Steve Jobs, the late former CEO of Apple, stepped down from his position in August 2011 amid his battle with pancreatic cancer. However, as a new report claimed, Jobs did not look to completely disconnect himself from Apple, but instead had plans to work on a secret project.
After he turned over CEO duties of Apple to Tim Cook, Jobs was planning to focus on a single project, and that is the reinvention of the TV, including the TV set itself.
Walt Mossberg, the editor at large for Recode and an executive editor at The Verge, revealed that Jobs called him on the same night that he announced his resignation. A press release was issued earlier that day, wherein it was announced that while Cook was taking over as CEO, Jobs would remain as chairman, director and employee of Apple.
In the phone call, Jobs told Mossberg that he was not going away as he will still be involved with Apple, along with his ambitions for TV on a project that he reserved particularly for himself.
"I think we figured out a way to do it, and it's going to be fantastic," Jobs said, followed by an invitation for Mossberg to see what he was working on after a few months.
While Jobs did not reveal specific details, Mossberg believed that Jobs was talking about an actual TV set, and not a TV accessory. However, before he got a chance to show his work to Mossberg, Jobs succumbed to his illness just a couple of months later.
"If you would have asked me five minutes after we hung up, I would have said he was going to reinvent the whole TV set," Mossberg said.
The rumors that Apple was working on an integrated TV set go as far back as 2007, when it was said that the company was committing resources into research and development for large screen technology. A year later, entrepreneur Jason Calacanis said that he knew about Apple's project on an internet-connected TV. Analyst Gene Munster even released a timeline for a production plan on the Apple TV set in 2010, suggesting that the device will release by 2014 with a price tag of about $2,000.
The status of the Apple TV set project at the time of Job's passing is unknown, but as of now, Apple has not made any big steps into the TV industry. Instead of creating a TV set, Apple decided to release the Apple TV, which is a set-top box that currently features the integration of the Siri digital personal assistant and its own tvOS operating system with an App Store.
It was also previously reported that the tough stance of Apple in negotiations with media companies has derailed the company's plans of launching its rumored streaming service.
