Rumor: Apple talking TV set with Bell, Rogers in Canada
updated 10:35 pm EST, Mon February 6, 2012
Tentative claim has Apple TV set tested in Canada
Unusual rumors on Monday had Apple negotiating for fabled TV set with Canadian telecom providers Bell and Rogers. The respective satellite and cable TV providers were said by the Globe and Mail to be Apple targets as they had "wireless and broadband capabilities" that could be used for launch partners. The two allegedly even had prototypes in their labs.
Telus' IPTV service Optik was so far left out. Despite claims of inside access by the newspaper, it was already known that Telus would have some consolation about any possibly lost Apple deals by using the fall Xbox 360 Dashboard update to serve as a front end through streaming.
The technical details mentioned by the paper are cast more as recapping speculation, such as the Siri voice commands and iOS device integration.
Such rumors are tentative and leave many questions even if accurate, which is far from confirmed. How and why Apple would need traditional TV integration isn't known. It may want to integrate their shows into Internet searches for results. Apple is also well-known for being extremely cautious about outside testing and, if prototypes exist, isn't necessarily sharing them with TV networks.
Professional Poster
Joined: Jul 2005
I Hope
I sure hope that Shaw will be in the running to offer it. Given that they have the fastest broadband in North America and own stations like Global, they shouldn't be left out.