苹果的互联网电视（iTV）靠谱吗？

消费性电子市场上已经可以看到很多连网电视产品，可预期在2012年国际消费性电子展(CES)上以及之后，将会看到更多；但这些日子以来，有个发烧话题是：苹果(Apple)能否将相关概念具体化为消费者“一定要拥有”的设备？就像是该品牌过去成功造成热销的MP3播放器、智能型手机与平板装置等等产品那样。 近日台湾媒体已经传出苹果即将推出互联网电视的消息，据说该所谓的“iTV”会在今年8月问世，采用由夏普(Sharp)提供的32吋与37吋屏幕，内部芯片则是由三星(Samsung)制造。而以上业界传言的可信度升高，据说与刚出版的《乔布斯传》有关；在该畅销传记中引述了一段乔布斯的话，说他“终于破解了整合型电视产品的密码”。 虽然也有其它舆论拒绝炒作谣言，指苹果应该仍在开发电视产品的初期阶段；也有人说，电视无法让苹果展现优势，因为这类系统很少会升级，对这家计算机与消费性电子产品供货商来说，也会带来全新、沉重的供应链挑战。但另一方面，苹果的软件设计工程师擅长于以简驭繁，该公司也与好莱坞有一些联系，有助于弭平来自影视制作公司与广播业者的一些阻力。 早在2008年，我们就曾经热烈讨论过“iTV”；当时雅虎(Yahoo!)涉足电视市场，在2009年出货了350万台互联网电视。后来， Google 也加入电视供货商行列，曾经受瞩目一段时间，最后相关产品仍然失败，该公司现正在开发下一代平台；Google TV由风光到没落，也让芯片大厂英特尔(Intel)在短时间内进入又退出这个新兴市场。 两年前的CES展会上就可以看到，几乎每家电视供货商都展示了至少一款连网电视；今年稍早，一位消费性电子产业界的大佬还积极推动订定开放性互联网电视标准。分析师们对互联网电视前景也颇为看好，预测到2014年，该类产品销售量将达到6.5亿台。 我们很想听听曾经尝试过推出互联网电视的制造商或是相关人士的看法，究竟到目前为止，这类产品最大的缺失为何？而苹果到底能不能创造出更好的连网电视产品？欢迎与我们分享你的经验与意见！ 编译：Judith Cheng 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 参考英文原文： Can Apple make a better Web TV?，by Rick Merritt

相关阅读：
• 2012年智能电视在中国iTV用户市占率将超三成
• 明年智能电视也玩语音控，你能hold住吗？
• 物联网应用新商机：电视节目制作革命L5Gesmc

{pagination} Can Apple make a better Web TV? Rick Merritt SAN JOSE, Calif. – The consumer electronics industry has seen plenty of Web-connected TVs and will see plenty more at CES 2012 and beyond. The burning question these days is whether Apple can crystallize the concept into a must-have product as it has done with MP3 players, smartphones and tablets. This morning, Taiwan's Digitimes became the latest to weigh in on rumors Apple Inc. will deliver a connected TV. It reported the so-called iTV could ship by August using 32- and 37-inch screens from Sharp and chips made by Samsung. The rumors kicked into high gear following the release this year of the official biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. It quoted Jobs as saying he "had finally cracked the code" on an integrated TV product. Since then others have turned down the volume on the hype, suggesting Apple is still in an early phase of developing such a product. Others have noted TVs do not play to Apple strengths because systems are rarely upgraded and carry new and heavy supply chain challenges for the computer and device maker. On the other hand, Apple's software designers have a knack for making complex things simple. The company also has the Hollywood connections to plow through some of the resistance from studios and broadcasters. We shared our concept of a hot iTV back in 2008. Since then Yahoo! entered the market, enabling 3.5 million connected TVs in 2009. Google followed with its own PR splash and products that flopped and is now working on a next-generation platform. The gyrations have been enough to jerk Intel in and out of this emerging market. Even two years ago, nearly every TV maker had at least one Web TV model in its line up at CES. Earlier this year, one consumer veteran helped launch an open Web TV standards effort. Analysts have put out big projections for sales of as many as 650 million of such systems by 2014. We'd love to hear from TV makers and anyone who has tried a connected TV. What are the sore spots of these products to date? How could Apple create a better product?