Apple TV set-top box to offer live and on-demand TV?

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Rumours suggest Apple is considering a set-top box that would show live TV channels alongside its on-demand iTunes content

Apple is rumoured to be planning a set-top box that would combine on-demand iTunes content and live TV programmes.

Essentially an upated version of the existing Apple TV box, which only shows bought iTunes content, the set-top box would see Apple jostling for a more prominent position in the living-room.

The report in The Wall Street Journal suggests Apple would talk to cable operators in the US in order to offer traditional TV channels alongside Apple TV and movie content in the form of apps.

Apple's great rival Google recently announced Google Fiber TV in the US, which sees Google not only offering home broadband packages but also a broadband plus TV package, complete with a TiVo-esque set-top box.

Google TV – a direct rival to Apple TV, which has content from the likes of Netflix plus an internet browser – is only now trying to gain market share in the UK, as boxes from the likes of Sony slowly emerge.

An Apple TV set-top box would arguably be an alternative to the much-rumoured 'Apple iTV'.

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Joe Cox
Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).