China Daily: Foxconn Confirms That iTV Is Coming
Posted by Michael Nace on Monday May 14, 2012 Under iTV
According to Foxconn CEO Terry Gao, the new Apple television set will be called “iTV” and production will begin in earnest. Read about the features and possible release date.
According to a new report from China Daily, Foxconn CEO Terry Gao has confirmed that Apple will indeed launch the fabled iTV in 2012. In a candid report, which is making its rounds on The Daily, the Foxconn CEO was surprisingly candid about the upcoming Apple television set, offering details about its production schedule, name, and release date.
The Daily reports that “Apple’s lead contractor Foxconn is gearing up to produce the sets, although production hasn’t yet started, CEO Terry Gao told reporters in Shanghai yesterday, China Daily reported. The new product will be called iTV and will feature a sleek aluminum shell similar to that of many current Apple laptops and products, and will have a similar high-definition display, Gou said. It will also have FaceTime video chat and be able to accept instructions using Apple’s Siri voice recognition program…”
The inclusion of FaceTime and Siri will be particularly interesting, since Apple will be essentially integrating these popular iOS features into a television set, thus crafting what could be considered the first mainstream “video phone” — a futuristic concept that has yet to become a household reality in any other format other than computers and some smartphones.
The Daily article goes on to stipulate that “[n]o release date or production timeline for the iTV has been released, nor has Apple even officially confirmed that such a product is in the works.” It brings up an interesting point, since it is hard to imagine that Apple would sanction Foxconn to leak this kind of information about a brand-new product such as the iTV. Gou also noted that “Foxconn would partner with technology company Sharp, which will manufacture the screens on the new televisions,” and that the iTV will feature a high-definition “Retina Display.” Given the fact that production for the iTV has not even begun, it is now quite unlikely that it will be released at the WWDC in June, leaving only the iPhone 5 as a possible surprise release.
By Michael Nace
Michael Nace is the Publisher of the iPhone 5 News Blog and iPhone 6 News Blog. He has published articles about the iPhone since 2010.
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May 12th, 2012 at 2:30 pm
I get the feeling that if any of this is true, he wasn’t supposed to announce it. We’ll see how long he stays CEO.
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May 12th, 2012 at 9:08 pm
Bye-bye Apple contract. Hellloooo breach of contract lawsuit.
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May 12th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
@Paradiddle
There’s no way Apple will be saying bye bye to Foxconn. They’re the largest electronics manufacturer, period. There is no one else that can manufacture devices at the speed and quantity that Foxconn, at least none that I’ve heard.
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May 13th, 2012 at 4:47 pm
I still say that iTV is the gayest, most predictable name for this product. Apple TV Pro would be a much cooler name and makes the product sound more up-market. As a UK resident, it would simply be a TV with the same name as a TV channel, which would be pretty stupid.
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May 13th, 2012 at 6:45 pm
@Darren: I don’t understand why “MacTv” hasn’t been floated. I know that it isn’t going to be a computer, but it’s going to look like an iMac hanging on your wall. In shape, at least, it is more like a Mac than an Apple-brand product. MacTv?
Maybe it’s too much like McTV, which McDonald’s probably owns.
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May 14th, 2012 at 5:54 am
By the sounds of it, there’s going to be a lot more in there than just the usual TV stuff, even more than the latest internet enabled TVs. So why not make it a cross over device?
Imagine effectively a 42″ iPad that is mounted on your wall (or a stand) which has a built in digital TV tuner and HDMI 1.4 in sockets. Maybe add a thunderbolt port too. You could use the bluetooth to connect a wireless keyboard and track pad, and you’d have everything you’d ever need for a complete multimedia televisual experience. If Apple really wanted to make this TV pop, they could always have it display 4K video rather than just the usual 1080p.
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May 14th, 2012 at 11:27 am
@Darren – Gettin’ a little excited (carried away), huh?
That’s cool. 
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May 14th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
I am currently in the market for a new TV. I really hope Apple delivers. Samsung and LG have dropped the ball this year by sacrificing picture quality improvements for a smoother Smart TV interface.
At the end of the day, the iTV will be a TV. Therefore picture quality should be priority. In my opinion the iTV should have:
1. Backlit LED (not edge lit) with local dimming and a lot of dimming zones (at least 240 zones).
2. Passive 3d. It has been proven that passive 3D is flicker free and does not strain your eyes as much as active 3D. Also passive 3D glasses are much cheaper.
3. At least 240hz (480hz would be better).
4. Very slim bezel. The LG LM9600 has a bezel of only 5mm.
In addition to those features, I’m sure Apple will make a Smart TV interface that blows away the competition. I just hope Apple keeps the price down.
The only thing I don’t agree with is the retina screen for a couple reason:
1. It is rumored that the iTV will range from 42″-55″. If this is true, the average person sits too far away from their TV to see any picture quality advantage in a resolution above 1080p. The iTV would have to be at least 70″ for there to be any advantage in a resolution above 1080p.
2. Even if Apple is planning to produce the iTV with a resolution higher than 1080p, there wouldn’t be much content to take advantage of the tv’s native resolution. There is hardly any 1080p contend (besides blu-rays) as it is.
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May 14th, 2012 at 2:54 pm
My guess they will just use the name iTV, and eventually license the name from the iTV station when they counter-sue or complain.
Same thing happened with Cisco over a certain device name a few years back….
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May 14th, 2012 at 7:05 pm
Maybe it will be like a gigantic ‘all in one PC’ mac that’s also a TV? They could have a bluetooth keyboard/mouse to go with it and you can browse the internet and download tons of apps and games. So it will truly be all in one. A computer, a TV/home theatre, a game system. If they do this right and I really think they will, this thing could be HUGE! Man I’m excited!
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May 14th, 2012 at 7:07 pm
@me oh and I don’t think apple would prefer luggish Cable boxes in them, so I’m sure they’ll have some sort of cable card slot and a built in DVR to record your favorite shows, taking on Tivo and the cable companies too.
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May 14th, 2012 at 7:30 pm
Hmmm, I think that if the price nears the $800 range, people may start to think to just by an apple computer. A tv at $600 is not plausible, but it would destroy the tv market. I swear, apple could kill every electronic market right now. That massive amount of money they have built up could buffer them from anew losses for a few years on the tv side. Manufacturers would give up, leaving only apple and really cheap tv’s. Then they could slowly raise the price over 5 years to gain some profits. Then they could do it with another market they want control of. “i see an Entire world, filled with apples.”
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May 14th, 2012 at 9:32 pm
@Undfeatble Sooner or later, could even see the ‘Nation of Apple’ or ‘Apple Island’, or I got one, ‘The Apple Matrix’ This will be the iPhone 20, it projects you and your contactee’s consciousness into a virtual reality while you’re on the phone, you can play apps/games and talk to each other with 3D avatars that you control with your mind. How awesome would that be lol until the Apple Matrix takes over and we’re stuck…
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May 14th, 2012 at 10:06 pm
@spastic, that hole avatar thing would be awesome as long as the avatars are not real, but you know, imaginary. Unfortunatly for most people, apple doesn’t like porn and “hehe” block virtual reality sex. I could see so many people fighting that! But by then apple will have control of the government and be like “we make the law bi**h”!
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May 15th, 2012 at 1:31 am
iTV, a huge iPad with iOS6, Siri so you can tell it what to do, a connection to the iTunes libraries for music, films and games and you will be able to use your iPhone/iPad/iPod as the controller.
Sweet.
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May 15th, 2012 at 7:32 am
@Undfeatble So do you need a someone on the other side to call you in too? Haha. Apple TV sounds cool, personally I found games on iPads and iPhone just fine and I don’t think I need a huge honking TV to fill that void. Console games are just these over hyped expensive games that waste time in my opinion. There nice to chat with friends and neighbors but not nice enough against a cheap iPhone game. Just one more month and the next iPhone comes out… #Icandothis. @Michael do you think Apple let the CEO from Foxconn tell the world about iTV so that it hints more towards a iPhone release this summer? After all they did say it was the week we’ve been waiting for, why not try to hype it up some more by leaking that the iTV is coming but not in production. Not only that, their CEO didn’t mention anything about the next iPhone either. Hmmm.
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May 15th, 2012 at 10:44 am
I think since they mean the week we’ve ALL been waiting for, that has a LOT of meaning. Apple loves to drop hints in their logos and slogans, as we’ve seen in the past. They know that we’re ALL not necessarily waiting for new Macbooks and desktops (though a lot are and for good reason), and we’re obviously not waiting for a new iPad, some are waiting for a new iTV/MacTV but again, the non-tech people out there that don’t follow rumors most likely have no idea about these rumors. Not everyone has a mac, I don’t even have a mac (wish I did but too expensive!). What’s the one device that everyone knows about? That everyone has been waiting for? The iPhone!
We’ve been waiting, we were waiting pre-4S for the new iPhone. My 80 year old grandmother knows what an iPhone is, we ALL know what an iPhone is and anyone that’s a fan of Apple that is waiting for the perfect smartphone, has been waiting for WWDC. Hoping wishing praying praying wishing hoping for a new iPhone that has a new design structure and new features (NFC, LTE etc). The 4S was great but a LOT of people passed on it, waiting for the iPhone 5, waiting for that new design and new features.
When they say it’s the week we’ve ALL been waiting for, that makes me think of one product. The iPhone. It’s the one product (other than iPods) that people know the most about. You don’t need to be a techie at all to know what an iPhone is. It’s the one product we ALL know about and the one product that the majority of people can identify with. It’s what we’re ALL waiting for.
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May 16th, 2012 at 5:43 am
@core2 …or Apple could just come up with a decent name for the TV
Seriously, I’m bored with the iThis and iThat naming convention, it’s so 90′s and past it. To me, the only future product that Apple should use that naming convention on in the future is if they branch into biomechanics and produce the iEye.
Other than that, I’m bored of it, it’s predictable, and also think it’s beneath the current line of products. Don’t forget the “i” originally stood for “internet”, but then apple just started using it on everything. internetTV, it sounds like it’ll be much more than just that to me.
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May 17th, 2012 at 3:41 am
It’ll have to be pretty special for the “average” punter to pay a premium over buying a Samsung/Sony/LG panel instead, especially with the advances the other TV makers are releasing as regards “Smart TV” features.
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