Speculations are rife that Apple is making a comeback of sorts to the home entertainment arena – with tech blog Engadget, citing unnamed sources, reporting that a new version of the Apple TV is on the cards.

According to the report, the details forwarded by “a source very close to Apple” indicate that the new Apple TV will be priced at $99 and will reportedly run on iPhone OS 4. To be powered by Apple’s custom-built A4 processor, the Apple TV will be capable of full 1080p HD; and will feature 16GB internal memory and the A4 SoC.

With the TV hardware supposedly to comprise only a power socket and video out, the device might appear to some industry watchers as “an iPhone without a screen” or a battery.

Furthermore, with Apple having recently acquired the music streaming service LaLa, it is quite likely that the reported Apple TV version may also mark the company’s aggressive move in the direction of providing cloud based services.

Moreover, PatentlyApple’s recently publishing of a patent filed by Apple indicates that the new Apple TV version - which the company might just introduce at its annual iPod event this year - could present a “Simulated iPhone” on a HDTV, thereby giving the users the additional benefit of making phone calls, interacting with the iPhone Apps, and probably even reading iBooks.