A Fool Looks Back

Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool
Updated

It's now becoming nearly certain that Apple (NAS: AAPL) will introduce a smart television next year.

There was certainly plenty of speculation this week, kicked off by a DigiTimes report indicating that 32-inch and 37-inch TVs would hit the market as soon as the second quarter of 2012.

Things then got a little more interesting when Sterne Agee analyst Shawn Wu issued a note on Wednesday, detailing how Apple is talking to cable networks to gauge interest in a Web-based service where viewers can customize the channels and shows they watch.

Apple will still need to make sure it doesn't overestimate the kind of premium that it can charge for these state-of-the-art televisions, but the Cupertino tech giant may be ready to breathe new life into yet another moribund industry.

Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.

  • According to VentureBeat, Hewlett-Packard (NYS: HPQ) was trying unload Palm and its webOS platform earlier this year for roughly the same $1.2 billion that it foolishly overpaid a year earlier. Gee, it's no wonder HP didn't grab a buyer.

  • New York Times (NYS: NYT) agreed to sell 16 of its smaller regional newspapers in a $145 million deal. I'm guessing it didn't inadvertently send out an email offering the same papers for 50% off to millions of its email contacts.

  • Sirius XM Radio (NAS: SIRI) came through on its promise to introduce two different Sirius XM 2.0 receivers in 2011. It announced availability of the second retailer receiver -- the more promising Lynx -- on Thursday night.

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz

At the time thisarticle was published The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of and creating a bull call spread position in Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors.Longtime Fool contributorRick Munarrizcalls them as he sees them. He owns shares of HP and is also part of theRule Breakersnewsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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