“One much ballyhooed device will be absent from the conference: a new Apple TV, Apple’s set-top box for televisions. The company planned as recently as mid-May to use the event to spotlight new Apple TV hardware, along with an improved remote control and a tool kit for developers to make apps for the entertainment device,” Brian X. Chen reports for The New York Times. “But those plans were postponed partly because the product was not ready for prime time, according to two people briefed on the product.”
“The company decided to hold off an announcement because the product was not ready to be demonstrated, according to people briefed on the device,” Chen reports. “A major setback for the Apple TV involves content. Apple plans to offer its Apple TV, iPhone and iPad customers a bundle of channels that is smaller and cheaper than the large catalog of offerings in a typical cable subscription, according to people briefed on the service, who discussed the incomplete plans on the condition of anonymity. Media executives have been coy about the existence of the coming Apple TV service — the chief executive of CBS said last week that his network would ‘probably’ sign a deal with Apple. Separately, Showtime announced on Wednesday a new Internet streaming service that would debut on Apple devices in July for a monthly fee of $10.99.”
“But in the background, content providers have also whispered that they are far from reaching deals with Apple to offer an Internet-based TV service, largely because they have not come to an agreement on price, rights and technology issues, according to people briefed on the discussions,” Chen reports. “Despite the delay, many developers remain intrigued by the idea of making apps for the Apple TV. This year, Apple published a graphic that resembled its hockey-puck-shaped Apple TV on a webpage promoting the developer conference, hinting that TV apps would be coming soon.”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple TV (the current gen 3, at least) will have to be there at WWDC as it will serve as the hub for Apple-certified HomeKit-connected devices. Apple’s invitation graphic would also look pretty silly with no mention of Apple TV (gen 3, at least):
Apple’s WWDC 2015 invitation graphic
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz,” “Currentinterest,” and “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
