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Report: Apple TV could get update Tuesday

The blog TUAW.com says that it has received word from an Apple reseller that suggests something is afoot with the Apple TV device.

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With September's retooling of the iPod Nano out of the way, the blogosphere's attention is turning to the possibility of an Apple TV announcement in the coming days.

The Apple TV device. CNET Networks

Christina Warren of The Unofficial Apple Weblog wrote Saturday that TUAW.com had received an e-mail from an unnamed Apple reseller. The message: The reseller had been instructed by Apple

to remove all Apple TV displays and literature and to destroy them (which I assume means throw away the literature, send back the Apple TVs) by September 30, 2008 at 5 PM. Additionally, the e-mail says that there will be a webcast "kick off" on September 30.

It may simply be, Warren wrote in an update, that the reported instructions have to do with the expiration of licensing for the shows and images seen in the literature "and that the actual physical units may not be disappearing."

Still, the issue remains open: Is there something afoot with the Apple TV itself? "Could this potentially be the introduction of the Mini/Apple TV hybrid we've all been begging for?" Warren asks. "Is this related to the rumors of 'The Brick?'" (The Brick being a rumored gadget suspected of being scheduled for an October release.)

Version 2.0 of the Apple TV firmware came out in early 2008.

The folks at MacBlogz concur that an Apple TV shakeup is a possibility, but they seem to be putting their money on an HDTV-related upgrade.

All that remains now is to see what actually comes of the anticipated Apple Webcast on Tuesday.