Apple’s vision for a set-top box device includes features designed to “simplify accessing and viewing programming and erase the distinction between live and on-demand content”, according to a new report. Citing people briefed on Apple’s plans, the Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is proposing a system through which viewers would be able to start any show at any time through a device that would store TV shows on the Internet. The report claims that the device will feature an interface that “could resemble the navigation icons” on the iPad, or in other words, very similar to the current Apple TV software. The interface may also offer on-screen space for social media features, and would also enable viewers to access content from the device on other Apple products.
The report goes on to detail some of the challenges facing Apple as it attempts to put such a service together, including apprehension on the part of the cable operators to let Apple gain a greater foothold in the TV market, and the fact that cable operators’ existing rights over TV content are likely insufficient to cover all of Apple’s proposed services, in particularly the Internet-based DVR service. It also states that Apple wants viewers to be able to access all episodes of current seasons of TV shows, instead of only a few episodes of a current season, as is currently the case on many cable operators.