“ITV has written to Apple to warn the Silicon Valley technology giant off using its three-letter name for its long-awaited, ‘iTV’ smart television. Adam Crozier, chief executive of Britain’s biggest commercial broadcaster, raised the issue with the company when he took the job in 2010, amid expectations that Apple would follow the pattern of branding used for its iPhone and iPad when it eventually cracked television,” Katherine Rushton reports for The Telegraph.
“At the time, ITV, the broadcaster of popular period drama Downton Abbey, received assurances that Apple would not muscle into its territory, at least in the UK,” Rushton reports. “However, insiders fear that the world’s biggest company might take a different stance under Tim Cook, who replaced Steve Jobs as chief executive shortly before Mr Jobs died in August last year.”
Rushton reports, “Apple has never confirmed plans for an ‘iTV’ but expectations that it is preparing to launch one are gathering pace. Last week, a newspaper in Canada reported that the Canadian telecoms company Rogers and Bell has an Apple television in its laboratories, which can be controlled by voice prompts like the iPhone 4S, but can also be controlled by movement, as in Microsoft’s Kinect system.”
Read more in the full article here.
[UPDATE: 11:30am ET: In a statement to The Verge, an ITV spokesperson said that, “The Telegraph’s piece is entirely speculative, and there has been no recent dialogue between ITV and Apple. ITV has no further comment on the matter.” Full article here]
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Brawndo Drinker” and “Lava_Head_UK” for the heads up.]
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Apple know not to and why it isn’t possible. Ever noticed that amongst all the iGadgets, there is one called Apple TV and not iTV ?
It’s the press that keep talking about iTV because they’re ill-informed.
ITV Thames has been an iconic TV station entity in the UK from as far back as the early 70’s as I remember
Actually, 1955 so even before Steve Jobs was born!
There was also an Apple entity in the UK as far back as the late 60’s…how’d that work out for ya?
Meaning?
Are you really retarded?
Well. I’d say it made Mr McCartney, Mr Starkey the estates of Mr Lennon and Harrison a lot of money over the years. So I’d say it worked out pretty good for the pretty much defunct Apple Record company.
I don’t think Apple will call one of it’s many products iTV for exactly that reason.
Apple would be stupid to call it ‘itv’.
Itv is an established broadcasting brand that goes back many many years.
Apple will just be sued and have to renametr device.
What i suggest is that they call it something less obvious like the naming of iPod and iPad.
Well how about : I-media, iscreen, iwatch etc
Nothing 100 billion dollars can’t solve. See: Cisco.
See China and the iPad!
Except that story is still being written.
That’s a case of a company selling the rights, then trying to double dip and defraud Apple. If justice prevails, they will not succeed, but who can really say what will happen. It’s a Chinese company on Chinese turf. Facts and fairness might not really matter so much.
+1
I think that Apple will say that their TV (should they actually produce one) is more than a TV, and that they will therefor call it something else. iVid is a good name.
Different. Cisco’s iPhone was a then dorment and short life unknown dud.
Dormant
They could call it ATV in the UK – they were wound up in 1992.
Won’t happen. Tens of millions of people in the UK refer to commercial television as ITV. I think Tim has more sense than to try to throw Apple’s weight around concerning a 55-year old business, in a country where that sort of behaviour would generate a shitstorm of bad media.
Why would there be bad press if they came to some sort of Amicable terms and bought the rights to it? They have done this before on numerous occasions. Heck the name of the company was essentially purchased from Beatle’s record label. That was also a British company, no?
Agreed.
For those of you across the pond and elsewhere, ITV stands for Independent Television. Until its launch in 1955, the BBC was the sole television provider in the UK and is the oldest television domestic service in the world.
I well remember as a kid having the choice of just two channels. Which was no problem- kids played outside and adults read books, had conversations, went to the pub and contributed to the baby boom.
What about the iView? iTelly? iTube? iBox? iStation? iSet? iVid? iVision? iSpy? iAM? (all media) iSee? iPort? All I know is I’m going to buy one,
sTV: SiriTV or SmartTV
I vote for IOS TV
i sTeVe
Steve Jobs died on October 5, 2011 NOT August.
Should have taken ‘in August’ and placed it behind the “Tim Cook who replaced Steve Jobs as chief executive IN AUGUST before Jobs died last year”.
I agree, it’s placement make one think Steve passed in August.
STD…
Siri-ous
Television
Domination
Tag Line: “It won’t ‘infect’ you but it will ‘Affect’ you!”
Oh yeah like the two things would actually ever be confused in the marketplace.
Well one shows tv and the other… shows tv of some nature, yep no confusion to be had whatsoever.
Gee, I don’t know … how about naming it … Apple TV
Apple never announced any product called iTV. I don’t think they plan to either. If Apple does come out with a full TV it will still be called Apple TV.
IIRC Apple announced the tv as iTV, but by the time it was released the name had changed.
And before iTunes’ release it was widely referred to as iMusic, so maybe Apple will call it something completely different (iWatch?)
Aha!
AppleTV, anyone?
How about iTune…
The “T” is short for “tele”. Maybe we should look for a more revolutionary term? Something more close to home?
Then of course, in Britain there is Apple Corps Records which exists for no reason other than to extort money from Apple Inc. because of their name.
Except that Apple Corps Records was started when Steve Jobs was about 11.
Well, we wouldn’t want to let facts stand in the way of 180 degree revisionist history, would we?
iScreen
I have an idea!
Apple SHOULD take the name iTV from the UK TV station and ITV (UK TV station) should take the name Apple as in Apple TV…
Well, what do you think? Everybody would be happy.
iBox
Avast there mateys, I be votin’ fer “ayeTV”. Arrrr!
How about giving me a big monitor that I can plug ANYTHING into… display any standard (eliminate the PAL/NTSC/SeCAM thing) and having a universal power supply so that when I move from NY to Europe I can just change the power cord.
m