I love Apple stuff. I love Apple as a general rule, in ways that are questionable. However there’s one product I never bought, and for good reason: Apple TV.

When it was launched it was launched in an odd circumstance in that it was touted as a “pet project” of Apple’s. This was Apple actively saying this device was probably not world class and that it was, in essence, a beta test for anyone to access. I’m sure it was lovely and worked well for those who invested in it. Being tethered to iTunes to watch movies wasn’t my thing. I’m not a huge TV or movie viewer anyway, so my interest wasn’t being piqued in the first place.

Apple recently relaunched Apple TV as an iOS-powered tiny box that is more like ‘iTV’ rather than ‘Apple TV’. It’s like the TV box equivalent of an iPod Touch. Small, light, runs on very little power and relies on in-built apps (of sorts) to operate. It even has 8GB of on-board storage! I say ‘iTV’ because it’s an internet device built to hook up to servers around the world to deliver content to your television.

But this post isn’t about that.

Apple TV is another product that I reckon is in the pipeline. A TV. As in a Samsung or Sony BRAVIA replacement. 42-inches of Apple television on a stand or hanging on your wall.

I reckon it’s in development for a number of reasons. For one, panels are quite cheap for Apple (we’ve recently seen them switch various suppliers to meet demand and pricing) since they use them in a lot of devices, including Macs and iDevices. They already make industry-standard displays and focus heavily on the future of expansion & display ports (with Intel).

Secondly, Apple already have a storefront with iTunes. There are rumors floating around that they’re also focusing on technology to stream video better than they already do via their huge data center in North Carolina. Keep in mind they already have decent relationships with the likes of Netflix through Apps.

Third, if you go into your local electronics store today there’s a good bet in thinking about 50% of the TVs are internet-enabled. Samsung have had this for years now (granted previous iterations had very little real world use).

Blend your internet-enabled capabilities and store-front from that little black €129 box with a high res beautiful display and you’ve got yourself a TV aimed at the high end market.

What does the high end TV buying market mean?

Well, for the most part they have the same “extra” cash to spend on a TV that the people buying Macbook Air’s have over a cheaper Asus netbook. They want to spend more to get more out of their TV because they’ll use it persistently and want the experience to be top notch.

I would wager this kind of audience (in a previous life I worked in a company that sold TVs and have some experience here) would be more than willing to hang the TV on a wall, rather then leave it on a desk or stand.

So if we assume a lot of these buyers of “Apple TVs” would be buying them to wall mount and expect an iOS-esque experience with apps to launch Netflix, iTunes and perhaps flick to digital terrestrial TV, then we have an interesting prospect for Apple.

Ignore the HDMI, coax and other inputs/outputs. A TV has to have these (until Apple convince us otherwise) to serve our PlayStation, satellite TV and surround-sound needs. What I think would change the way we use TV is what has us so enamored with Apple these days in the first place – touching things.

Yes, your iOS device (iPod, iPhone, iPad) will all be remotes. That’s a no brained. But what if Apple TV itself was touch enabled with a special port of the iOS interface that suits a TV? Forget channel surfing, what about walking over to the TV, pinching the TV screen to move BBC News over to the side and pulling up RSS feeds to scroll along the side?

What if there was more than one Apple TV. Your 42-inch behemoth sits in the living room just fine, but you have a smaller one mounted on the wall of your kitchen to suit your morning needs. With apps and an iOS5-esque widget interface you can see what business meetings are lined up through Wunderlist, check your emails and even your iMessages. Apologies if my iOS5 gushing is lost on those who are uninitiated.

There’s a good chance every household has an iDevice. These days there’s also a good chance there’s a Mac, or the next computer purchased in the house will be a Mac. Apple are owning our personal devices and our computers already. The next step is the household. The box under the TV is always considered the bit to own the house (just look at how Sony and Microsoft pitched the PS3 and Xbox 360 respectively, and hell – this is how Amstrad makes its money with Sky boxes), but what if the TV itself was also that little box?

Shove a decent chip that isn’t power hungry (like the iPad ARM processor) and hook this TV up to the internet and the App Store can look after the rest. iPad and iPhone can control the device from far away (i.e. the sofa) so the App Store can serve out video games like Angry Birds to cut into Sony & Microsoft’s pot of gold, all the while the interface lends itself to your TV becoming a hub for the household, properly.

Owning the products in your pocket isn’t enough. If Apple can own the home then it can own digital home and digital entertainment. There’s good reason why Tim Cooke was offered a lot of shares to stay on as CEO for the next 10 years. I reckon this is where his vision will lead Apple.

Imagine a Jonny Ive designed TV in your living room? Good god…