Remember the iTV rumors? Nobody seems to be talking about them. But less than a month back, there were strong speculations about Apple announcing an iOS-based Apple TV that shall be renamed the iTV. However, when Steve Jobs unveiled the new machine on September 1, it did not seem to be carrying any characteristics of the iOS platform.
But it looks like we’ve been misled. Developers scouring through the iOS 4.2 beta codes have been able to confirm that Apple TV is indeed iOS-based. Apple stores all the iOS devices that the system interacts with in a file named USBDeviceConfiguration.plist. Earlier, an entry referenced by iProd 2,1 was assumed to be referencing the next generation version of iPad. However, these developers have now confirmed that the reference is rather to Apple TV and the latest OS references the device as AppleTV2,1.
What this means is that Apple could be opening up the Apple TV platform for third party applications in the near future. Not just that, jailbreakers too could have a go at the OS to try and crack the restrictions so that Apple TV gets all the more customizable.
If you are some geek, you should be happy.