The Apple TV has enjoyed a moderate amount of success hitherto, but with Tim Cook famously labeling the device a mere hobby in his day as the Cupertino's COO, it has always been felt a more noteworthy assault on the lucrative market would be forthcoming. Speculation concerning the future of Apple TV has been an almost ongoing debate, but this week, it has become an even hotter topic than usual. Just days ago, Xbox engineer Nat Brown stated his belief that an Apple TV opening itself up to third party apps could be a significant threat to traditional console gaming, and TechCrunch's MG Siegler cites multiple sources suggesting this may be the case later this year.
The Apple TV may not strictly run on the same software as the likes of the iPad or iPhone, but it still has to be considered an iOS device, because, well, it runs on a variant of iOS. Following the Evasi0n jailbreak for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, the same exploit used on that occasion has been utilized by FireCore, the team of individuals behind the Seas0nPass jailbreak tool, to provide an untethered jailbreak on the very latest Apple TV 5.2 firmware.
In the middle of all the current rumors, conjecture and speculation surrounding Apple hardware, it is perhaps the future of the company's so-called hobby project that is managing to capture most of the immediate attention. The little black box has never been one of Apple's highest revenue generating creations, but has been consistently improving on its sales figures, numbers that are only set to continue to rise amid speculation of a new smaller model being introduced and the potential of additional apps being introduced during the year.
The rumors and speculation surrounding the potential design and development of an actual Apple branded high-definition TV set don't seem to be going away, with additional fuel being added to the fire this morning, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that Apple have been testing a number of different physical designs that could ultimately be used to produce their first HDTV. We've been hearing murmurings over the last 12 months which never really went away about a potential TV set from Apple, but the speculation seems to be gathering pace at an accelerated rate recently.
As a company, Apple is extremely well-known for creating the fantastic OS X powered Mac, the iPhone, iPad and a number of other extremely popular mobile devices. Although those products have been, and will continue to be, extremely successful around the globe, there has been intense speculation over the last twelve months that Apple will breach their comfort zone and extend their portfolio by manufacturing an actual physical television set. Although there hasn't been any concrete evidence or nods of approval from Apple itself, a recent NBC News interview with Tim Cook could be the source of the biggest hint to date.
Today is a big day in Apple's software calendar, and as well as the small matter of a new-look iTunes 11, update 5.1.1 has just been released for the Apple TV. The little black box doesn't quite get the attention of some other iOS devices, but with continual rumors of a connected Apple TV on the horizon, it's hardly surprising so few have picked up the $99 set-top. Unlike iTunes, which looks vastly different from the old versions, update 5.1.1 isn't too much of a bump, offering mainly bug fixes, couples with support for iTunes Up Next with iTunes 11 or iTunes Match.
The popularity of its product range, coupled with the colossal amounts of money exchanged in the purchase of said products, has made Apple a pretty strong target for fakery. China is one of the main sources of these bootleg products, and even though we're used to seeing copies of some of the higher-end Apple devices - iPads, iPhones and such, the latest product to be ripped from Apple's extensive roster is the Apple TV.
The rumor and speculation with regards to the future direction of Apple TV has been somewhat quiet recently, but James Kisner, analyst at Jefferies & Co., has reignited the debate by suggesting the release of a new device is imminent. Citing "discussions with industry contacts," Kisner believes a new Apple TV is just around the corner, with “at least one major N. American MSO” currently trying to ascertain how much network space it would need to free up in order to accommodate the new product.
Unlike devices like the iPhone and iPad that require software updates to push new content to the product, Apple have the ability to update the Apple TV home screens remotely and add new web-based content at will. Several keen-eyed Apple TV owners have noticed the appearance of the new Apple Events icon that is themed in similar fashion to the event invites that were distributed last week for today's press event that we suspect will be dedicated to the purported iPad Mini as well as being heavily focused on education. More on the event here.
Having only released iOS 6.0 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users last week, Apple has now offered a healthy update to its little black box - the Apple TV - with build 10A406e also taking the version number up to 5.1.
