For all of Apple's advances in the world of smartphones, tablets, smartwatches and music, there is one realm of technology that Apple has been relatively tentative in: television. The company launched Apple TV in 2007, and while it has received three generations of improvements since its launch, it has hardly been a revolutionary venture.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook recently appeared on the Charlie Rose show and his comments have many believing that Apple could be well on its way to making some radical changes to Apple TV, including the long speculated actual television from the tech company. 

"TV is one [thing] that we continue to have great interest in--I choose my words carefully there," Cook said in the interview. "TV is one of those things that, if we're really honest, it's stuck back in the seventies."

Cook continued and said "Think about how much your life has changed. And yet TV, when you go in your living room to watch the TV, or whatever it might be, it almost feels like you're rewinding the clock and you've entered a time capsule and you're going backwards. The interface is terrible. I mean it's awful."

Apple TV in its current form is a digital streaming service that allows users to watch iTunes, Netflix, Hulu and the like through their television.  Apple has over 20 million users for its small network machine, but the fact remains that the device is nearly two years old in its current iteration. That is nearly an eternity for a company that has made a name by constantly rethinking its technology on an almost annual basis.

The introduction of a television would make a lot of sense for Apple in terms of advancement of its product. The television, however would also mean licensing deals with broadcasters, producers and networks, the likes of which Apple has not yet had to deal with. 

"I don't want to get into what we're doing in the future," Cook said in the same interview. "We've taken stabs with Apple TV, and Apple TV now has over 20 million users, so it has far exceeded the hobby label that we placed on it."

Cook went on to say that he was not ready to talk about the specifics of what the future may hold with their television streaming services. Until the company decides to pull back the curtain to reveal the next step in Apple TV, it is safe to say that speculation will continue.