and can navigate the remote to eventually find what I need - but what a pain in the arse it is. Things were so much easier in the days when you had an on/off button, the channels to select from (not sure what the fourth channel button was for?) and a volume control. Sure there was a brightness and contrast knob aswell but you rarely needed those, and if you did you didn't need 5 levels of menu to get to them.

            Although I don't own any apple products because of the cost - I do find that the user interface on them is much better to use than on most other products. Apple do spend a lot of effort on the user interface, and I think this is what will separate this product from the rest. I will still not buy one because I am able to use my sony tv, which is no doubt a third of the price of the coming apple tv.

            But - it probably will be good and if thats what you want to spend your cash on - so be it.

            1. ElNumbre
              Meh

              Flips Telly.

              My Phillips telly has 9 possible 'sources' to choose from, listed as:-

              Television

              HDMI 1

              HDMI 2

              HDMI 3

              HDMI Side

              Ext 1

              Ext 2

              Ext 3

              VGA

              And even though I only have to choose between HDMI 1 (Generic Satellite Plus box), Ext 3 (generic eggsbox gaming & media machine) and VGA (computer), I never understood why it offered me the other options even though nothing was connected. You also can't rename the sources (although it should pick it up from the source) or quickly flick between the sources you want to use. So I for one welcome the fruit producers if it means that TV mfrs work on their UI's. I won't be buying an Apple TV err TV however, because I've not made any investment into their ecosystem and refuse to buy a product that is at least 25% more expensive because of the name stamped on the front, but if they influence the industries to make improvements to compete, good on them.

              1. Citizen Kaned

                hmmm

                get a HC setup.

                i get home, press 'MY TV' on my onkyo 709, it switches tv on, amp on and sets the correct source on the amp.

                i can also press watch movie and it turns BDP on and sets the correct source for blu-ray

                when im ready for bed i hit 'all off' and it switches everything off. works 10x quicker than my old harmony 1000 too

                i only have 2 remotes to hand, the amp and the tivo box

                life is good when you understand the tech

              2. andreas koch
                Pint

                @EINumbre

                You seem to have picked the wrong 'P'. My Panasonic Shows the inputs up as what I named them, and does not show the ones that I told it to skip. So, no problem there. When I pop a disk into the BD player, the TV switches on, and will be on the right channel. If I (something I rarely do, admittedly) switch on the cable TV box, it switches to that. It offers facebook, Twitter, skype (ok, onl;y if I buy an extra camera for another 20 pouns) and it has beaten me at chess (not on an external console, no, in the set!) once.

                My kids need to select the input for their wii manually, though. Not a great hardship.

                Its 50 inches plasma,1080p and cost me 649 quid at dixons online.

                I don't think that Apple will be offering much more at that price.

              3. D@v3

                LG telly

                Only lets you chose from the inputs that has things input into them (others are grayed out) lets you change on screen labels to helpful things like Game, DVD, etc...

          3. JEDIDIAH
            Mushroom

            The Newspeak definition of geek.

            > Except it doesn't work like that in most modern TV sets. There is no "AV" on the remote; there is probably an "Input" button that takes you to some menu where you select from a list of arcane options like "Video 1" or "HDMI 3."

            And how are you going to get rid of that exactly? If you have 4 or more inputs, what magical thing are you going to call them so that the willfully ignorant don't need to burn out brain cells?

            You are simply trying to pretend that no arcane details exist in the world. They do and sometimes you have to manage them head on rather than trying to pretend they don't exist.

            Although you could simply move through the options until you find the right one. This is the kind of discoverability that GUIs are supposed to enable. This is something that Apple fanboys believed in once. They believed in the user once too. Not any more though.

            For the Apple fanboy, everyone is too stupid and helpless to simply go through a list until they find that they need.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              TV GUI time for a change

              "Although you could simply move through the options until you find the right one. This is the kind of discoverability that GUIs are supposed to enable. ."

              My Samsmug early LED TV helpfully MOVES UP & OFF SCREEN the HDMI INPUT 1 just as I'm about to click-it, it's so brain dead that I have to leave a full page of closely written instructions for visitors on how to get a stream from source AppleTV or Freesat or French SAT or Russian SAT or PS3 onto the bloddy TV. At least my HT Amp - a heavy Sony 1200ES does allow source relabeling and that's an amplifier! When my parents do house-sitting they usually just watch BBC1 for 2 weeks!

              I buy the best-working- cheapest technology, and sometimes that happens to be fruit!

        2. jai

          @craigj : scart

          has there _ever_, in the history of electronics, been a connector that's more difficult to "just plug in", then trying to put a scart lead into the back of your telly, when you're reaching around from the front, trying to slot it in blind?

          Even if you can get to the back of your telly without risking tipping it over onto your foot, it's still not an easy connector to fit.

          So no, it won't be at all like "Almost like plugging in a scart lead and pressing AV on your remote", because for one, it won't involve the swearing, sore thumbs, mentally-scarred children, or tv-flattened cats, that your old fashioned method does

      2. csumpi
        Stop

        @DZ-Jay:

        Except if it's up to Apple, you won't be able to hook up a DVD player at all. There won't be any input ports on the TV, as they will explain to you, DVDs, BDs are considered sub-standard quality and would mess up your user experience.

        The only thing you'll be connecting to this TV is your credit card.

      3. JEDIDIAH
        Thumb Down

        > Have you used a TV lately? Have you seen the hideous and convoluted set of menus to configure the darn thing?

        ...which you do exactly how often? Those menus are there for initial setup and represent things that would simply be missing on an Apple interface. The usual TV controls are very basic things that are well recognized and also missing from Apple interfaces (like volume control).

        The fanboys are simply trying to wag the dog here.

        > Configuring any external input is also a hassle

        As compared to what? Simply not bothering? A popup menu and some arrow keys is really not as horrible as all that.

        > features like Internet access and photo albums. Most people don't use any of that crap because it's such a pain to figure out.

        ...and Apple is going to save us all by giving us an interface that takes whatever organization you have imposed on your photos and removing it? Hardly. That kind of nonsense is why people already jailbreak their ATVs.

        > Imagine being able to hook up your DVD player by just plugging in the cable and clicking a button.

        You mean like now?

        > But most importantly, imagine navigating the entire set of options, channels, and other features with a simple little remote with a handful of buttons.

        No. The "handfull" is simply going to castrate the user experience. Anything that's deemed "too geeky" will simply be removed from the experience. Orwellian rhetoric will follow.

        I think it's you that hasn't used a TV lately.

      4. MuppetHater
        FAIL

        "Imagine being able to hook up your DVD player by just plugging in the cable and clicking a button."

        What kind of DVD player do you have that you can't do this?

      5. Chezstar

        @ DZ-Jay

        Have you seen the back of an apple device lately?

        Lets see...instead of a label that reads "HDMI 1" that might mean, oh I don't know, the first HDMI port perhaps, lets put a PICTURE there instead! And then...umm...for the second HDMI port? Lets put a picture on that one too!! Hooray!

        So we drop the english (or other localised) language, and go for pictures instead, that could mean anything!

        First question I get asked by non-techs plugging things into their apple devices: "Which port does this HDMI cable go into?" Well, I could answer them with "The HDMI socket", but no, I have to first find out what stupid pictogram some gimp at apple thought might actually mean HDMI.

        Wonderful! Lets all go back to drawing animals on a rock wall with mud!

        And as for the plug in a DVD player and have it work. Wow. Just wow. I believe the last time I plugged in a DVD player, I plugged the power lead into the wall, the HDMI cable from the player to the tellie, and hit play. If thats too hard to figure out, then an apple tellie isnt even going to help you, and I suggest boxing up all technology and sending it back to the manufacturers pronto.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    AppleTV is already getting ready to test their simulcasting

    theres a web link here that wazzes you into iTunes then synchronizes to watch a free Spiggy Topes concert. http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewFeature?id=500573267&s=143441

    (caution - lots of Macca albums costing money should you click the wrong thing, and you'll need iTunes) and there's nothing to see for a couple of days but the real news is that...

    ..however on AppleTV (the small black box) it can be watched live on February 10th at the UK friendly time of 03:00Zulu, by referring to the 'Internet Menu', very new!

    this looks quite like a test transmission to see if the data centre can push enough bytes

    1. John I'm only dancing
      Thumb Up

      Ahh..Spiggy

      "I'm a hot-rodded swinging perv, I'm a hot-rodded swinging perv, yeah yeah yea"

      Hop he's in his gold-lame knickers.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    hahaha I can see microsoft lawyers rubbing their hands with excitement!

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nice!

    "Will be controlled by Siri, waving, unicorns"

    ...shame there won't really be any unicorns!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I read it as "Siri waving unicorns"

      Got a picture of some CGI looking lady waving unicorns at the TV

  6. jake Silver badge

    ::rolls eyes::

    And the fanbois/grrls will snap it up, no doubt, without even half a clue as to *why*, exactly, that they "need" one.

    Ralph Loren, cry your heart out.

    1. jai

      you say that like it's a bad thing?

  7. Herba

    cant wait

    I am on Bell IPTV using a Motorola Box. Bell will soon offer a choice of Apple TV, Apple Box or Motorola Android box. Major upgrade from the windows CE those box are rcurrently running.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    PUNCH anyone who purchases an iTV!

    Apple telly has been available for YEARS and no one wants it.

    Put an "i" in front and all the spazz's flock to it! See, I told you!

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. Goat Jam
        WTF?

        You laughed?

        Out loud? At "spazz's"?

        What are you? 12?

  9. JaitcH
    WTF?

    And telcos will need to pump some serious data to maintain a high-def image.

    Good luck!

    Rogers uses cable TV WAN technology and Bell is the major wholesaler, The more people that use Rogers concurrently, the faster the signal degrades.

    Bell is better for speed stability, but as for high speed, forget it, only in the larger communities. What about the more rural areas, what are they going to see?

  10. Ken 16 Silver badge
    Facepalm

    When I gesture and give voice commands to my television

    It generally means either a reality show or political broadcast is on.

  11. Toastan Buttar
    Thumb Up

    Revolutionising TV?

    "The television will not be revolutionised" - Gil Scott Heron

  12. Dave 52

    Rogers is useless

    Rogers is the most useless company on Earth. Giving it any preferential treatment is a mistake. Together, Rogers, Bell and Telus have oligopoly control over mobile communications, and Rogers and Bell over landlines. Canada will never be a leader in either sector so long as these companies are not in actual competition.

  13. spold Silver badge

    The article does not make it clear that Rogers is also Canada's largest cable TV company and that Bell has a Fibre/Satellite delivered TV service as well, both coupled with their broadband services - of course they would be testing it.

  14. Powelly
    Happy

    @Toastan Buttar

    Bravo sir! I doff my tifter to you.

  15. fLaMePrOoF
    FAIL

    "iTV" Let them try using that name in the UK.

  16. Gil Grissum
    Pint

    A rather obvious target for this iTV in the USA is AT&T with their U-Verse TV service. I would be absolutely shocked if Apple managed to get the biggest fish of them all, Comcast/Xfinity to play ball. I don't see it happening, but you never know.

  17. Steve McPolin
    Facepalm

    apple history.

    Apple hates leakers. As el reg can attest, Apple have a funny way of treating companies they hate.

    For those not from the colonies, the Globe and Mail is part of the "Bell Family" of companies. Since the G+M leaked this story, will Apple take it out on Bell?

  18. Bob Starling

    Voice Recognition

    is going to add a whole new level of fun to those arguments over what to watch.....

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Bell and Rogers both have set-top-box offerings, I'm not sure why they would have much interest in letting Apple step in and try to take 30% of the subscription fees.

    Is the new device going to be anything more than having the Apple TV puck inside the TV's shell?

  20. Fenton

    AV amp the best solution

    As to the switching issues. Get and AV amp.

    a) Much better sound (if you are allowed the extra speakers)

    b) Is a much better switching system (with rename options for the inputs)

    c) Only one cable going to the TV (well it's actually just a monitor now), which is a must if wall mounted.

    As to the Apple TV. I have a Gen2. It is lacking massivly in content (certainly here in the UK), but the integration with other i devices is great, i.e. the ability to use an iphone/ipad whilst sitting on my sofa to choose music or a movie is great and so simple to setup.

    I hated my old Netgear device the iTV replaced

  21. Zippy the Pinhead

    Just waiting for a commercial to pop up saying.. you should see what's happening on channel "so and so" and Siro obeys by turning to that station! lol

  22. Jean-Luc
    Paris Hilton

    Siri...

    TV Dialog (in film):

    Jim: I wish you could just 'turn it off'.

    iTV: <blip>

    Susan: You should stop 'surfing for porn' so much

    iTV: < a highly inappropriate Debbie Does Dallas 24 comes up, to the enjoyment of the whole family>

    Marie-Sue: You know, if you hate Seinfeld so much, you could just 'switch to the next channel'

    iTV: <jumps from channel 56 to 57>

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Big Brother

    Interesting and may finaly get Videoconferencing into mainstream consumer use

    Interesting and may finaly get Videoconferencing into mainstream consumer use. I know there is skype, but it's not early learning centre level of usability. Can also see this potentualy being used for buisness VC stuff if they get it right and there is no reason why not.

    As for SIRI, I'm not sure I'd feel comfotable watching porn on the tv ever again with that interface.

    Whats the betting after this is launched (assuming it's a final comercial product and indicators are there that it is) then I'd say give it a couple of years and it will be near on impossible to buy a monitor without a built in camera.

    Still, those who want it will buy it and those that want it without a apple logo will find some aspect to complain about. Either way it will be interesting to see what the sheep effect has on the compertition's products and as i mentioned earlier - monitors with camera's will, I feel become alot more common after this.

  24. andreas koch
    Childcatcher

    Something just dawned on me

    These AppleTVs will have to be installed in every council office and school, because it will be a sign of being modern, up-to-date and delivering the best possible service or education for the public.

    It happened with the iPad,too. The school of my kids suddenly found that children could only be registered on Apple iPads, and not, as before with ticks on paper lists. Apart from that they apparently don't get used. Oh, and the network does not reach to the sports field, so there the teachers have to use tick lists, and copy them to iPad later.

    The AppleTV will certainly ensure a better quality of education at a very competitive price: let's say 25 units @ 2500 each is just over 60 grand, much less than a new library would cost...

    And the logo would ensure that the parents will be impressed.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How the hell will Siri work with a tv?

    Think about it!

  26. Dana W
    Meh

    Mac users.....

    We have several Macs, we have iPhones, we have iPods, but a TV? Honestly, I don't know anybody who uses those anymore.

  27. Electric Panda
    Meh

    It really could be called 'iTV'

    Apple licensed iPhone and iOS (or rather a bastardisation on "IOS") from Cisco and not everyone is aware of the original roots these names came from. ITV aren't exactly affluent so maybe they have accepted some cash in an under-the-table deal? We obviously wouldn't know because the product is unannounced.

    You never know. Apple tv already exists in the form of the little standalone box, so I'd hazard a guess at a souped up integrated unit having a different name.

  28. bricksterr

    Rogers own my soul...

    Netflix was a big eye opener for Rogers and Bell subscribers as the lower tiers of their multi-tiered smoke n' mirrors service quickly learned about "caps" and the importance of upgrading service or paying absurd overage charges. Yup, we were some of the first folks on this planet to be awarded bandwidth restrictions in a valiant effort by our ISPs to punish those file sharing pigs... scum really.

    So what's the "negotiation" about? A voluntary raising of bandwidth caps as Rogers did a while back? The maximum residential tier, of which there are about five, is 100.00 Cdn (and our dollars are like real dollars these days) for 250 GBs a month. I wonder how much of that Siri will chew up?

    I recall over a decade ago when Bell and Rogers first entertained the idea of caps. They offered only one service (no tiers) and they were proposing a 20 GB cap! Of course, those of us that could see beyond our stubby frost bitten noses new this would be absolutely unmanageable in the near future but the fanbois, and yes, even slimy ISPs have those, exclaimed, "20 GBs! OMG! Who would ever need that much? Only filthy music pirates and porn downloaders!"

  29. JohnsonVonJohnson

    Stupid, stupid employees...

    These morons in their labs likely just pushed back the Canadian release date (as iPhone 1 was) and dinked Rogers and Bells contracts. Apple gets a little heavy handed when people they're trying to deal with pull crap like this.

    Assuming the info is legit, of course.

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