Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, is known for his predictions about Apple’s television set. Well, failed predictions, to be exact. Even after all of his predictions were proved wrong, Munster still doesn’t want to give up on the long-rumored Apple television, as he has now places the Apple HDTV launch date for sometime in 2016.

ALSO CHECK OUT: The Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide for Apple TV users

In 2011, the analyst said at the IGNITION conference that the Apple HDTV will reach stores before the 2012 Christmas season. But as soon as he picked up that he could be wrong, he changed the expected date to be in December, 2013. Time proved him wrong again, but he has been keeping mum on the subject since then.

Now, in an interview with Business Insider, Munster dug up the dirt again to announce his new ETA for the Apple HDTV – but this time, it’s two years away. This is because he has noticed that Apple usually takes a couple of years before jumping into a new product category and judging by the Apple Watch launch dates, 2016 seems promising for the Apple HDTV.

Taking his prediction a step further, he even says that Apple will sell 22M units of its standalone TV set in the first year and thereby occupy a 10% share in the 220M market.

Only a patient wait will tell if he’s right this time. But reading together with other rumors we’ve been hearing, we can be sure of one thing – the new Apple TV (set-top box or standalone TV se) is real and is coming out for sure.

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Popular activist investor Carl Icahn recently published an open letter to Tim Cook, asking for an increased share buyback from the company. And among other products mentioned in the letter, he points to an earlier discussion regarding the possibility of Apple releasing its own television set in 2016.

Apple has long time ago stated that they weren’t interested in a HDTV lineup since their upgrade cycles are pretty long. But Icahn says that the ultraHD TV will replace the normal HDTV by 2016, and this upgrade cycle would be a huge opportunity for Apple to step into the television business.

[..]we believe UltraHD’s (ultra-high-definition television) superior picture quality in comparison to regular HD will drive a major TV replacement cycle as the price gap between them narrows.

It should also be noted that Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, has referenced UltraHD as a major catalyst for Netflix going forward, and while this is true for Netflix, we believe it is also true for Apple.

Against the backdrop of this replacement cycle, FY 2016 represents an opportune time to introduce an UltraHD TV set.

Icahn forecasts that the Apple TV set would be sized between 55 and 65 inches, and be priced around $1500 (remember this Best Buy survey from 2012?). He even predicts that the TV set will sell about 12 million units in 2016 and more than double that in 2017.

He also tries to persuade Cook into the idea by citing the huge success of iTunes Store and how users would be able to enjoy UltraHD movies from iTunes through such high resolution screens.

We have been hearing rumors about the Apple standalone TV set for more than four years now, and earlier this year we received some contrasting reports on its development status. You can read all about the Apple’s HDTV here.

It is also worth remembering that rumors of an UltraHD TV from Apple filled the news in early 2013.

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We’ve heard it all about Apple’s television set, but it is generally assumed that the Apple HDTV development is currently on halt. However, an interesting post which appeared yesterday on Seeking Alpha says differently.

The post speaks about a graphics chip and display processing firm, PixelWorks, which Seeking Alpha believes to be a good stock to bet on, thanks to its new client, Apple Inc.

PixelWorks’ revenue has increased by 64% since last year and it is reported that about 14% of the total revenue comes from Apple. This kept analysts wondering if PixelWorks are working on the GPU of iPhone or iPad or even the new iWatch; but the released time slots and Apple’s usual production schedules weren’t adding up.

However on another note, the CEO of PixelWorks, Bruce Walicek hinted that they’re working on a ‘large-display project’ for a ‘major client‘, which leads the author to believe that the company is partnering with Apple to produce the graphics processors for the Apple television.

Here is what Walicek said during the conference call from the last earnings report:

“More importantly, though, Q1 was a key quarter of progress as we completed a number of critical milestones during the quarter that advanced progress on our key initiatives; first, we developed the mass-production version of the advanced SOC for large-screen applications we developed under our co-development partnership.

And during the quarter, we received mass-production qualification from our customer. This is a major milestone on this project, and we are on track for volume production to begin in the current quarter and ramp it in the second half of this year, which we believe will result in significant market-share gains in 2014 and beyond.”

Seeking Alpha author, 3D Analytics, believes PixelWorks is working on a large-display project for Apple:

Based on in-depth research by 3D Analytics, it is our conclusion that the Pixelworks-Apple bond is rooted in the development and production of Apple TV […]

Apple has yet to enter the large-display market, and based on its current intellectual property, it does not have all the technology to build a TV. This is where we see the largest benefit to Apple in partnering with Pixelworks.

For now, things are working out great for PixelWorks as their stocks are soaring high since the post first appeared on Seeking Alpha; they sold about 10 million stocks in one day, as opposed to last 30 day average of 0.7 million.

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With just a day left for the FIFA World Cup 2014 to kick off, everyone is busy buying popcorn and coke and figuring out the best way to enjoy the game. For Apple TV users, seeing the clash of legs on their HDTVs is a tempting option. So here is a guide on how you can catch all the World Cup action on your Apple TV.

Method 1. Watching FIFA on Apple TV from United States

This is probably the easiest way to watch the World Cup on Apple TV, thanks to WatchESPN, which is bringing the live coverage of all matches, previews and some related content to the native channel.

However, to access this stream, you’ll need an active cable subscription with any of the providers affiliated with ESPN or at least get a username and password from one of your friends.

According to CNET, the supported providers include:

AT&T U-verse, Bright House Networks, Charter, Comcast XFINITY, Cox, DISH, Google Fiber, Midcontinent Communications, Optimum, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon FiOS TV.

To watch the games, just fire up your Apple TV -> open the WatchESPN channel -> login with your cable provider ID -> find your match and enjoy!

Here is the official WatchESPN schedule for their live world cup coverage.

US Hispanics will be pleased to know that Univision will be broadcasting all 64 games in Spanish. They don’t have a native Apple TV channel, so you’ll need to either AirPlay them from their website (using OS X AirPlay Mirroring or from a PC using AirParrot) or via their exclusive iOS app for the FIFA World Cup.

Univision will stream the first 56 games without the need to sign in with a pay TV provider login. However…

…the quarterfinals, semifinals and the finale will only be made available to customers of pay TV providers the network has a deal with, which at this point include AT&T, Bright House, Optimum, Cox, DirecTV, Dish, Time Warner Cable and Verizon, but not Comcast.

Method 2. Watching FIFA on Apple TV from United Kingdom

In the UK, there is no native channel on Apple TV which will let you stream the matches live. However, if you have an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, you can get the BBC iPlayer and iTV apps on it to AirPlay the content to the HDTV.

It’s been officially confirmed that BBC and iTV will be splitting the rights for the matches to be shown, with each streaming 31 and 34 games respectively.

The iPlayer also offers VOD for past matches and also a better commentary as claimed by many fans. And the best part is that it is free and doesn’t require any active subscriptions like WatchESPN.

Check this schedule for the live broadcast of World Cup matches for the two apps and get BBC iPlayer and iTV apps from the App Store for free.

When your favorite match is live, turn on Apple TV and open the corresponding apps -> select the live stream of the game -> pull up the Control Center and select AirPlay -> choose your Apple TV and enjoy!

Besides the official apps, the matches will also be available to stream from their official websites (iPlayer,  iTV). So you can just stream the match on your browser and AirPlay to the Apple TV (using OS X AirPlay mirroring or from a PC using AirParrot).

Don’t want to use your iOS device? Check out some other methods below.

Method 3. Via your country’s national providers

Most countries already have a specific cable provider who has the rights for streaming the whole World Cup. It is highly likely that these providers have their own iOS apps or atleast a dedicated website for broadcasting the matches. GigaOM has detailed on a few countries:

Australia: SBS will stream each and every game on its website as well as through its iOS and Android apps.
Canada: CBC will stream all 64 games of the World Cup on its website as well as through its iOS and Android apps — no pay TV subscription required.
Ireland: RTÉ will stream all 64 games live on its website as well as through its mobile apps, including 8 that won’t be broadcast on TV.

You can check this article to find which channel provider in your country has the world cup’s broadcasting rights and then a quick Google search should give you the links to their website or iOS app. AirPlay directly from their app or use OS X mirroring with Safari or AirParrot on PC with your browser, to get the World Cup matches on your HDTV.

Method 4. Using SportsDevil addon for XBMC

The best thing about this method is that it is completely free and works for just anybody. However, this method may not be legal in certain countries, so please check before you attempt to stream. It may also have below average quality for streams when compared to other official ones.

Here’s how you get this done:

A. For jailbroken Apple TV 2
Things are much easier when you have a jailbroken Apple TV because XBMC can be installed directly on it. You can follow our guide on how to install XBMC 13.0 Gotham on Apple TV 2.

B. For non-jailbroken Apple TV 2 or Apple TV 3
In this case, you’ll need another device like a Mac, PC, jailbroken iOS device or an Android device to install XBMC and then use some third party software to AirPlay to Apple TV. Here is a detailed guide on how to get XBMC on your HDTV via Apple TV 3 (or non-jailbreakable Apple TV 2).

C. For Apple TV 1
In this case, you’ll be using a software called OpenElec and you won’t be able to install XBMC as a separate channel on your set-top box, but instead you’ll need to install XBMC as a stand-alone operating system on it. In short, your old Apple TV will boot directly into the XBMC home screen. Find our detailed tutorial here.

Once you have the perfect setup of getting XBMC to show up on your Apple TV, follow our guide on how to Watch live sports on Apple TV with SportsDevil XBMC video addon and access any of the hundreds of Sports Channels to stream the FIFA World Cup 2014 live.

If you’re having any issues with compatibilities, please check out this guide.

Method 5. Using UnoTelly

Unotelly is a DNS service, which will help you securely spoof your IP address and thereby your digital location, allowing you access to country specific websites and services from anywhere in the world. So in this method, we’ll change our iOS device’s location to UK and make use of the BBC iPlayer and iTV apps (Method 2) to stream and AirPlay FIFA matches to Apple TV.

The best part is that UnoTelly now has a World Cup offer by which you can avail a free trial of 8 days to view some matches and if you like the results, you can subscribe for just $4 per month. You can avail this offer here and get started with their guide here.

Others DNS clients: HideMyAss, Unblock US

CONCLUSION

Did we miss any methods? Have you checked out any of these methods? Do share you thoughts in the comments below.

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In 2013, rumors about Apple-branded TV set were circulating day by day, but after some point, the spike just flattened out. Well, now we have a reason worth believing: Brian Blair, an analyst at Rosenblatt Securities, has told Business Insider that Apple indeed had plans to release their own standalone television set, but it was shelved in the mid-2013.

With Steve Jobs’ biography mentioning that he had “cracked” the code for an “integrated television set” and Tim Cook calling the TV market “an area of intense interest”, readers were already hinted of an Apple HDTV in the oven. Many concept designs and speculated unique features in relation to patent filings and acquisitions were flooding the web.

However, after his recent tour to Asia, Blair claims to have learned a lot on Apple’s television dreams. According to him, Apple was actively working on a prototype HDTV and even reached a stage where they started connecting with display panel makers. But at some point in 2013, Apple decided to put a halt on the project. The reasons being:

Some of the concerns around a TV are believed to revolve around 1) the unique logistics that surround the TV business (you can’t easily bring one into a store for repair, for example) and 2) features that would differentiate it from competitive offerings. It is believed in the supply chain that Apple is still trying to find a way to make the product work, though timing remains uncertain. We believe that Apple is focused on building up content and establishing differentiated media relationships before reconsidering TV plans again.

At the end of the day, we can only speculate that Apple will be concentrating more on the Apple TV set-top box for the time being and try to dominate the living room via the black box, rather than lighting up a couple million pixels. Maybe the long delay in the next Apple TV indicates great things are coming. Fingers crossed!

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This might come as a little shock to many who are eagerly waiting for the much speculated Apple TV 4, but according to the analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the next Apple TV won’t be released any time before the end of the third quarter.

Kuo has released a timeline for 2014, indicating his expectations of all of Apple’s upcoming releases. As evident from the picture below, Cupertino will have a tight schedule in the September-October slot with at least 5 new product launches. And among the eye popping iPhone 6, iWatch and 12″ MacBooks, the Apple TV 4 also finds a narrow space close to the beginning of Q4.

According to Kuo, 2014 will be the year for major focus on set-top box for Apple and the next-gen. Apple TV will play a “key role” in the Apple ecosystem. He’s sure of the new interface and design but iOS-like flexibility and a dedicated App Store though  may be a little time away.

Kuo also nods yes to the motion-controller and the possibility of a camera on the same, for better user experience. He seemed skeptical about Apple’s own television set, the iTV and says it wouldn’t be released this year, if ever and only the response Apple gets from Apple TV 4 will decide iTV’s fate.

It is just an analyst talking what he thinks and that might not turn out into reality, right? While that is true, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities is often regarded as the most accurate analyst in the world. For instance, he was among the first ones who predicted the golden iPhone 5S with dual flash and a fingerprint sensor.

In a way, this report correlates with another one we heard earlier from Bloomberg that Apple TV 4 will be announced in April but will be available for shipping only around the time for holidays. Now that Amazon Fire TV is released, Apple might want to consider this strategy in order to prevent losing new users just because they were a little late to show off what they’re planning.

As usual, only time will tell what Apple will be doing with its set-top box this year and how it will change our living rooms.

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The first reports came way back in July by Israeli media Calcalist and was speculated to be tagged at about 280 million. Last week, the same guys hottened the rumors with a speculated 345 million on table. Apple kept mum on the subject and PrimeSense even dared to dismiss the matter but we knew, we couldn’t trust the official words. As per one of yesterday’s news article on Globes, the deal is now closed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXKqIr4cjyo

According to various sources, including AllThingsD, Apple has responded to the news with a rather vague explanation. Apple’s spokesperson Kristin Huguet said in a telephone interview, “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans“. The real confirmation came from the other side according to Reuters, when a PrimeSense representative said, “We can confirm the deal with Apple. Further than that, we cannot comment at this stage“.

So what does that mean for Apple’s future devices? PrimeSense as you might be familiar with, is a 3D sensor provider, and was behind the original Microsoft Kinect. On the other hand, Apple has also prepared their own ideas for motion detection, as evident from the above patent. We can see that this particular image shows the living room as the sensors’ detection area and a television as the source of the sensor. With the rumors of Apple’s own television set getting hotter and hotter, we can hope that an iTV with smart gesture controls is on the road map.

But unlike the initial bulky sensor, PrimeSense has come alot way to reach a highly compact and portable design. It makes us wonder, whether the iPhone and iPad will also get their own piece from this deal. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, we would love to hear what you guys think.

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Apple has always had this thing for acqui-hiring established companies for their future products and patents, rather than starting things from scratch. They did it with Siri and countless others till the recent taking over of flash storage maker Anobit in Israel.

Now, the same source which reported the latter news, have some info on Apple’s latest venture. According to the Israeli media Calcalist, Apple has acquired PrimeSense, the 3D sensor providers for Microsoft Kinect. You might remember one of our earlier posts where we discussed a similar rumor in July. Though the news was later declined by the representatives, official declarations in such secret deals often doesn’t carry much truth. This is proved by the more compelling reports flowing in now. As per the new reports, PrimeSense was acquired by Cupertino for about $345M as opposed to the previously speculated $280M.

Apple has already patented their own 3D sensing and imaging platform as seen in the above picture and this PrimeSense acquisition is probably aimed at boosting or hastening their plans. On the other hand, age old rumors of Apple’s own television set are getting hotter and hotter. Reading things together, we can expect/hope Apple to release the speculated iTV soon. And that too, with gesture controls and movement tracking like in Kinect or something entirely different with Apple’s own charm, one can never tell!

As expected, PrimeSense has again decided to keep us in the dark with the below reply to TheNextWeb’s query.

PrimeSense is the leading 3D technology in the market. We are focused on building a prosperous company while bringing 3D sensing and Natural Interaction to the mass market in a variety of markets such as interactive living room and mobile devices. We do not comment on what any of our partners, customers or potential customers are doing and we do not relate to rumors or re-cycled rumors.

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A new report from a well-connected and usually reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities claims Apple will release a new Apple TV with A7 processor in 2014 and an actual TV set in 2015 or 2016.

We expect Apple to launch a new version of the Apple TV with an A7 processor in 2014, and we forecast 2014 shipments to total 8.2mn units. Shipment growth will be limited unless Apple is able to integrate more TV content, services and its App Store, in our view.

We believe the slowdown in Apple TV shipments suggests Apple faces challenges in integrating TV content and services. If Apple wants to launch iTV, the challenges of integrating content and service are more difficult considering the different TV content ecosystems (e.g. cable operators) in various countries. Moreover, establishing an iTV supply chain is very costly. Thus we believe iTV launch will be delayed to end-2015 or early 2016 at the earliest.

Back in October we reported that TechCrunch’s MG Siegler, who has previously claimed Apple might be releasing some sort of redesigned Apple TV hardware (“with some sort of newfangled control system”) in October, now claims that the big update to the Apple TV was looking to land around the November timeframe:

Originally, I had heard this new-style Apple TV (not an actual television, by the way) was slated for sometime around this November. It’s hard to imagine Apple holding a third event following the iPhone one in September and the iPad event next week. But who knows? Not me, this time.

Stick around here at Apple TV Hacks (Facebook, Twitter, Google+) for more coverage on the new Apple TV.

The post Report: A7-based Apple TV in 2014, standalone Apple TV set in 2015-2016 appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

Following increased rumours that Apple will be releasing an updated Apple TV for 802.11ac support at their iPad event in October, it was thought the announcement would be a relatively small one. However, a recent appointment into Apple’s exec team might indicate that Apple has plans for something special lined up for a 2014 release.

CableLabs exec Jean-François Mulé has recently joined Apple in the role of engineering director and his appointment comes just weeks before Apple are set to announce the new model of their Apple TV. But it’s his LinkedIn profile which has got the rumour mill speculating, as according to his experience Mulé is “challenged, inspired and part of something big” at Apple.

A new Apple TV

So what exactly is he doing at Apple?

Apple have been releasing new media apps to the Apple TV over the last few months, including HBO Go, WatchESPN, Sky News, Disney Channels, and MLS to name a few, and then of course there was the 6.0 firmware which added a ton of functionality, so it’s clear to see that the Apple TV is no longer a hobby to Apple.

Factor in Mulé’s appointment with Apple’s interest in purchasing Ultra HD TV panels from LG, together with the rumors Apple is in talks with the company behind the Xbox Kinect, as well as Tim Cooks vision for the future of Apple TV and you start to build a picture of just what Apple might have up their sleeve with their ‘something big’.

Tim Cook has been very vocal in expressing his disappointment in customers experience with TV and the interaction with cable providers. Given Mulé’s expertise, this is certainly something that Apple could explore changing.

There have been numerous concepts built showing what Apple could easily create to revolutionise the living room experience, and with the release of the Xbox One of Ps4 imminent, now would be a great time to get their foot in the market. The most logical conclusion is that it will be a standalone TV set with integrated services probably powered by iOS, but it could equally just be a redesigned set top box, allowing the consumer to attach whatever display they choose.

It’s an area where Jony Ive could really come into his own; when asked about his favourite Apple design, Ive answered:

“It’s a really tough one. A lot does seem to come back to the fact that what we’re working on now feels like the most important and the best work we’ve done, and so it would be what we’re working on right now, which of course I can’t tell you about.”

Could it be this ‘important work’ that is the Apple TV? Perhaps they have the design, the interface, and the interaction all figured out but just needed that last ingredient – Mulé could be that ingredient.

One thing’s for sure, Apple have something special up their sleeve and it all seems to revolve around the Apple TV. Sit tight folks, although we’re still only looking at a small update for the Apple TV in October since Mulé was only appointed a few weeks ago, it spells big news for what Apple might have planned for 2014.

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