Foxconn Reportedly Testing Designs for 46-55 Inch Apple Television Sets

[MacRumors]

Taiwan's Central News Agency reports (via Patently Apple) that Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision, is currently working with Apple to test several designs for an Apple television set in the range of 46-55 inches.

Hon Hai, the world's largest contract electronics maker, has declined to respond to the reports, saying that it never comments on specific business deals with any single client.

However, the Hon Hai source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the initial phase of tests on the TVs has kicked off.

Nevertheless, the source said it is unlikely that shipments of the appliances will begin as soon as the end of next year.

The source claims that Apple may be looking to show off its new television products at CES next month in Las Vegas, but that seems difficult to believe given Apple's penchant for avoiding trade shows and for holding its own media events to introduce its products as close as possible to launch. With the report apparently claiming that Apple's television sets are unlikely to launch in 2013 and other recent claims that Apple's television projects are being slowed by difficult content negotiations, there would be little chance of Apple showing off anything at CES.

The report notes that using displays in the claimed range of 46-55 inches gives Apple flexibility in deciding on one or more vendors to supply LCD panels for the television sets. Foxconn has worked closely with Sharp and has made an investment in a Sharp LCD factory, but the report's source indicates that it is unlikely that Sharp panels will be used in the Apple television set.

Article Link: Foxconn Reportedly Testing Designs for 46-55 Inch Apple Television Sets

[unplugme71]

Maybe Cook will bring Apple back to trade shows

[iChrist]

Originally Posted by unplugme71

Maybe Cook will bring Apple back to trade shows

That would be excellent.

[Tigger92]

I find it interesting that they are discussing 46" and higher....even larger than I would have expected. Could be very interesting for the market...but I seriously doubt that there would be anything at CES this year.

[rei101]

Why would I replace my TV?

[pnoyblazed]

I'm guessing this well set the benchmark price of $2,000

[dustin8675]

Originally Posted by pnoyblazed

I'm guessing this well set the benchmark price of $2,000

Apple will not release a product that would be substandard to the current king of TVs - Samsung. Samsung's new 7550 TV comes in at 2600 for 46 inch and 3400 for 55 inch. These are two of the more popular sizes on the big screen size so I imagine they would stick with these. To meet Apple's required profit margin, we are probably looking at 2995 and 3995 respectively - if we are lucky. I think they will take the same approach they do with their computers by focusing on a small group of people as pricing like that would do it. Or they could go the route of their iPods and iPads and price more appropriately for the masses and focus on app, subscription, and rental revenue generated from the devices. Even though Samsung has much cheaper versions of their TVs, everyone is going to compare Apple with only the top version of what Samsung has. If the TV is innovative and integrates with all of my other Mac stuff, I'd get a 55 inch version - after convincing my wife we need it and the kids could go without new clothing for a while.

[aprofetto8]

I imagine there's a ton of prototypes in Apple's labs. Even in the Biography of Steve Jobs they talk about all the prototypes they go through before a product goes into production.

For sure they're experimenting with a TV prototype, probably have been for years. I just don't see what the purpose of it would be.

Where Apple needs to come in is UI and content. They need to do to TV and Movies what they did with Music. If they're somehow able to get content on demand and wrap it all in a nice set top box, then I think they'll have the golden ticket.

[HenryDJP]

Originally Posted by pnoyblazed

I'm guessing this well set the benchmark price of $2,000

Ha, probably a lot higher. Bose has a 46" LCD and just because it has Bose's special sound enclosure in it they are asking $5000 for it. Unless a consumer is just a Bose fanatic that's too much money to ask. Apple's TV MAY start at $2000 but I wouldn't count on it being that low.

[Heinsenberg]

Originally Posted by HenryDJP

Ha, probably a lot higher. Bose has a 46" LCD and just because it has Bose's special sound enclosure in it they are asking $5000 for it. Unless a consumer is just a Bose fanatic that's too much money to ask. Apple's TV MAY start at $2000 but I wouldn't count on it being that low.

I actually own the Bose TV; VideoWave. 46" LCD sounds amazing and it the user interface is great to say the least. It was $3999. This is in my bedroom and if have never heard what it sounds like, you should give it a listen.

[saturn88]

Originally Posted by HenryDJP

Ha, probably a lot higher. Bose has a 46" LCD and just because it has Bose's special sound enclosure in it they are asking $5000 for it. Unless a consumer is just a Bose fanatic that's too much money to ask. Apple's TV MAY start at $2000 but I wouldn't count on it being that low.

Bang & Olussfen TV is $20,000
Sharp Elite 70" $8,000
Sharp Elite 60" $5,500

[Elbon]

I love Apple products, but I don't see myself ever buying an Apple-branded TV. I'll stick with my Sony/Samsung with an external box (i.e. Apple TV).

[H2SO4]

Originally Posted by Elbon

I love Apple products, but I don't see myself ever buying an Apple-branded TV. I'll stick with my Sony/Samsung with an external box (i.e. Apple TV).

I would. One thing I do like about Apple is how the goods look. I don't mean the design, I mean the fit and finish and attention to fine details. I still look at my '06 Mac Pro now and marvel at how tidy it is and how every angle, even the back / underneath is a work of art.
I have recently bought a Sony myself and it wasn't the specs that swayed me it was the look, (even when it is off - just looks like a panel of black glass with no ugly plastic or out of place shapes), I simply shortlisted all the ones I liked and picked from those. Little touches like how the Sony logo is silver when off and glows white when on.

For me it's that kind of thing, (as well as actually doing the job of course), that makes Apple a winner.

If the prices don't start at £3000.00 which I suspect they will, I'm in!

[mklaman]

apple tv would be a game changer! would buy one in an instant, especially since i'm holding out on purchasing a new tv and sticking with ym old 37" for now!

really thought one would be out for next year's holidays, but apparently not.

[charlieegan3]

Hopefully lots of leaked photos headed our way soon.

[mklaman]

i would bet a 55" apple tv would run about $4900.


and i'll still buy it. (damn you apple!)

[Noctilux.95]

Originally Posted by charlieegan3

Hopefully lots of leaked photos headed our way soon.

Turn your iPad to horizontal mode to determine what the Apple tv will look like

[rmwebs]

Originally Posted by mklaman

apple tv would be a game changer! would buy one in an instant, especially since i'm holding out on purchasing a new tv and sticking with ym old 37" for now!

really thought one would be out for next year's holidays, but apparently not.

I didnt realise you were privy to it's feature list

[wkadamsjr]

Originally Posted by rei101

Why would I replace my TV?

Why would you replace your phone with an iPhone in 2007? If Apple can't make something better, theoretically they wouldn't get involved.

[Jetson]

I'm betting that an Apple TV will have a front facing camera on it.

A telepresence feature would need a sensor (camera) to detect when someone is in the room in order to perform some programmed action such as turn the TV on from standby mode, increase or decrease volume, etc.

And as has been Apple's recent practice, this camera would NOT have any sort of warning light to let you know that it was on.

iMacs have a green warning light telling you when the camera is on and active. But none of the iPods, iPads, iPhones have any such warning light.

Why is that???

And there is no hardware control to turn off the camera either. Creepy.

Check out this link:

Smart TVs can spy on their owners

http://rt.com/usa/news/smart-tv-security-access-092/

[Benjamins]

Originally Posted by Jetson

I'm betting that an Apple TV will have a front facing camera on it.

A telepresence feature would need a sensor (camera) to detect when someone is in the room in order to perform some programmed action such as turn the TV on from standby mode, increase or decrease volume, etc.

And as has been Apple's recent practice, this camera would NOT have any sort of warning light to let you know that it was on.

iMacs have a green warning light telling you when the camera is on and active. But none of the iPods, iPads, iPhones have any such warning light.

Why is that???

And there is no hardware control to turn off the camera either. Creepy.

Think I'm being paranoid? Check out this link:

Smart TVs can spy on their owners

http://rt.com/usa/news/smart-tv-security-access-092/

unless you jailbroken your iphone/ipad/ipod the camera is off the second you closed the app that uses the camera.

[SonomaFlyer]

The only way I see this thing taking off is that is offers a huge difference between AppleTV (@ $99) and Apple Televisions in terms of content.

To succeed, Apple will need to offer some massive upgrades of content access which would be sufficient to shake up content delivery for cable/sat tv in general. That's a high bar. Can Apple do it? Yes, we saw it with the IPhone. We also saw that with Steve Jobs at the helm and lazer sharp focus at Apple - something they've lacked lately.

[gibbz]

Originally Posted by Jetson

Think I'm being paranoid?

Yes.

[Thunderhawks]

Originally Posted by Jetson

I'm betting that an Apple TV will have a front facing camera on it.

A telepresence feature would need a sensor (camera) to detect when someone is in the room in order to perform some programmed action such as turn the TV on from standby mode, increase or decrease volume, etc.

And as has been Apple's recent practice, this camera would NOT have any sort of warning light to let you know that it was on.

iMacs have a green warning light telling you when the camera is on and active. But none of the iPods, iPads, iPhones have any such warning light.

Why is that???

And there is no hardware control to turn off the camera either. Creepy.

Check out this link:

Smart TVs can spy on their owners

http://rt.com/usa/news/smart-tv-security-access-092/

Just wait until they integrate a visual hand that comes out and taps you on the shoulder or wants to shake your hand.

[photographypro]

Originally Posted by Jetson

I'm betting that an Apple TV will have a front facing camera on it.

A telepresence feature would need a sensor (camera) to detect when someone is in the room in order to perform some programmed action such as turn the TV on from standby mode, increase or decrease volume, etc.

And as has been Apple's recent practice, this camera would NOT have any sort of warning light to let you know that it was on.

iMacs have a green warning light telling you when the camera is on and active. But none of the iPods, iPads, iPhones have any such warning light.

Why is that???

And there is no hardware control to turn off the camera either. Creepy.

Check out this link:

Smart TVs can spy on their owners

http://rt.com/usa/news/smart-tv-security-access-092/

My MacBook Pro (late 2011) has a light. No light on iPods and iPhones to conserve energy, but items you normally plug in would most likely have one.