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Foxconn CEO Fuels iTV Rumors

An anonymous reader writes "Apple may soon begin production of a full-blown HDTV, dubbed iTV by Apple watchers, according to the Terry Gou, CEO of Apple's main hardware supplier Foxconn, in a brief interview with the newspaper China Daily. The newspaper reports that the device will feature 'aluminum construction, Siri, and FaceTime video calling' and will be manufactured by a 50-50 joint venture between Foxconn and the Japanese manufacturer Sharp; other details, including the schedule, were notably absent. Apple's spokesperson has declined comment. So it's not clear how solid this 'scoop' is."

25 of 153 comments (clear)

  1. Not interested by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sorry, not interested in a propritery iTV where I can only watch what Apple wants.

    1. Re:Not interested by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Because AppleTV has Netflix, Vimeo, Youtube already there?

    2. Re:Not interested by SimonTheSoundMan · · Score: 2

      It's usually more to do with the processing underneath than the panel itself. Samsung processing is mediocre at best, not even as good as Fujitsu Plasmavison or Pioneer panels from 5 years ago. Sharp have good panels, but poor DSP processing. Samsung have ok panels but better processing.

      We no longer have high-end TVs on the market, so no excellent panels with excellent processing. Nobody has yet to beat Kuro and Aviamo.

    3. Re:Not interested by gl4ss · · Score: 2

      Sharp is in the gutter with their lcd operation(read: not doing profit). Easily coerced into a big order - and easily accepting such a deal. it's standard apple procurement.

      though they could just buy the panels and processing separately.

      there's rumours about huge oled orders from samsung too.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    4. Re:Not interested by drkstr1 · · Score: 2

      Because AppleTV has Netflix, Vimeo, Youtube already there?

      Yeah... for as long as Apple allows it. The point is, the choice is theirs, not yours.

      --
      Fanboy Status: Apache Flex, C#, Eclipse, KDE, Pirate Party, Ron Paul, Slackware, Windows 7
  2. www.itv.com already exists suckers!!! by advocate_one · · Score: 4, Insightful

    try getting that domain back...

    --
    Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
  3. wrong, wrong, wrong by sribe · · Score: 4, Informative

    It was not really an interview. It was a presentation to a group. And *none* of the other reporters present seem to have heard this alleged remark. More info here.

  4. It's already gone by Dave+Whiteside · · Score: 2

    see http://www.itv.com/
    been a UK TV company since like forever

    --
    who where what when now?
    1. Re:It's already gone by Dupple · · Score: 3, Informative

      The product is called Apple TV. Not iTV.

      What the is new product is going to be called is anyones guess.

      It is just a rumour though, so is this other story.

      http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/apple/apple-in-talks-to-buy-tv-manufacturer-loewe-1080128

      Both contradictory rumours

      --
      Watch those corners
    2. Re:It's already gone by SimonTheSoundMan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Apple would never call it iTV for this reason. And before people ask "why don't Apple buy ITV", ITV's enterprise value is 327.01 billion. Apple could afford that, but 1/3 of all their money just for a name, I don't think so.

    3. Re:It's already gone by damburger · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Notice how all American posters think that ITV is just going to be rolled over by Apple simply because it is a UK company they haven't heard of. ITV have a long history trading under that name, are still one of the main content providers.

      The UK is a large enough market, that Apple would not want a pointless legal fight just to take over a name that would, for most British people, sound odd associated with an Apple product. Especially seeing as "Apple TV" is already established as a thing.

      --
      If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
  5. I don't care what my TV case is made of.. by ddd0004 · · Score: 2

    This is getting dangerously close to the super high end crap they sell audiophiles.

    1. Re:I don't care what my TV case is made of.. by MadKeithV · · Score: 3, Funny

      This is getting dangerously close to the super high end crap they sell audiophiles.

      No, not even slightly close. Yes, that's a POWER cable.

    2. Re:I don't care what my TV case is made of.. by AdrianKemp · · Score: 2

      I don't care that much about the material, but I do care a *lot* about the finish.

      Brushed aluminum will ensure I never buy it regardless of how good it is. I will only ever buy a TV that has a matte black finish on the bezel. It's the only thing that doesn't intrude on my viewing.

    3. Re:I don't care what my TV case is made of.. by SimonTheSoundMan · · Score: 2

      Makes Denon's cat5 cable look a steal.

    4. Re:I don't care what my TV case is made of.. by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Actually a glossy black bezel can be nice when done well. It reflects some of the on-screen image, softening the edge of the picture. It's a cheap and easy way to increase "immersion" in the image that almost all quality TVs use. The only ones you can get with matte black plastic these days are cheap supermarket crap.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  6. I don't see the point by Grayhand · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It'd be interesting except every rumor I've ever heard quotes this 27" size which is small by today's standards and the prices I've heard are all well over a grand. If they came out with what amounts to a 42" iPad with a tuner and sold it for $1,200 to $1,500 I think they'd make a killing even if the resolution was the same as an iPad. Coming out with one half that sized when I can buy a 42" for $500 or $600 is pointless. 27" TVs sell for a couple of hundred not $1,500. What they are describing is an iMac without the computer part and a tuner thrown in. I really doubt the lack of a tuner is why people around the country aren't watching iMacs instead of TVs in their living rooms.

  7. Poor mans luxury by Shivetya · · Score: 2

    iDevices are this generations BMW car. They are incredibly well marketed and I cannot begin to count the number of people on many Apple forums that I visit who finance all of these devices.

    How do you tell when someone is going beyond their means in the realm of electronics

    1) They finance it

    2) They quibble over 25 and 50 dollar upgrades

    3) See #1 combined with going with a top end model when a lower end easily suffices

    Don't underestimate the power of Apple's marketing to have people make irrational purchasing decisions. Come people don't need a new device each generation but forums everywhere are replete with many doing such

    --
    * Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
  8. Display quality? by GerbilSoft · · Score: 2

    The one consistent thing I've seen with the vast majority of HDTVs is that many of them cannot show a basic computer image without messing up the display in some way. For example, many "1080p" HDTVs arbitrarily limit the VGA input to 1024x768, and there's also models that arbitrarily subsample input to 4:2:2, which introduces color fringing. (Just try using any sort of program that displays text on that!) Virtually none of the displays I've used that are marketed as standard monitors have these issues.

    What I'm wondering is if Apple's "HDTV" will actually be usable as a standard monitor, or if they'll use the same garbage decoders found in the rest of the dime-a-dozen displays. If they do use a standard monitor decoder instead of garbage, then it might actually be worth a purchase, regardless of the brand name or extra iOS functionality. (Obviously it would need to actually support various inputs like VGA, YPbPr, etc; a Thunderbolt-only HDTV is kinda useless.)

  9. Excellent! by AntEater · · Score: 3, Funny

    I've been axiously waiting for someone to put an affordable, technolgically advanced TV out on the market that will respect the user's freedom.

    --
    Alex, I'll take keybindings not used by Emacs for $400....
  10. It will sell like hot cakes. by csumpi · · Score: 2

    Cost doesn't matter. Size doesn't matter.

    If Apple pushes this with a billion dollar ad campaign, saying it's revolutionary and make people feel like losers if they don't have one, it will sell like hot cakes.

    I know several families who are struggling to make ends meet, yet mom and dad sport an iphones with data plans, kids have ipods and ipads. It's sad, but true.

     

  11. even then in the UK they can't call it iTV by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 2

    even then in the UK they can't call it iTV as that will be market confusion.

  12. Once upon a time... by msobkow · · Score: 2

    Once upon a time, Apple Computers signed an agreement with Apple Records (of Beatles fame) that allowed them to use the Apple name provided they stayed out of the music business. Then along came iTunes, and the "Computer" was dropped from the name. I just wonder how much they paid the old Apple Records company for the right to broaden their markets?

    Yeah, it's off topic. :)

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    1. Re:Once upon a time... by expat.iain · · Score: 2
  13. TV + tablet by ModelX · · Score: 2

    My telco offers IPTV box with a load of features but a really lousy interface. There's also a tablet app available that will show most of the channels but the interface is basically select one channel from a list and watch it. With so many people having tablets around it makes so much sense to integrate with TVs and make a tablet somewhat like a secondary screen and a much better remote. Apple has everything in place to make such a TV and a lot of space to innovate. Ipads and Iphones can become personal touch interfaces for the apps running on TV. I can think of dozens of functions that can be made easier and more intuitive with such a setup. Plus they can afford to use a higher-powered CPU/GPU in the TV making it more suitable for console-like software.