Apple CEO Hints at ‘iTV'

If the passing of Steve Jobs slowed Apple’s innovative momentum, the company certainly isn’t showing it.

At the annual AllThingsDigital conference in California, new Apple CEO Tim Cook was bullish on Apple’s future, promising no dearth of creativity from the company’s upcoming products and vowing to manufacture as much hardware in America as possible, reports Reuters.

Technology enthusiasts reserved particular excitement for Cook’s declaration that television “is an intense area of interest for [Apple],” interpreting the statement as an all-but-confirmation of an upcoming Apple HDTV.

Cook adamantly refused to confirm or deny Apple’s development of an HDTV, nicknamed the “iTV” by industry watchers, but many analysts are reading the tea leaves and gauging what such a product might look like. Rumors abound, including the possibility of Siri-like voice command for the TV and the inclusion of motion-control computing, a technology that allows users to navigate the screen at a distance by swiping and poking the air in front of them.

Apple currently offers the Apple TV, a peripheral that allows users to stream content from services like Netflix and Youtube on their television. The Apple TV is not as ubiquitous as other Apple products but it may provide a revealing look at the company’s future — Apple is reportedly exploring the availability of streaming and syndicated content for the rumored iTV.

In his presentation to the conference, Cook also affirmed Apple’s desire to manufacture more of its products in America. “I want there to be a product made in the United States,” Cook explained, continuing, “We will [manufacture] as many of these things as we can do [in America], and you can bet that we’ll use our influence to do it.”