Loewe makes absolutely stunning, beautiful sets. Web photos cannot do them justice, they have a long history of insanely beautiful TV's with insanely great picture quality. They used to sell in the US until about 5 years ago, when they pulled out of the US market, because most Americans are happy to buy whatever discounted Samsung/Sharp/Sony set they can get their hands on (style is secondary). Great for consumers to buy cheap displays with no margin for the manufacturer but not so good for the manufacturers. You can occasionally find a used older Loewe set in a high end A/V theater store, etc. I nearly bought one used on 3 occasions. They made a 55 inch model whose remote allowed the set to swivel to point the TV more directly at the viewer. Back in 2002 or 2003, it was the most beautiful picture you could get. They are German to the core, incredibly finicky about picture quality, and a purchase by Apple would be VERY interesting to say the least. They share design aesthetic with Apple for sure, and I could see many interesting ways to use the best display tech of Loewe and Apple-fy them if you will.
I have no insight into whether they actually buy Loewe or not, but I would love to see it. A re-factoring of Loewe tech with more attention to user interface the way that Apple always does would be very cool. They would kill in the European market where Loewe is properly appreciated already, and like a fine German automobile, they can take over country by country from there.
I'd like to see an Apple TV (with Loewe heritage/display tech) that includes the obvious stuff we all know Apple is dying to do:
-Gaming and gaming apps directly through the TV, through an Apple GameStore (fully entering the Gaming market in other words, directly against MSFT and Sony and Nintendo, with no additional hardware console required)
-Internet connected of course, but using it more wisely with things like voice-based search for content via a Siri or Siri-like interface. Searching would be across the iTunes Store, Netflix (if included), HBO, ABC, other apps directly on the TV, etc. Basically a cross-functional Search across all media (think Spotlight for the TV).
-Photo sharing that people actually use and allows for a social experience of "viewing photos" with your family/friends with voice interaction (a la Facetime)
-True multi-user movie/TV "viewing", where your social network friends can easily watch a movie "with you" virtually (a la the new Rabbit service). Here again, think Facetime functionality that connects you to your friends but then swipes to the side, out of the way once the call is established, so you can view the movie content full-screen if you want. There are ways to make this super seamless.
-time-shifting in the cloud or local DVR functionality (a la Tivo) for all content.
etc. etc.
My opinion? Apple buys Loewe, they would use very little of their overseas cash hoard to do so, it is peanuts for Apple. Most of their cash hoard is overseas anyway, so buying a European company is super easy and preferred actually over buying a US-based company, though they could clearly do that too. I'd love to see them buy Tivo and incorporate Tivo's patents in DVR technology into the new Apple TV also, but not sure they'll make that happen. I think it's an obvious purchase, but I've said that for years, and they haven't done it, so who knows.
