VIDEO: Apple previews new Grand Central store
As Apple readies its new Grand Central Terminal store for a Friday opening, analysts are turning up the volume on predictions that an Apple TV — an actual television and not a hardware add-on — can be expected in less than a year.
At Apple, life after Steve Jobs is moving along.
New CEO Tim Cook is putting his imprint on the company. But this week, the company is getting ready to unveil it's latest landmark store, inside New York City's Grand Central Station.
The store will open to the public at 10 a.m. on Friday. It will, of course, have all the latest iPods, iPhones, Macs and other gadgets, as well as a Genius Bar for technical support and all the other hallmarks of an Apple Store, set inside the landmark train station.
On Wednesday, the media got a sneak-peak of the setup.
About 750,000 people pass through Grand Central each day, a draw for Apple which has already seen tremendous crowds at its existing New York City stores, including the landmark glass cube that just reopened a few months ago. And topping that, during the holiday season as many as 1 million people will be expected to pass through the terminal and just a stone's throw from the new Apple shop.
Financial analysts Piper Jaffray are expected 27 million iPhones to be sold this quarter alone, coupled with 13.5 million iPads. Gene Munster, a senior research analyst at Jaffray, is expecting a new, potentially blockbuster product from Apple.
"We think in the pipeline, there's one big exciting product coming next year, the Apple TV," Munster said.
The TV would be expected to include traditional cable or satellite content, a DVR, content from iTunes and online streaming companies, all bundled into a vastly improved user interface. There's even been predictions of the TV being voice controlled, using Siri.
"They're still cutting their teeth in web services iCloud and iTunes Match, as those become a bigger part of what they do. That will be their biggest challeng," Munster said.
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