Innovation is everything at Apple. It’s also what consumers have come to expect from the mega-company. Apple is always ahead of the crowd, always looking for something new, and always finding ways to surprise and amaze the outside world. When Steve Jobs passed away, many believed that Apple would lose its edge, but Jobs’ genius is set to outlive his life.

Towards the end of the Steve Jobs biography, it is mentioned that Jobs’ last project wasn’t focused on smartphones or computers. Instead, it seems, Jobs was interested in television. No, he wasn’t aiming on becoming the next Martin Scorsese, but he was looking for a way to make television better, smarter, and faster – in true Apple fashion. What was Jobs working on?

The Rumors

Strong sources and rumors have it that Jobs was working on an Apple television. Not an Apple TV box like the Apple TV that currently exists. An actual Apple television, screen and all, might have been Jobs’ latest invention. What’s so great about a television, you might ask? After all, there are all kinds of televisions out there, and none of them are truly mind-blowing – even 3D TVs garnered a big “meh” from tech-conscious consumers.

You have to remember here that whenever Jobs touched something, that something turned into the thing. Jobs had a golden and almost majestic touch. What he wanted to create was an Apple television that listened to your every command. If the iPhone 4S’s Siri comes to mind, you aren’t entirely mistaken. Some believe that the Siri program might be at the heart of the voice-controlled television.

Will iPhones Become Essential?

Knowing that artificial intelligence, namely Siri, will be at the heart of the new (now non-existent) Apple television, you might begin to wonder if you will need both an Apple TV and an iPhone 4S (by then it might be an iPhone 6 or 7) equipped with Siri to use your Apple television. The answer could be a resounding “yes,” but it could also be a quiet “not really.”

Some speculate that Siri (or a program a lot like Siri) will be integrated into the television. This would mean that you can speak to your television just like happy iPhone 4S owners are currently speaking to Siri. You could ask your TV to change channels, load a disc, raise the volume, connect to the Internet, and do a whole bunch of other things. Who knows, the new Apple television might even be able to answer your calls or send out text messages. Exciting, isn’t it? Yet, all of this is based upon sheer rumor, for now.

Speculations

If an Apple television with artificial intelligence at the helm were to arrive on the market, when would this television appear? The number floating around right now is the year 2013. Whether Apple television is a dream, fantasy, or plain old nice thought remains to be seen. What is clear is that, even after death, Steve Jobs will live on through all that Apple creates.