Apple may unveil TV service on March 25

Dubai - Apple may also reveal some new hardware

Apple was, as usual, mum on its latest media invite, but using the 'It's show time' teaser again gave away a lot.
The iPhone maker officially confirmed a special media event on March 25 late on Monday, in which it is expected to unveil its long-awaited TV and video service.
The event, which will take place at the Steve Jobs Theater at the tech giant's Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, had been anticipated.
And this is not the first time Apple used that tagline: in 2006, the company used the same wordings in the lead-up to the unveiling of iTV, which would eventually be renamed and released as the Apple TV in 2007.
Services has blossomed into a critical component of Apple's business; it has consistently posted consecutive quarters of record growth, becoming an anchor for the firm at a time the global smartphone market is experiencing an overall slowdown.
Apple's would-be TV and video service - which has been in the works for quite a while - will directly tangle with Netflix and Amazon's Prime Video for supremacy in the market, which has enjoyed growth thanks to users hungry for content consumption on any device, wherever they may be.
The service is most likely to be rolled out first in the US. Dallas-based research firm Parks Associates, in its recent OTT Video Market Report, said that Netflix currently tops the American streaming service industry with almost 60 million subscribers. Amazon Prime clocked in at second, followed by Hulu, HBO Now and Starz.
Apple may also use the event to reveal some new hardware, including a couple of long-delayed products, the second-generation AirPods headphones with wireless charging capabilities and the AirPower wireless charging mat, plus, possibly, a new entry-level iPad to complement the higher-end models it unveiled late last year.
- alvin@khaleejtimes.com