Apple is trialling yet more televisions, if you believe the chunnering from the supply chain, and so eager analysts would have us believe is one step closer to taking over your living room. Whispers of new test hardware using big Sharp LCDs and Foxconn’s production skills come on the heels of research suggesting a fair number of consumers are desperate to throw more money at their Cupertino addiction, as well as CEO Tim Cook’s tongue-in-cheek “it’s an area of intense interest” comments last week. Yet in reality, despite the hype, little has actually changed from the last batch of rumors, and we’re no closer to chucking out our BRAVIA for a Siri-controlled set.

First, a recap: according to this week’s chatter, there’s a fresh batch of TV hardware headed from Foxconn to Apple’s labs, with the company having gone from internal development to asking its manufacturing partners to whip up a prototype or two. Specifications of said-prototypes are unclear, but Sharp wavering, despite a rumored $2bn life-raft from Apple already is said to have supplied the panels, possibly using IZGO technology.

Rumors of Apple’s ambitions in the living room aren’t new. Behind perhaps iPhone speculation and whispers of an iPad mini, the idea of an Apple television has persisted like no other. It’s also, if the insiders are to be believed, been an ongoing project within Apple for some time now.

Work, in fact, has been occupying some of Apple’s team for “a number of years” the WSJ report admits, and it’s not the first we’ve heard of Sharp involvement. Analysts were claiming a love-in between the Japanese company’s screens and Cupertino back in 2011, after all.

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