Apple Negotiating With Cable Companies About Live TV on Apple DVR?

Steve Jobs - Apple TV

Steve Jobs - Apple TV

For the past several months, intense rumors have surrounded the likelihood that Apple was looking to introduce a television set. However, over the past several weeks and days, reports are suggesting that Apple is negotiating with cable companies in order to introduce a new set top box with the capability of streaming live television. The new box will reportedly feature an interface similar to the iPad, likely a cross with OS X as well as social networking integration and DVR-like capabilities.

While this wouldn’t necessarily be Apple “television”, it would give users live channels and likely the ability to hook up the box to almost any projector or screen. It can perhaps even hook up to Apple’s own Cinema Display. In a report from The Wall Street Journal, Jessica E. Vascellaro And Shalini Ramachandran report on Apple’s new venture:

This could just be another in the long history of periodic feeling outs that Apple and Hollywood seem to feel compelled to engage in — a tug at the thread Apple CEO Tim Cook still feels is there.

According to the report, Apple is meeting with numerous cable operators to provide service for the device and is also approaching entertainment companies with a rough outline of the device’s features in order to draw them in. At this point, it is unclear what exactly Apple is planning, as they have also been reported to be testing television prototypes. Under the supervision of Steve Jobs, the company was looking to revolutionize the TV industry and create a more expansive version of it for the market.

Apple would likely achieve this in a very similar manner to the company’s introduction of iMessage to target carriers, albeit on a much larger and more risky scale. Although the current Apple TV sells quite well on the market, the Cupertino company has yet to introduce a device that can shake up the standard and make it much better than what the Apple TV is now, a set of apps that stream music, photos, and television shows. A set top box capable of streaming live television may be exactly that,

Would you buy a new set top box? Do you think this is better than an actual television set? Let us know in the comments below.

{via iMore — Image Credit: Wired}

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