Apple Television rumors: same crap, different pile

The Apple Television (AKA iTV) has been making its way around the rumor mill the last couple of days. We’ve been holding off on publishing articles since they all pretty much say nothing; however, since they keep popping up, we thought we would round up everything from the last couple of days and put it into one article for your viewing pleasure.

Sharp to build the displays, mid-2012 release

The often talked about Apple Televsion is apparently already in the production stages, and getting ready for an announcement sometime in the early first or second quarter of 2012.

According to AppleInsider, both the displays and chips are already being manufactured:

Meanwhile, reports out of Korea claim that supplier Samsung began producing chips for the device in November, while Sharp is rumored to produce the displays for the television set.

If the iTV/Apple Television is actually going to be released in the Spring months, and there’s no definitive proof that it will, then it’s pretty obvious that the television sets would be getting manufactured as we write this article. We’re not convinced that this is the case, however. The majority of the rumors about an Apple Television seem to be coming from Digitimes and its supply chain sources, both of which have dubious histories when it comes to rumors.

Apple’s looking to let people subscribe to channels not bundles

Another not-so-new rumor making the rounds this week is that Apple’s looking to change the television game by tossing a wrench into the traditional cable television approach that has dominated the industry since its creation.

Up until this point there have been rumblings from CBS CEO Les Moonves that Apple has approached the major cable providers about streaming content across the Internet instead of using the traditional licensing approach. It’s pretty obvious that live television is a stumbling block for Apple’s current iTunes model, and it’s even more obvious that they have been working on rectifying the problem through Apple’s inclusion of properties like NHL and MLB within its current AppleTV set-top box.

Another rumor from today, also courtesy of AppleInsider, also points out that Apple’s attempting to create a customized channel lineup for its customers, allowing them to subscribe to channels or shows they enjoy, instead of being forced into buying bundles of junk that they never watch. It’s also pretty obvious that Apple may be having difficulties selling the concept to the major cable providers given Les Moonves’ comments earlier this year.

The iTV to use a custom chipset

Finally, the most captain obvious rumor from today: custom chipsets for the iTV. It’s being reported that custom ARM-based CPUs are being built for the televisions, just like the iPhone and iPad before it.

“Following sources’ claims that Samsung Electronics and Sharp will manufacture chips and displays, respectively, for the so-called Apple “iTV,” others have suggested that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) have the potential to win orders for Apple’s smart TV.

There’s not much to say other than, yeah, no kidding.

There you have it. All the Apple Television rumors that have been making the rounds this week. Most of them are just regurgitations and variations on themes we’ve heard before, making this particular news more of the same instead of something new.

Joshua is the Content Marketing Manager at BuySellAds. He’s also the founder of Macgasm.net. And since all that doesn’t quite give him enough content to wrangle, he’s also a technology journalist in his spare time, with bylines at PCWorld, Macworld… Full Bio