Report: Apple Integrated TV Begins Trial Production
by Brent Dirks
May 28, 2012
The integrated Apple TV is apparently coming closer to reality. WantChinaTimes is quoting a report from the China Business News that says a Foxconn plant in Shenzhen is producing a small batch of the televisions.
A trial run of production will reportedly produce a low number of high-quality units that Apple can put through its rigorous design verification tests.
Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou recently let it slip that the Apple's integrated television is real and that his company will be involved in its manufacturing.
But the company then recanted the statements a few days later.
"Any reports that Foxconn confirmed that it is preparing to produce a specific product for any customer are not accurate," Foxconn said in a statement.And a report this week said that the Apple TV might not even be a smart television at all. Instead of a television, Apple might be producing something closer to an iHub, which could serve as a focal point for a household. One analyst, James McQuivey from Forrester Research went into further detail about the idea.
"Apple should sell the world's first non-TV TV. Instead of selling a replacement for the TV you just bought, Apple should convince millions of Apple fans that they need a new screen in their lives. Call it the iHub, a 32-inch screen with touch, gesture, voice, and iPad control that can be hung on the wall wherever the family congregates for planning, talking, or eating."Most recently, speculation has focused on the iTV being available for consumers sometime in 2013 or 2014. Source: WantChinaTimes/China Business News Via: AppleInsider
