TEK TALK Computer insights by Ed Collins

Rumors say Apple may soon produce TV sets   

Will Apple Computer soon be manufacturing TV sets? Rumors indicate that CEO Tim Cook is secretively leaning in that direction, but it is pure speculation at this point in time.

Q”Television is an area of intense interest to us,Q” Cook recently told Brian Williams of NBC News in a recent interview, but he declined to elaborate further. Apple is known for its strict product secrecy until launched. 

Apple TV, a small set-top box selling at $99, has been around for awhile now. It is designed to play digital content from the iTunes Store, along with Hulu, Netflex and other rental media on high-definition, widescreen large TV sets. But Apple actually producing TV sets is something else entirely.

The story is that Apple is in the early stages of testing various designs for such a high-definition television prototype, working with Asian electronic manufacturers such as South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest TV distributor, Japan’s Sharp Corp., and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the Taiwan firm that assembles Apple’s IPhones and iPads in its Foxconn factory in China.

Apple executives have been looking for a strong consumer product to back up its future smartphone and tablet sales since personal computer sales have been declining recently.

Some at Apple believe producing large widescreen high-def TV sets might just be the next step in converting Apple from a computer company into a general consumer electronics company. However, if these rumors are true, its obvious much work still needs to be done before such a sophisticated product can be put on the market.