It might spell the end of fiddling¹ around for remote controls in between the sofa cushions. The upcoming big Apple TV will use iPhone's Siri 'personal assistant' as its main control method - and will use touch control as a back up.

乱翻沙发垫找遥控器的时代就要终结了。未来的苹果电视将应用iPhone的Siri语音个人助理作为主要的遥控方式，并以触摸式遥控器作支持。

Leaks from Apple's manufacturing chain say that Apple has been working on prototype sets since September - according to a design blueprint² laid down by late CEO Steve Jobs. His 'eureka（有了，找到了） ' moment was realising that Siri's voice control could be used to 'talk' to the set.

The quote 'I finally cracked it,' in the recent biography by Walter Isaacson was misquoted in recent reports, reports the New York Times.

Jobs was referring to the realisation that the television should be voice-controlled - using the natural-language algorithms of Siri so that people talk to the set as they would to someone sitting next to them on the sofa.

Mr Jobs, who died earlier last month, told author Walter Isaacson: 'It will have the simplest user interface³ you could imagine.'

Apple executive Jeff Robbin, who was behind the iPod and iTunes Store, is reportedly 'now guiding Apple's internal development of the new TV effort'.

It's not the first attempt to bring more 'natural' controls to televisions - companies such as One For All already make gesture-controlled remotes which you simply 'wag' at the screen, and Microsoft's Xbox Kinect camera can be controlled by voice.

But the highly sophisticated Siri software could represent a huge leap forward for the technology.

A third party analysis suggests the device will hit shelves by late next year or 2013, based on research of Apple's patent portfolio⁴, its investments in manufacturing facilities and 'securing supplies of LCD screens'.

Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller declined to comment on the Bloomberg report.

It has been widely-speculated Apple will launch its own brand of touchscreen televisions running its iOS platform.