Here is Daring Fireball’s John Gruber’s take on yesterday’s speculations on whether Apple is working on a standalone TV set or not:

Carl Icahn in his open letter to Tim Cook:

Apple Television Set – after many years of rumors as part of Apple’s push into television and as we referenced previously, we expect in FY 2016 Apple will sell 55” and 65” ultra high definition television sets.

In addition to an Ultra High Definition television set, we expect Apple to launch a related suite of tiered products and services, including a “skinny bundle” of pay-tv channels (partnered with various media companies) and an updated Apple TV microconsole.

Daisuke Wakabayashi for WSJ:

Investor Carl Icahn said he expects Apple Inc. to introduce an ultra-high-definition television in 2016. But after nearly a decade of research, Apple quietly shelved plans to make such a set more than a year ago, according to people familiar with the matter.

John Gruber on his blog:

One way to read it is that Apple gave Wakabayashi this scoop in order to throw cold water on Icahn’s speculation — they’re not doing a TV set and they want everyone know it, so that when they announce a new Apple TV box at WWDC next month (I know nothing about that other than that it’s widely rumored) everyone will understand that there is no TV set coming next year to wait for.

Making boxes that connect to TVs — like Apple TV as it stands today — that makes sense to me. Making actual TV sets, though, I’ve long been skeptical about. Years ago, I thought, “Why should Apple settle for selling a $100 box connected to a $2000 TV instead of just selling the $2000 TV set with the box built in?” The problem, though, is that TV set prices have dropped dramatically, and people don’t replace their TV sets that frequently. The only way to build a large TV-based platform is to make boxes that connect to the TV sets people already own. There has to be a standalone Apple TV box. In theory, Apple could make an actual TV set, too, but I’m unconvinced that makes strategic sense.

Also read: Everything you want to know about Apple TV 4

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As Apple TV users, we are always excited to hear rumours on Apple’s own television set. The latest one is the open letter which Carl Icahn sent today to Apple, where he predicts the company to release an Ultra HDTV next year. However, The Wall Street Journal confirmed hours later that Apple has no plans to enter the television market anytime soon.

WSJ says that Apple had been working on a television set for nearly a decade. The HDTV market was very competitive and hence, they were looking for a real “breakthrough” feature that would set them apart and convince users to switch. And as it seems, they never found any.

They tried adding a front camera to the television helping with FaceTime and video calling. They also experimented with different types of displays, but none were compelling enough.

As such, Apple dropped its TV project a year ago. They didn’t dissolve the team working on it but just reallotted them to work on other devices, probably the Apple TV 4. Apple plans to reform the team and continue its television plans as soon as the company comes up with that breakthrough feature.

So for the time being, Apple is focused solely on its next set-top box for media consumption, which is expected to be announced next month at WWDC 2015.

Read more on the Apple TV 4 release date, hardware, software and apps.

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

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According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple is planning to launch its own online television service that would include about 25 channels from broadcasters such as ABC, CBS and Fox and would be available on Apple TV as well as on iPhone and iPad.

The idea is to offer consumers a “skinny” bundle with well-known channels like CBS, ESPN and FX, while leaving out the many smaller networks in the standard cable TV package.

Some media executives said they believed Apple was aiming to price the service at about $30 to $40 a month. The company is aiming to announce its new service in June and launch it in September, according to people familiar with the matter.

WSJ reports that Apple is in talks with Walt Disney Co., CBS Corp., and 21st Century Fox Inc., among other media companies.

Last week Apple announced that the new HBO NOW streaming service is coming exclusively to Apple TV in April. According to WSJ, “that deal was designed as a kind of appetizer for the main meal plans to be served later this year.”

Apple has also dropped the price of Apple TV to $69 (and it’s now just $67.87 on Amazon), which 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman thinks is a sign that the company is making room for “a groundbreaking new set-top box.”

9to5Mac reported that Apple is working on a new, slimmer Apple TV model with a more capable and tactile remote control and a redesigned OS bundled with an App Store.

We shouldn’t be surprised if the new Apple TV launches in September, along with Apple’s online TV service.

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

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Your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch have been generously updated by Apple with over 200 new features yesterday, and the Cupertino-based company didn’t forget about its “hobby device”. Apple released the Apple TV 4.4 software update, which adds Photo Stream, AirPlay mirroring, NHL live games, Wall Street Journal news, support for subtitles in Netflix, new movie trailers section and some new slideshow themes.

With Photo Stream in iCloud, your last 1000 photos automatically appear in a special Photo Stream album on your Apple TV 2.  No matter which device you used to take the picture. No syncing. No sending. iCloud’s Photo Stream service automatically uploads the photos you take or import on any of your devices and wirelessly pushes them to all your devices and computers.

AirPlay mirroring lets you wirelessly stream what’s on your iPad 2 or iPhone 4S to your HDTV. It lets you to mirror every app to the big screen, including web browsers and games.

Other new features:

• National Hockey League: watch live games. View highlights, scores, and more.
• Wall Street Journal: watch up-to-date news, business commentary, and financial analysis from leading experts.
• New Slideshow themes: enjoy your photos on your HDTV with new slideshow themes: Photo Wall, Flip-up, Shifting Tiles.
• Netflix: added support for subtitles when available.
• Trailers: browse and view hundreds of the latest theatrical trailers

As always – don’t update to 4.4 if you don’t want to lose your jailbreak. @nitoTV and @firecore are already working hard on the new jailbreak. We’ll have a tutorial on how to jailbreak your Apple TV on firmware 4.4 as soon as the new jailbreak is out.

Our readers report that Apple is still signing the 4.3 software, which means that if you didn’t update and your atv is still running 4.3, you can jailbreak it using SeasOnPass 0.7.7 or sn0wbreeze.

You may also want to read:
AirPlay Mirroring Coming to iPhone 4S
How to Jailbreak Apple TV 2 on iOS 4.3 or iOS 5 Beta with Seas0nPass 0.7.7 (untethered)
How to Jailbreak Apple TV 2 on iOS 4.3 with sn0wbreeze (untethered)

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