We've been hearing that Apple is working on its own smart television for a few years now. Unfortunately expected release dates have come and gone. Apple does not like to rush a product to market before it's ready for prime time, so you shouldn't expect to see the iTV, or whatever Apple calls it, until the company is ready, whenever that is. Whatever Apple has planned, it surely will be worth the wait.
According to Forbes, there's a new report out by Topeka Capital Markets that adds some new information regarding Apple's upcoming television and the potentially groundbreaking accessories that could accompany the device. iRing might soon become a household name, if the rumors are true.
"The iTV will boast a 60-inch screen and cost up to $2,500," Brian White, at Topeka Capital Markets, said in a research note.
"Apple's new gadget will come with a tablet the same size as an iPad. Users will be able to send videos from the iTV to the tablet to continue watching a program as they move around the house.
The concept is similar to the way in which satellite TV companies are starting to let their set-top boxes send videos to iPads and other tablets.
The iTV's most interesting feature, however, is the 'iRing.' The device will allow viewers to control the screen simply by pointing."
The idea that Apple will ship the iTV with an iPad seems a bit farfetched. It sounds like Nintendo's Wii U Game Pad accessory that allows you to perform similar functions to what is described. Apple would probably prefer to sell you an iPad to interact with the iTV, not include one.
When Walter Isaacson was interviewing Steve Jobs for his biography, the Apple CEO told the author that he "wanted to do for television sets what he had done for computers, music players, and phones: make them simple and elegant. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine, I finally cracked it." Could Steve Jobs have been referring to iRing? It sure sounds like he possibly could.
The iRing will reportedly be a ring-like device that will most likely have a motion sensor and Bluetooth inside to communicate with the iTV. The iRing would allow you to interact with the television through gestures and taps in the air: it's basically the remote control reinvented, and we all know Apple has a great track record with reinventing things we never thought needed to be reinvented.
