A new Apple TV in the works?

Engadget are reporting on a tip they've received about a huge change in direction with the Apple TV strategy. Up until now, I've seen no advantage to the Apple TV over a Mac mini solution... well ok, ease of setup for the non-techie maybe, but I'm pretty sure the market for non-techies who want more than a TV and tuner (and possibly a PVR for the brave few) is pretty much non-existent. All that could be about to change though, if the Engadget rumour mongering is to be believed.

In a nutshell, a new version of the Apple TV is in the wings with a completely redesigned hardware and software layer. The hardware will be a thin client with 16GB solid state storage and the bare minimum of connections. It'll be running the iPhone 4.0 OS and focus on streaming content rather than syncing. This is a breath of fresh air coming from Apple; it's about time they realized that syncing is not the only way to get bits and bytes from A to B. Interestingly, it will reportedly be able to connect to a Time Capsule for offline content. Now if this is true, and if the codec support extends beyond the staple H.264 diet of most of Apples product lines, then this could be a very interesting prospect. You know what, even if it is H.264 bound, then you can always rely on Air Video to pick up the slack and transcode any content you like into the right format for this new Apple TV to serve up in full 1080p glory on your TV screen.

Now admittedly this thing would never replace my trusty Mac mini as the centrepiece of my home entertainment system, but I can definitely see a place for a few of these scattered about the house streaming content. It could even replace my Acer Revo in the kitchen cupboard - more on that later of course ;)

The best bit about the new Apple TV? The price: $99. Let's hope the rumours are true eh? :)