Ah, Canada. The land of free health care, abundant moose populations, and the imaginary girlfriends of American nerds.
It’s also the place where an actual prototype test model of Apple’s oft-discussed TV has been spotted, at least according to Britain’s The Globe and Mail. The paper says a source within Canadian telecom Rogers shared that the iTV is in the lab being tested because Apple wants to line up a bunch of deals with internet service providers ahead of the launch, which may come as soon as this summer. Why ISPs? Because unlike poor Google TV, Apple doesn’t want to rely on the web for content. Streaming, yes, web, no. So basically the ISPs become like the new cable companies and everyone wants to play along because it’s Apple.
Other details from The Register:
As well as packing chatty voice-controlled assistant Siri, the Apple TV will also let you control it by gesture, the sources blabbed. An on-screen keyboard allowing the user to search the net or update social networks will be controlled by voice and gesture too. The TVs will run video chats and were described by the paper as looking like “giant iPads”.
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