Apple's new TV set 'will have NO adverts.

U.S media is reporting that Apple wants viewers of its TV set to be able to skip through all adverts at the press of a single button when watching on-demand shows. It would be a slight difference to the current model seen on set-top boxes, such as Virgin's TiVo, that lets users fast-forward though advertising on recorded programs. 

However, sources claim the service would not be used with live television. Rumours about an Apple TV set began last summer when sources claimed the company had been in talks with American cable firms about streaming live TV to an upcoming set.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple has not yet reached a deal with American cable companies.

Apple already sells a £99 'Apple TV', a small device which plugs into a HD TV. Apple also produced an app for iPhones and iPads letting owners control this device from their gadget. A full Apple TV is expected to improve on this functionality, allowing users to see information about programmes they are watching and to change channels.

In April, analyst Brian White from Topeka Capital Markets claimed in a research note that the Apple TV would have a 60-inch screen and cost £1,650. These rumours have not been confirmed or denied by Apple. White additionally claimed, after meeting with Apple suppliers in China and Taiwan, that the Apple TV set could be controlled using what's been dubbed iRing - a ring worn by the viewer that could control channels, volumes and, potentially, the adverts when the viewer points their finger at the screen. He added the ring could also have motion detectors built in. White believes this ring will be accompanied by a small iPad-sized screen, to add security, telephone and video-conferencing tools.

Apple is reportedly offering $280million for an Israeli company called PrimeSense that created the motion sensing technology used in Microsoft's Kinect sensors. 

The PrimeSense technology can 'see' objects in 3D and Apple is believed to be wanting to buy the company to add this software to a gesture-controlled system for its TVs.

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iPads for all L.A. students.

Los Angeles' school system, the second largest in the United States, is ordering iPads for all its students, handing Apple a major success in its quest to make the tablet computer a replacement for textbooks.

The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday approved the purchase of $30 million worth of iPads as the first part of a multi-year commitment. It found that the iPad was the least expensive option that met its specifications.

The initial order is for more than 31,000 iPads, Apple said. The Los Angeles Unified School District has more than 640,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

The textbooks will be delivered through an application from Pearson, a major publisher, rather than through Apple's own iBooks. Apple and its publisher partners launched a suite of textbooks for iBooks in early 2012.

According to biographer Walter Isaacson, changing the textbook market was a pet project of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, even in the last year of his life. At a dinner in early 2011, Jobs told News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch that paper textbooks could be made obsolete by the iPad. Jobs wanted to circumvent the state certification process for textbook sales by having Apple release textbooks for free on the tablet computer.

Apple said 10 million iPads are in use in schools today. The company said that when the roll out is completed, Los Angeles will be the largest school district in the nation to provide each student with an iPad.

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