Jeff Robbin, the man who worked on Apple's iconic iPod and changed the music industry with Apple's online music store and player iTunes, is now in charge of developing Apple's integrated television set.

News of an Apple TV project has been circulating for months but interest has been revived following the release of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' biography where he told biographer Walter Isaacson that he had "finally cracked" the code for building an integrated TV set that could sync with other Apple devices.

"It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud," Jobs told Isaacson in the biography "Steve Jobs".

"No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it."

Apple already has an Apple TV, a small $99 device that allows users to access iTunes, Netflix and YouTube on their television set. Now Apple is reportedly entrusting Robbin the software engineer who co-created SoundJam MP, according to Bloomberg sources. Citing three unnamed sources that have knowledge of the product; the report said that Robbin's involvement is a sign of how serious Apple is in pushing forward with the television set.

Jeff Robbin was hired by Apple to develop iTunes after Apple bought out Robbin's SoundJam digital music player. Robbin was also closely involved with the development of the iPod and was influential in persuading Jobs to allow computers with Microsoft operating systems to run iTunes.

Apple's television project would be in line with Jobs' vision of integrated system that would seamlessly sync numerous Apple devices and content. The Apple TV interface would allow users to search content through Netflix, cable services or iTunes through the television set directly rather than transferring content from one device to view it in a separate TV.

Analysts are now predicting an Apple TV release for next year or early 2013. According to Piper Jaffray Gene Munster Apple has been investing in manufacturing facilities and LCD displays. He believes that Apple's iOS 5 voice recognition personal assistant Siri in the new Apple TV to help organizing the content that will be input into the television set.