This led me to wonder if there isn't another Apple device that might just benefit from some of those same Snow Leopard improvements. Ihnatko speculates very briefly about a new media device running Snow Leopard intended to be the next-generation home theater Mac experience. But would we need a new device? Would it be possible to update the existing Apple TV with a Snow Leopard based operating system that took advantage of the new OS version's faster speed, more robust processing and QuickTime X improvements to vastly expand the device's power and feature set?

The only problem I have with third-party software suites like Boxee on the Apple TV (and perhaps the reason for some features people have clamored for on the Apple TV that have not so far materialized) is the these enhanced features really push the Apple TV box and software to the edge of practicality. The Boxee folks, for example, still haven't figured a way to make Netflix streaming content work on the Apple TV version of their software. I run into a practicality wall with a lot of Boxee plugins and even some local content sources on the Apple TV install that don't seem to be a hassle for the version running on my two-year-old iMac under Leopard. This may explain why Apple (where they insist that everything "just works" out of the box) hasn't pushed the official software any farther than they have. People expect a little tweaking and a little performance variation on Alpha software like Boxee — but not on an Apple consumer product running pre-loaded Apple software. (The CouchGuy still loves Boxee, though...)

Andy Ihnatko may be right in speculating that the performance boost and enhanced video interface of Snow Leopard isn't just intended to improve the Macintosh experience alone. (I suspect it may be a bit more than speculation. Andy sometimes Knows More than he can tell us.)

It would be a hoot if September 9 brought us a look at an upcoming Apple iPad and a new Apple TV software update, both taking advantage of a host of new iTunes offerings made possible by having Snow Leopard under the hood. Color me intrigued...