Though Steve Jobs said he "cracked" the secret to building an easy-to-use television set, a true Apple HDTV reportedly remains held up by content providers, who are reluctant to allow Apple to offer subscription-based plans to customers.



From Apple Insider:

Citing checks with industry and supply chain sources, analyst Shaw Wu with Sterne Agee said there's a believe that Jobs was "very excited" about the prospect of Apple entering the television market. That same enthusiasm was expressed by Jobs to his biographer, when he said that Apple was working on a TV set with "the simplest user interface you could imagine."

While Jobs felt he had solved the issue of confusing user interfaces with TVs, Wu said one problem Apple has yet to resolve are licensing deals with content providers. Those terms, which have yet to be ironed out, are said to be the main roadblock preventing Apple from selling an HDTV.

  Steve Jobs was 'excited' about an Apple HDTV, but content deals are needed