Apple in 2013: Five predictions

What will Apple do next? It's the very secret sauce that keeps the company interesting, along with some very successful products.

Here are five predictions for the next 12 months as Apple heads into one of its most closely watched years yet.

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of stories looking ahead at what's to come from a handful of major technology companies, and technology categories. In the coming days CNET will do the same for Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and others.

(Credit: Jason Cipriani/CNET)

1. Apple TV, take four Has there ever been an Apple product with this much rumor intensity behind it? Well sure -- the iPad, and the iPhone before it. As the saying goes, where there's smoke there's fire, and the chances of Apple finally releasing a big new TV product in 2013 are looking hot.

Uncertainty remains over just what kind of a product Apple's working on though. The company already has a set-top box, but it's not for plugging into your cable. Instead, its main purpose is to connect with Apple's digital stores, along with third-party streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. More recently Apple's added options to pipe video and other media content from iOS and Mac devices on the same Wi-Fi network.

Would Apple rea... [Read more]