Hasta La Gadget!

FCC, the agency that regulates most of the products that we cover here, is surely an interesting stop for cool gadgets. Today, a recent filing reveals what appears to be a smaller Apple TV in the works. As you can see in the photo above, the device has a model number A1469 and it has a slightly smaller measurement of 93.78mm – obviously smaller that the current Apple TV which measures around 98mm. We can go on, but the filing doesn’t seem to have much information except for the model number, the measurement, and Wi-Fi capabilities. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iCalc Bluetooth Calculator Keypad Magnetically Works With An Apple Wireless Keyboard, Ashton Kutcher Suffered From Pancreas Problems Following Steve Jobs’ Diet,

There’s a new Apple TV on the way. Per these FCC documents, the new model is physically slightly smaller and as noted by TheNextWeb, rocks an A5X SoC. With the faster core, the new model should provide a better user experience with a smoother UI and improved app performance. Plus, with the recent Apple TV update that added a bunch of features, it seems the Apple is about to make another assault on the living room.

In traditional FCC fashion, the documents fail to reveal anything tantalizing about the upcoming model. There’s no mention of additional capabilities over the current model — nothing about Siri, motion control or anything hinting that this is something special. Without additional information, this model looks like an exercise in supply chain management rather than reinventing the Apple TV experience.

It only makes sense for Apple to move the Apple TV onto the A5X, the same chip used in the third-generation iPad. It had to happen sometime. As Apple moves other products off the 32 nm A5 chip, it cannot forget its little hobby in the Apple TV.

The revised 32 nm A5 chip is still used in the iPad 2, iPad mini, and the latest iPod touch. But with the exception of the evergreen iPod touch, the other two are set for changes sooner versus later. The iPad 2 will be cut from the team while Apple will likely release an upgraded iPad mini with an A5X to allow the hot little tablet to keep up with iOS revisions.

Apple has long treated the Apple TV as a so-called hobby. But even though the company doesn’t treat it as a pillar of its business, the Apple TV remains the company’s best path into consumers’ living rooms. During its Q1 2013 conference call last week, the company revealed that it sold 2 million Apple TVs during the holiday quarter, an increase of 60 percent over the previous year.

There’s no word on when this new model will hit stores. But chances are, since it passed through the U.S. government wireless gatekeepers, it will be in the near future — maybe as soon as this week.

The Apple television has been rumored for years now. And every chance a media person gets, they ask Apple CEO Tim Cook what his plans are for that device. Will Apple launch a television? When will the television launch? What sort of features will the television boast? These are all questions he has been posed – and dodged in one form or another.

And yet, the rumor persists that Apple – either later this year or sometime in 2014 – will launch the long-speculated set. That device, its supporters say, will be the product that television buyers have been waiting for, complete with access to apps and high-quality specs. Apple will find a way, the company’s supporters insist, to revolutionize the television industry.

But perhaps those supporters are wrong.

If Apple is indeed working on a television, the company finds itself in No Man’s Land. In the television market right now, plasmas, while still delivering great picture quality, are seeing their sales dwindle. LCDs and LED-backlit screens are performing relatively well, but also seem to be waning. If CES 2013 taught us anything, it’s that vendors believe the future of television relies in OLED and 4K (Ultra HD).

The problem with OLED and 4K is that televisions featuring those technologies are wildly expensive. Currently, some Ultra HD sets are on sale for tens of thousands of dollars. And although OLED delivers an incredible visual experience, models using that technology are similarly cost-prohibitive to the average consumers.

However, most of the folks in the television industry believe that there’s a good chance that by the end of 2014, those prices will be down to levels that some consumers would find acceptable. Interestingly, it’s possible that the Ultra HD sets will be cheaper than OLEDs at first, simply because of the issues vendors are having producing OLED panels.

“A standard 1080p Apple TV would quickly become obsolete”

Still, it identifies a potential issue for Apple: if the company launches a standard 1080p, LED-backlit screen this year or next, it might get some traction in the marketplace for a time, but it’ll quickly become obsolete. If Apple waits until 2015 to launch an OLED or 4K television to capitalize on that new trend, all of the hype the company has been taking advantage of over the last few years will be lost.

Realizing that, I can’t help but wonder if Apple’s television efforts are in trouble. Granted, the company will deliver a software experience in the television that will likely top anything in the marketplace, and Apple has the ability to succeed in spots where others might not, but the television industry is highly competitive and notorious for its low margins. If Apple can’t find a way to deliver the right product at the right price for the right value to consumers, it’ll lose.

Tim Cook and his executive team must know that. They must also realize that the ideal time to launch an Apple television was not 2013 or 2014, but 2012, when the new technologies were still years off.

Like it or not, Apple might have missed its best opportunity to succeed in the television market.

Will 4K and OLED Scuttle the Apple TV’s Chance of Success? is written by Don Reisinger & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Much has been said about a potential Apple TV set in the past few years, but it would appear that a source out of Foxconn has said that testing is already underway on Apple’s HDTV. The source, speaking under the condition of anonymity, explained that Apple is using LCD panels ranging between 46 inches and 55 inches.

However, don’t get too excited just yet. According to FocusTaiwan, which spoke directly to the source, a 2013 launch is less than likely.

Rumors of an Apple TV set have been flying around for years, despite the company calling it more of a “hobby.” Since, Tim Cook hinted publicly that Apple certainly has plans for a TV set, but didn’t go into too much further detail.

We’ve heard thus far that Apple has started testing designs of the TV, but this would be the first leak out of Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturer that develops most of Apple’s iconic products, such as the iPhone and iPad.

But again, don’t get too amped. Apple TV set top boxes are essentially flying off of Apple shelves, and until they have a product that blows Samsung’s TV offerings out of the water, there’s still time to wait.

See, Apple and Samsung compete on just about every consumer electronics front, but the TV is the key. Users are not necessarily looking for the best product in a single arena, but rather a connected experience across electronics. With Samsung and Apple holding the greatest market shares in mobile, the real war begins in the living room.

Ever since Tim Cook spoke about the future of television with NBC’s Brian Williams during his Rock Center program, the Internet has gone into an absolute tizzy as everyone is speculating Apple will be announcing an Apple HDTV product sometime next year. That is, everyone by former Apple executive, Jean-Louis Gassee.

Gassee took a look at the prospect of an Apple HDTV in a weekly column at Monday Note. In the column, he takes a closer look at Apple CEO Tim Cook’s comments and declares industry watchers have taken them wrong and have blown them out of proportion.

“I simply don’t believe Apple will make, or even wants to make, a TV set”

Instead of a dedicated television, Gassee believes Apple’s future in the living room lies instead within its Apple TV product, which the company already has big plans for its future. Gassee also believes Tim Cook’s comments on Rock Center should be seen as Apple giving notice to its consumers, content-providers and competitors it has big plans for the future to TV. Either way, Apple’s future will certainly be one we’ll all be watching.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iPhone 5S to launch in June 2013 with new camera, NFC and multiple color options [Rumor], Light up your Christmas sweater with the Digital Dudz app,