Why Apple CEO Tim Cook Met With Valve [Exclusive]

[claud3]

Why Apple CEO Tim Cook Met With Valve [Exclusive]

Alex Heath (10:31 am PDT, Apr 14)

Apple and Valve may be partnering with each other on a revolutionary video game console.

An unconfirmed report surfaced yesterday saying that Apple CEO Tim Cook was spotted at Valve’s headquarters in Bellevue, Washington. Whenever Cook is spotted out and about, people take notice. The CEO of the world’s most valuable company doesn’t personally visit other tech companies to simply have a chat.
Many speculated as to why Cook would be visiting Valve, maker of popular game series like Half-Life, Team Fortress and Portal. Valve also boasts an incredibly robust online PC gaming platform called Steam that operates similarly to Apple’s App Store.
We’ve gotten word that Cook was indeed at Valve yesterday, and what’s more, Apple is planning a full-on assault to take over the living room. This assault won’t just be limited to the long-rumored Apple HDTV set, but will also include a revolutionary home console as well.
According to sources to Cult of Mac, Apple is working on a television set with an iTunes-integrated touch screen remote and Siri-like voice command technology. The TV set will be coming before the end of 2012. Rumors and patents have said as much for the past year, so that’s nothing new. But that’s not all we’ve heard.
Our sources also say that Apple’s television set will come with an Apple-branded, Kinect-like video game console. The interface will rely heavily on motion and touch controls.
If true, this wouldn’t be Cupertino’s first foray into the console market.
Back in 1995, Apple collaborated with Bandai to product a Mac OS running home console called the Bandai Pippin back in 1995. Things were pretty disjointed at Apple back then, and the company was trying to regain its image under the leadership of Michael Spindler. Apple licensed the Pippin platform to Bandai for a console, but the market was already dominated by the PlayStation and Sega. The Pippin was priced too high to compete and Bandai ended up selling less than 50,000 units before shelving the project.
Back to Valve. The gaming company makes Steam, a PC game distribution network with 30 million active users on both the PC and Mac. Steam is to gaming as iTunes is to music. Recent rumors have suggested that Valve is working on its own console dubbed the “Steam Box.” Instead of another Xbox or PlayStation, the hardware would serve as more of a standard that Valve would license to partners, much like the way Google handles Android in the smartphone space.
Recent Valve job listings also indicate that the company is working on a mysterious hardware project. The Steam Box is rumored to feature biometrics technology in the form of a bracelet or wearable device for recognizing players.
Last year Valve CEO Gabe Newell seemed concerned with Apple’s ‘walled garden’ approach and the possibility of its entrance into the TV market. ”On the platform side, it’s sort of ominous that the world seems to be moving away from open platforms,” Newell told The Seattle Times. ”They build a shiny sparkling thing that attracts users and then they control people’s access to those things.”
Newell talked about “shiny sparkling things” again in a more recent interview a couple months ago:

Well, if we have to sell hardware we will. We have no reason to believe we’re any good at it, it’s more we think that we need to continue to have innovation and if the only way to get these kind of projects started is by us going and developing and selling the hardware directly then that’s what we’ll do. It’s definitely not the first thought that crosses our mind; we’d rather hardware people that are good at manufacturing and distributing hardware do that. We think it’s important enough that if that’s what we end up having to do then that’s what we end up having to do.

If there’s anyone that’s good at manufacturing and distributing hardware, it’s Apple. We don’t know the exact details of why Tim Cook met with Valve recently, but the two companies are obviously talking to one another. Based on what we’ve heard, it’s possible that Apple could be considering Valve as a partner for its entrance into living room gaming.
We’ve reached out to both Valve and Apple for comment and will update this story if we receive a reply.

Link: http://www.cultofmac.com/160760/why-...lve-exclusive/

Now i wonder how they can make it different to what we already have

[Ghost-Rhayne]

"Our sources say.................................." - It's not beyond the realm of possibility, but I'll believe it when I see it.

[BoyBettaKnow]

This could be mighty interesting.

Off Topic: That TV sounds pretty sweet

[Tutankhamun]

If I had a dollar for every time Cult Of Mac posted an "EXCLUSIVE" that turned out to be bullshit I'd be rich. They are called Cunt of Mac in Apple circles for a reason...

[BoyBettaKnow]

Not a reputable source?

[Tutankhamun]

Not a reputable source?

They are about as reputable as a hobo on meth.

[MacP]

Please Apple leave our wallets alone.

[Wrath]

Please Apple leave our wallets alone.

Last time I checked Apple didn't force me to buy their products... Maybe it's just you being insecure?

[*goo]

They are about as reputable as a hobo on meth.

So still a better reputation than a high percentage of video game websites then?




Obligatory TapaTalk signature.

[admartian]

Last time I checked Apple didn't force me to buy their products... Maybe it's just you being insecure?

With Apple being a a multi billion dollar company, and stocks worth over $600 USD a share - I highly doubt they need their hipster fanboys batting for them.

I think MacP should be free to feel what he wants, as you are (though the iBrainswashing/inDoctrination might have something else to do with it ).

Relax buddy.

So still a better reputation than a high percentage of video game websites then?




Obligatory TapaTalk signature.

Nice!

[Wrath]

With Apple being a a multi billion dollar company, and stocks worth over $600 USD a share - I highly doubt they need their hipster fanboys batting for them.

I think MacP should be free to feel what he wants, as you are (though the iBrainswashing/inDoctrination might have something else to do with it ).

Relax buddy.



Nice!

As said in the other thread: putting me into the fanboy section without even understanding my reasoning and a signature displaying "Apple is EVIL" makes you look like one big hypocrite, lol.

For you, I guess, there are either fellow Apple haters or brainwashed adorers. Ever thought about the golden middle?

[MacP]

Last time I checked Apple didn't force me to buy their products... Maybe it's just you being insecure?

or maybe it you taking things to seriously like the rest of the people on this forum

[Wrath]

or maybe it you taking things to seriously like the rest of the people on this forum

I suppose so =)

[claud3]

appl just have the money and no brains at the moment. Its the case of cash before sense and i fear they will just get to the stage of not knownng where they are and all will fail around them massively

[Tutankhamun]

appl just have the money and no brains at the moment. Its the case of cash before sense and i fear they will just get to the stage of not knownng where they are and all will fail around them massively

Are you serious? Apple has no brains? I suppose they got lucky and delivered massively successful products one after another for a decade by happenstance...

[claud3]

Look i mean now, not then

Its like all companies that hit the ladder of sucesss and want to keep claiming it. But one wrong move and it will come crashing down around them

[BoyBettaKnow]

I think Apple have a few bad moves left before it all comes crashing down just yet.

[Wrath]

Look i mean now, not then

Its like all companies that hit the ladder of sucesss and want to keep claiming it. But one wrong move and it will come crashing down around them

No.

I think Apple have a few bad moves left before it all comes crashing down just yet.

Yes.

[Tutankhamun]

Look i mean now, not then

Its like all companies that hit the ladder of sucesss and want to keep claiming it. But one wrong move and it will come crashing down around them

The latest launched Apple product was the third-generation iPad - and by all accounts it is an overwhelming success. I don't see what you base your statement on at all. Certainly not reality.

[admartian]

As said in the other thread: putting me into the fanboy section without even understanding my reasoning and a signature displaying "Apple is EVIL" makes you look like one big hypocrite, lol.

For you, I guess, there are either fellow Apple haters or brainwashed adorers. Ever thought about the golden middle?

I am down the middle - certain Apple-over-adorers just don't like the truth.

Again, show me that they're not or weren't.