Apple Plots Its TV Assault

Apple Inc. is moving forward with its assault on television, following up on the ambitions of its late co-founder, Steve Jobs.

In recent weeks, Apple executives have discussed their vision for the future of TV with media executives at several large companies, according to people familiar with the matter.

Apple is also working on its own television that relies on wireless streaming technology to access shows, movies and other content, according to people briefed on the project.

In the recent meetings with media companies, the Apple executives, including Senior Vice President Eddy Cue, have outlined new ways Apple's technology could recognize users across phones, tablets and TVs, people familiar with the talks said.

In at least one meeting, Apple described future television technology that would respond to users' voices and movements, one of the people said. Such technology, which Apple indicated may take longer than some of its other ideas, might allow users to use their voices to search for a show or change channels.

Apple is still saying little about what specific software and devices it is working on. The people familiar with the meetings said the Cupertino, Calif., company was "vague" and that Apple hasn't made proposals to license shows for any new product offering.

Still, the talks—some of which were made at the request of media companies seeking an update on Apple's plans—suggest that Apple's TV strategy is advancing. The technology company often keeps its products and ideas, close to the vest until as late as possible.

Apple executives have given some specifics in its talks with media companies. The company, for example, has discussed new ways they could stream media companies' content, allowing a user to watch a video on a TV set, then pick up another device, such as a smartphone, and keep watching the video on the move, one of the people familiar said.

Another person familiar with the talks said the types of new services Apple and the media companies are discussing could be done with Apple's existing technologies, which include its Apple TV set-top box.

Around three months after it started selling a new, $99 version of the set-top box last year, Apple said it had sold more than a million but hasn't provided sales figures since.

Apple's uptick in talks with its media partners is part of the company's strategy to change the way consumers watch TV, just as the company transformed the music and cellphone industries. Mr. Jobs envisioned building a TV that would be controlled by Apple's mobile devices in order to be easier to use and more personalized, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company has worked on prototypes for years. Before his death in October, Mr. Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson that he had "finally cracked it," according to Mr. Isaacson's book.

The TV device Apple is working on would use a version of Apple's wireless-streaming technology AirPlay to allow users to control it from iPhones and iPads, according to people briefed on the matter. When the company plans to start selling such a device and whether it would receive traditional broadcast or cable signals remains unclear, said these people, who say Apple may change its plans.

The technology could allow users to stream video from mobile devices to their televisions, without a set-top box. That process is already possible through its Apple TV set-top box, but it is cumbersome and some media companies, such as Time Warner Inc.'s cable channel HBO, prevent their apps from using the technology because they want closer control of how and where their content appears. An HBO spokesman says it hopes to use AirPlay once it is comfortable with the antipiracy protection.

Apple has worked on technologies for integrating DVR storage and iCloud, its online syncing and storage service, into the device, according to a person briefed on the matter. Such technologies could allow users to watch shows they have saved or purchased on two different devices, like a TV and a computer, without having to buy or record the shows twice.

Other media outlets have reported that Apple is developing a TV. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

Apple is one of a number of companies rushing to re-imagine TV by making it resemble watching video on devices like computers and tablets. Like Apple, these companies are taking the approach of trying to tie together the multitude of devices consumers use daily but that don't currently talk to each other.

Google Inc. is trying to enable users to access apps and Internet video on traditional TVs through its Google TV software, which shares some technology with its Android mobile operating system and can be controlled via Android and iPhone apps. Microsoft Corp. offers a mobile app to search for and play entertainment content on its Xbox live gaming console, which streams an array of video. Cable, satellite and phone companies are launching their own video services for computers and tablets and reformatting their traditional interfaces to resemble them.

The efforts are changing the definition of television and the business models around it. In the past, watching television meant tuning in to a TV network live. Now, it means watching video on a broad array of devices from a growing number of providers.

The pace of change puts media companies that make TV shows and program TV channels in a dilemma. On one hand, they hope that they can increase their profits by selling new services on new devices. But they are worried that a proliferation of new services could undermine the existing TV business, which brings in more than $150 billion a year in the U.S. in advertising and consumer spending on monthly TV subscriptions from cable, satellite and telecommunications companies.

What kind of cooperation Apple is seeking from media companies remains unclear. Over the years, Apple has had mixed success getting television companies to agree to new business arrangements for its iTunes store.

The company has also talked to television-service providers about teaming up on new video services for Apple devices, according to people familiar with the matter. It has also broached the idea of licensing content directly from media companies for some sort of subscription-TV service, resembling the packages offered now by cable operators, but the talks have been "exploratory," according to people familiar with the matter.

In meetings as far back as 2010, Mr. Jobs met with a series of cable and satellite executives to discuss next-generation television services for Apple devices, according to people familiar with the matter. Among the questions Mr. Jobs asked in the series of meetings was how much of the universe of video content the providers actually had the rights to, according to a person familiar with the meetings.

Apple's own executives have wondered what the company had up its sleeve. Last year, at its "top 100" meeting for senior managers in Carmel, Calif., an attendee asked Mr. Jobs whether Apple was developing a television.

He responded that it would be a bad business to get into, noting that the margins on television are far lower than the margins Apple makes from its other devices and that consumers don't buy new televisions very frequently, according to this person. Source from wsj