“‘I’ve finally cracked it!’ Steven P. Jobs, co-founder of Apple, told his biographer, Walter Isaacson. Although Mr. Jobs was referring to Apple’s plans to build a full-fledged television, he was not actually referring to the TV set, which is how the comment has been widely interpreted,” Nick Bilton writes for The New York Times. “Instead, it is becoming clear that Mr. Jobs was talking about Siri, Apple’s new artificial intelligent software on the iPhone 4S.”
“Apple engineers and designers, spurred by Mr. Jobs, have been struggling for years to find a new interface for the television. One of the biggest hurdles, according to people with knowledge of the project, has been replacing the television set’s annoying best friend: the awkward and confusing remote control,” Bilton writes. “Apple would give people a way to choose the content on their television that is as easy as choosing the content on their iPod, iPhone or iPad.”
“It’s the stuff of science fiction. You sit on your couch and rather than fumble with several remotes or use hand gestures, you simply talk: ‘Put on the last episode of Gossip Girl.’ ‘Play the local news headlines.’ ‘Play some Coldplay music videos.’ Siri does the rest,” Bilton writes. “Several people, all speaking on condition of anonymity for obvious reasons, told me that nothing was actively being built, but — and this was a big but — I was told repeatedly that Apple would eventually make a television. ‘Absolutely, it is a guaranteed product for Apple,’ I was told by one individual. ‘Steve thinks the industry is totally broken.'”
Bilton reports, “The company is now close enough that it could announce the product by late 2012, releasing it to consumers by 2013. It is coming though. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”
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