Time Warner Wants Apple to Make a Television Set

Speaking at Business Insider’s IGNITION conference, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said he wanted Apple to release their much-hyped TV product already.

“I hope they do,” he said, answering a question regarding the possibility of such a device to come out of Apple. “I think Apple is a great device company.”

Bewkes believes the TV industry is facing a fundamental problem right now – the UI. Television needs better user navigation, and the Time Warner CEO says Apple is one of the few companies that can pull it off. “They bring good interface and navigation skills,” said Bewkes.

Not only does he believe Apple will eventually release this product, but he foresees a lot of competition in this space. He also noted that customers will see “as many interfaces as [they] can get.”

The Apple television has been rumored for a long time, but the Cupertino giant is yet to amaze us with this big-screen product.

Apple currently sells a set-top box for $99 / €99 that routes iTunes content with a lot of limitations. It’s not a television product per se because it doesn’t actually put live TV on the big screen in your living room.

However, it does put a lot of stuff on your big screen that regular television sets don’t. Such stuff includes beamed apps from iPhone and iPad, video-on-demand services like Netflix and, if jailbroken, a bevy of television programs and services.

There has been a lot of debate as to whether Apple really needs to launch a full-fledged television product, since the Internet-connected puck-sized black box is doing pretty well, albeit still labeled as a hobby in Cupertino.

One analyst who has been arguably the most vocal on the matter is Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray. After speaking to Asian parts suppliers, he concluded that Apple would have the product ready in 2013.