Apple TV is a digital media receiver designed to play digital content originating from the iTunes Store, YouTube, Flickr, MobileMe, or any MAC OS X or Windows computer running iTunes onto an enhanced-definition or high-definition widescreen television. Apple TV can function as either a home theater-connected iPod device or a digital media receiver. Other capabilities include viewing photos and listening to music.
Now rumors of a next generation Apple TV are surfacing. The Wall Street Journal and others are reporting that the Cupertino company has been courting standard and cable networks to provide content, via iTunes, for the Apple TV. The new content will be bundled in small packages and target consumers who only watch a few channels, yet often have a 300+ channel cable package, and the accompanying bill.
Apple would pay somewhere between $1-2 per subscriber to broadcast companies providing content from standard channels — ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX — and $3-5 per subscriber for cable channels. The WSJ reports that $30 could get you between 15-30 channels on your Apple TV, commercial free. No details on how soon after initial airing the content would become available or how things like live sports would be handled. (www.apple.com/appletv/)
