“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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