Apple said to be in talks with cable operators for TV device

Apple Inc. has been talking with cable TV operators about an Apple product consumers could use to watch live events and other content, according to a report.

Though the company has not come to a deal with any cable operators, the news is the latest in a long line of rumors of an Apple TV set.

This time, though, the rumors present a much less radical strategy for the TV market. Apple would be putting cable, an older technology, on one of its devices when typically the company jumps into new markets with strategies to revolutionize them.

As for the device, it is unclear whether any sort of deal would be for the current $99 Apple TV, a new version of the Apple TV or something new altogether, like an Apple TV set.

If consumers bought an Apple device to use cable, the cable operators would benefit from not having to produce as many set-top boxes, which they currently provide to consumers for a monthly fee.

One of the issues, however, is Apple is seeking a 30% cut on some of the transactions made through the device. Apple typically seeks that type of cut on sales made on other products too, including the iPhone and iPad.

The report comes from the Wall Street Journal, which cites sources familiar with the matter.

Rumors of an Apple TV set have been rampant since Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs came out last October. The book included a passage in which the late Apple co-founder said he’d finally nailed how Apple should get into the TV market.

Apple CEO Tim Cook didn’t help quiet those rumors when he said at a conference earlier this year that he believed the Apple TV would lead the company somewhere.

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