Apple's iTV is 'a gigantic iPad': Canadian telecoms companies reveal details of prototype



Upcoming web TV a 42-inch Full HD set



Offers apps such as Angry Birds

Controlled by Siri voice control



Confirms details from Best Buy leak

Canadian telecoms company Rogers and Bell already has Apple's hotly anticipated iTV device in its labs, a report in Canada's Globe and Mail has claimed.

Two unnamed sources speaking to the paper report that the flatscreen device will be voice controlled, using software similar to the Siri voice control on iPhone 4S, and will offer iPad-style apps.

It will also offer gesture control, with users able to manipulate apps from the sofa using hand gestures to type on an on-screen virtual keyboard.

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Apple already offers slim flatscreens in its iMac range: Tech insiders widely expect an Apple TV by the end of 2012 - and Best Buy's details tally with several previous rumours

Apple is widely rumoured to be introducing such a device this year.

The details tally broadly with details leaked from a survey from U.S retailer Best Buy - asking customers what they might think of an 'all-new Apple HDTV'.

The Best Buy survey sparked interest because it was remarkably specific about details - namely that the device would be a 42-inch 1080p television, would run Angry Birds and other iPhone-style apps, and would cost $1499

iPhone link: The voice-controlled Siri 'personal assistant' is designed so you can talk to it like a normal person - the ideal way to change channel and adjust the volume on Apple's new TV?

The survey, sent out by Norwegian survey firm Confirmit, polled customers on what they would think of an upcoming Apple hi-def television.

The survey also claimed that the television would offer remote-control via iPad and iPhone, as well as web TV such as Netflix.



The slogan is supposedly, 'Apple finally reinvents what a TV can do.'



Less convincingly, the survey also suggested that it would include an iSight camera - a brand Apple no longer uses - and offer Skype, unlikely given that Apple has its own rival, Facetime.



The Verge, which found and confirmed the survey, said, 'Is Best Buy speaking with knowledge, or is it just riffing to get a sense of customer interest in a purely theoretical Apple television? Our guess is that it's nothing more than a shot on the dark.'

Best Buy's survey has been confirmed to be genuine, and from Norwegian survey firm Confirmit - a partner of the retail giant





The fact that Apple is working on a hi-def television now looks near-certain.



Leaks from Apple's manufacturing chain say that Apple has been working on prototype sets since September - according to a design blueprint laid down by late CEO Steve Jobs.



His 'eureka' moment was realising that Siri's voice control could be used to 'talk' to the set. 'I finally cracked it,' said Jobs.



Jobs was referring to the realisation that the television should be voice-controlled - using the natural-language algorithms of Siri so that people talk to the set as they would to someone sitting next to them on the sofa.

Apple TV debuts at Macworld in San Francisco: Reports say that Apple is working on a large, voice-controlled touchscreen with the service built in - but it won't arrive till the price for large touchscreens drops a little

Mr Jobs, who died in October, told author Walter Isaacson: 'It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine.'

Apple executive Jeff Robbin, who was behind the iPod and iTunes Store, is reportedly 'now guiding Apple's internal development of the new TV effort'.

It's not the first attempt to bring more 'natural' controls to televisions - companies such as One For All already make gesture-controlled remotes which you simply 'wag' at the screen, and Microsoft's Xbox Kinect camera can be controlled by voice.



TV companies such as LG have brought out rival devices in the wake of rumours about Apple TV.



LG's 'Magic' remote will be motion controlled and voice controlled.

The new 'Magic' voice remote will let users speak to control their televisions - a microphone and voice-recognition software built into the remote make your voice work like an internet search

'The new Magic Remote will make it easier for users to approach LG TVs - particularly our Smart TV function which now has over 1,000 apps,' said Havis Kwon, president of LG Electronics.





But the highly sophisticated Siri software could represent a huge leap forward for the technology.