Apple to launch an HDTV by the end of 2012?

Apple is better known globally for their signature iPhones, iPods, iPads and the likes. The company has also launched their Apple TV, which is basically a set top box that allows one to stream online content over the Internet. It seems that the Cupertino-based company is not looking to stop there and are said to release an HDTV running on iOS by late 2012.

Could this be the future of Apple (Mock up image)

According to a report by VentureBeat, multiple sources have informed them that this rumour in all likelihood could become a possibility. The report states that Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray has cited multiple sources claiming that unlike their Apple TV, a set top box, this would be an actual television. Another source, Stewart Alsop has revealed to VentureBeat that have claimed that there is buzz around Silicon Valley that an Apple television project is underway. Alsop has also said that Apple is holding back its Apple televisions because the cost of LCD panels is steep. The report goes on to state that former Apple CEO Steve Jobs had dropped the biggest indication of a television when he said that it made sense for Apple to integrate its technologies in television sets.

Alsop ends by saying, “You look at TVs in Best Buy and they’re the same damn things that they’ve been building for 30, 40, 50 years. Apple will do to television manufacturers what it did to phone makers with the iPhone.”

Let us know what you think about the possibility of Apple launching a television set in the comments below.