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AP Photo/Eric Risberg
Apple TV

Now Apple is planning to launch its own TV service this year

The service will start in the US first and is expected to offer 25 channels from broadcasters.

APPLE MAY ALREADY have its set-top box Apple TV out there, but it could be making a move into web-TV by the end of the year.

The company is said to be preparing to announce its new online TV service in June and launch it in September, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Apple is in advanced talks with programmers to offer 25 channels from US broadcasters like ABC, CBS, and Fox. The company is pushing for a large on-demand library and will include bundles of programming, instead of a full TV lineup.

While on-demand services are included, this will allow subscribers to watch TV channels live on their Mac, iPhone or iPad. The difference is it’s streamed over the internet instead of cable or satellite.

Rumours of Apple working on an online TV service have been circulating for years and other competitors are entering the market as well. Sony is working on its own streaming service Playstation Vue and is expected to launch in the US shortly, while the US-based Sling TV launched earlier this year and offers the same functionality.

At Apple’s Spring Forward event last week, it announced it will include HBO Now, which will launch in April, in the US. The deal means it has exclusive rights to broadcast shows like Game of Thrones, The Newsroom and True Detective.

It also dropped the price of its set-top TV device to $69 suggesting that a revamp was on the cards.

Read: Samsung decided to livestream a birth using virtual reality >

Read: The government is making fewer Facebook data requests, but more are being granted >

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