Apple, Time Warner in talks over new Apple TV set-top box: Report

Apple Inc is in talks with Time Warner Cable and other content partners for a faster TV set-top box with a new user-interface that could be revealed as soon as April, Bloomberg cited sources familiar with the matter as saying.

The iPhone maker, whose $99 Apple TV box competes with similar streaming devices from Roku and Google Inc, intends to have its new device in stores in time for the Christmas holidays, Bloomberg cited the anonymous sources as saying.

A tie-up with Time Warner Cable would be the first with a pay-TV operator, Bloomberg reported. Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr declined to comment. Time Warner Cable also declined comment.

Apple, which in the past has referred to its set-top box product as a hobby, regularly discusses partnerships with content companies. But the company has recently given the product, which plugs into a TV and streams videos from Netflix and other content providers, more prominent placement on its online storefront.

Speculation persists that the company is developing some sort of major TV product to disrupt the traditional cable industry, but that has yet to materialize.

Reports that Apple might be preparing a significant overhaul to its Apple TV streaming device have been circulating for months. In late-January, it became evident the set-top box was being taken a lot more seriously. The company's online store has been reorganised to give Apple TV its own top-level category alongside the iPhone, iPad, iPod and Mac product lines. It was previously consigned to the accessories section of the iPod line, but now it has its own accessories section.

A report by 9to5mac suggests that the move has come in advance of a redesign of the product itself. Apple could be readying a new version of the device that supports third-party apps and games, much like its current lineup of portable iOS devices. It is unknown whether Apple will also release a new kind of controller for the new capabilities, use some form of gesture recognition, or rely on users' existing iPhones, iPods and iPads to provide input.

Written with inputs from Reuters