Apple is working on an online TV service

Consumer electronics company Apple could soon launch an online TV service. The Apple TV set is coming and that rumor has been revived once again with the report that the company is working on an online TV service.

According to Brian White, an analyst with the investment bank of Cantor Fitzgerald, the imminent coming of a TV set from the company has taken on the mythical status of attempting to spot a 'golden-horned unicorn' in the forest.

"We believe a potential streaming TV service and offerings such as HBO NOW pave the path for even bigger ambitions for Apple with a full blown TV that allows the company to completely control the user experience", White wrote in a note to investors.

Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray said there is a possibility that an online TV service might set the groundwork for a real Apple television, potentially in 2016. Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, all-in-one computer was released by Apple back in 1997. According to the company, that Mac also arrived with a remote control and buttons for the TV mode.

Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh was made with in TV functionality and was released in celebration of the company's 20th birthday. If Apple, the world's second-largest information technology company by revenue is planning to introduce a standalone TV set, then it is surely taking its time.

There have been rumors for years but nothing has ever materialized. Apple that founded back in 1976 has a history of combining software and services with high-end hardware. Munster thinks that an actual television is the most logical next area of focus. The company's online services include iCloud, the iTunes Store, and the App Store.