Apple set top box for home theaters

An Apple set top box for home theaters could be a reality if a recent report by the Wall Street Journal holds any weight. The reports that Apple is in talks with cable operators to provide a set top box that provides live television channels as opposed to licensing content in order to offer its own streaming service. The Apple set top box for home theaters could redefine if not erase the distinction between live and on-demand content. (Image credit: Flickr)

There have been a number of rumours about a Apple TV and on demand service but according to the WSJ's sources the potential set top box has had no confirmed deals and apparently is not a new idea. Negotiations have stalled due to a variety of demands by Apple -

including a 30 percent cut on "certain transactions" and the right to an exclusive on providing IP technology of some sort.

Apple set top box for home theaters - functionally speaking

We aren't sure what IP technology they are referring to. However Sean Hollister says -

Functionally, it sounds a bit like a DVR, except viewers wouldn't actually be recording their own shows: Apple's set-top would store entire episodes in the cloud as they're being broadcast live, allowing viewers to start watching programs from the beginning even if they're late to the broadcast. Since the Apple device would also allegedly have access (through other content deals) to the current and previous seasons of any given show, too, the box could theoretically give users access to any episode of a show on-demand, including a live episode, in a single interface.

Visually, the Journal says that Apple is considering an iPad-like user interface for the set-top, but the iPad (and iPhone) itself may be part of the party too, as Apple also reportedly wants to allow its other products to access the same content.

That system recalls the smart TV vision Steve Jobs described to his biographer before he passed away:

"I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use," he told me. "It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud." No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels. "It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it."

Apple set top box for home theaters - yet to be realized

The Apple set top box for home theaters does appear to have a number of hurdles to across before it sees any hope of seeing the light of being available for retail. If the Journal's sources are right, Apple do not seem to be any closer to making the Apple set top box for home theaters a reality given there are no deals as yet with content providers and cable companies.

via Posterize