The rumor that Apple CEO Tim Cook was spotted at the headquarters of gaming publisher Valve has now evolved into a bigger, more convoluted rumor involving TVs, Siri, motion controller and games consoles.
Why does Apple need to build an entire TV when it has this? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
According to Cult of Mac, Apple is planning an assault on the living room with a TV that will come equipped with an Apple-branded, Kinect-like video game console.
According to sources to Cult of Mac, Apple is working on a television set with an iTunes-integrated touch screen remote and Siri-like voice command technology. The TV set will be coming before the end of 2012. Rumors and patents have said as much for the past year, so that’s nothing new. But that’s not all we’ve heard.
Our sources also say that Apple’s television set will come with an Apple-branded, Kinect-like video game console. The interface will rely heavily on motion and touch controls.
This Apple-branded TV rumor just won't die. If anything, it's getting bigger and more elaborate as time goes on. The main proponent of the Apple TV rumor is Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who has been speculating about such a device for more than four years now.
The rumor gained more traction following claim made by Walter Isaccson in Steve Jobs’ biography that the late Apple CEO would ‘like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use’ that would ‘ seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. ‘Jobs also claimed to have ‘finally cracked’ the user interface problem to make the whole package easy to use.
Could Apple be working on a TV that has an integrated games console? Maybe, but I think that it is unlikely, and I can come up with several good reasons why I believe this to be unlikely:
- Outside of the iOS platform (iPhone and iPad), Apple isn't known as a gaming company.
- A TV with a built-in voice and motion controller and a games console? How much is this thing going to retail for exactly?
- The games console market is tightly stitched up by Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. Breaking into this new market would be extremely difficult.
- Valve does have a portfolio of Mac games, but not enough to create a new ecosystem for a games console.
- Apart from branding, what differentiates an Apple games experience from PC/Mac/Xbox 360/PS3?
- Wouldn't it make more sense for Apple to bring iOS games into the living room through an updated Apple TV set top box? There's a massive ecosystem of games here ready to exploit, along with a healthy developer base.
- That said, folks who own an iPhone/iPad and an Apple TV device can use AirPlay to put games on any HDMI-enabled TV without the need for an Apple-branded TV or an Apple-branded games console. Where does a console fit into the picture?
I'm chalking this down to Apple fanboy rumor-mongering.
