Tech giant Apple, Inc. published a patent application Thursday for a new type of digital remote control for its Apple TV set-top box.

The digital remote control will use icons and pictures similar to those seen on graphic interfaces on TVs but miniaturized and customized for a tablet or a smartphone. Apple initially filed the application in March with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

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Apple had previously developed a physical remote control its TVs with just a few buttons to navigate music and videos. The new patent application shows the tech firm could remake the physical controller again by doing away with the notion completely.

Such an idea would be akin to Google's Chromecast, a dongle controlled using mobile devices with no physical remote.

The patent application's concept goes a step further than Apple's existing remote control program. The new concept allows people to traverse the Apple TV with an app that has an interface similar to the mobile iTunes library.

The new interface seems to be more complex, with more features and graphics, and can be run on a laptop, tablet or smartphone, according to CNET.

The Apple TV, which costs US$99, connects over the Internet to stream videos. The device has received less attention compared to the firm's cash cows, the iPad tablets and the series of iPhone smartphones. It has been over two years since the last hardware update to Apple TV.

The Cupertino-based company has also been slow to increase the number of channels on the device, especially when compared to the hundreds found in competing devices such as Roku.

Interest in Apple TV could be increased by a software update, such as the new interface mentioned in the patent.

TagsApple patent application, Patent, Apple TV, Apple Smartphones, iPhone, Ipad, Tablet, App, Remote control