Friday was a fairly big day regarding Apple and the television world.

First, the company has released the Apple TV 3.0 software update. Apple TV has sort of become the forgotten middle child in the big consumer electronics push Apple has embarked upon in the last 5-10 years. While the iPod is still a big deal, and the iPhone is just about the most sought-after smartphone on the market, Apple's set-top box has more or less become an afterthought for most.

If you do have an Apple TV, however, you can look forward to a pretty significant update. Among the changes will be a new interface, better iTunes support, and the addition of the new iTunes Extra and LP features. While it may not be enough to sell you on the cost of a new Apple TV, the ability to pull up the artwork and bonus features from iTunes LP should look pretty cool on a decent-sized HDTV.

There's also news regarding Apple's advertising efforts. Lee Clow, the advertising mind behind two of Apple's most famous campaigns, is stepping down from his position at advertising firm TBWA.

Clow made his mark with Apple in 1984, when he helped to create the company's iconic Super Bowl advertisement. The ad announced the coming of the Macintosh computer and to this day is regarded as one of the best television spots ever.

More recently, Clow came up with the "Get a Mac" campaign that got Microsoft so worked up they launched a massive advertising push of there own to counter the widely-successful Apple spots.

The Fall is now upon us and the change of seasons is looking to bring a new twist to the story of Apple's 2009 year. The company recently gave indications that it would not be rolling out any more new products this year, then promptly rephrased that clear statement with a new, hazy one that has some wondering if another rollout may occur before the end of the year.

In a recent interview with Gizmodo, Phil Schiller said that the company had its holliday lineup for the year set. As most would conclude, this meant that no new products would be coming any time soon, and that the rumoured Apple tablet would wait until at least early next year.

Apple, however, has never really been fond of concrete statements, so they made sure that the site clarified that Schiller didn't say no new products, only that the company had its lineup for christmas set. This could leave the door open for a surprise announcement next month or even a post-christmas introduction for a new device.

Speaking of the rumoured tablet, several major publishers and news organizations have leaked word that Apple is working with them on possible content deals for such a device. If true, this would indicate that Apple wants to sell content directly over iTunes and not a third-party service, such as Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Perhaps they're also looking to make up with Google in hopes of a programme to bring Editions to the device?

Yesterday Apple posted record earnings. The fact that the company just posted its best quarter ever was pretty big news, but the circumstances surrounding that quarter made it even more impressive. Earlier this morning we received comment from analyst firm TechMarketView on the subject, and here's what chairman Richard Holway had to say about Apple's report:

It is difficult to find the right words to describe Apple's wonderous Q4results last night as they blew expectations out of the water. Profits up 47% at $1.67b is one thing but a 25% rise in revenues to $9.87b in one of the worst consumer recessions on record, is quite another

Holway also noted that the continuing strong sales for the iPhone and iPod lines were helping to boost Mac sales, as could the release of Windows 7 (the reasoning being that a release could spur users to go shopping for a new computer, and possibly end up tipping more to purchase a Mac).

Additionally, the iPhone is making headway in the enterprise market, news which Holway thinks could spell trouble for RIM and the BlackBerry.

As Microsoft gets set to release Windows 7 on 22 October, Apple is planning an aggressive marketing campaign to encourage users to switch from PCs to Macs.

Because of Vista's disappointment, more customers than usual are likely to upgrade their Microsoft software than in past Microsoft operating system upgrades.

Reports have said Apple intends to take advantage of the number of people wanting to buy new systems.

"It presents a very good opportunity for us," Apple marketing vice president Philip Schiller told Business Week.

Business Week said Apple is likely to make the case that PCs are more susceptible to viruses than Macs.

As Apple's newest operating system release, Snow Leoppard carries the banner of the latest and greatest to come out of Cupertino. The new OS is supposedly faster, more stable, and packed to the brim with additional features.

Unfortunately it also has one minor flaw... once in a while it completely wipes out your system.

Apple has recently acknowledged a flaw which in limited cases has resulted in Snow Leopard completely resetting all settings and wiping out saved documents. The issue is said to arise when users log on as a guest account and then attempt to log back in to their systems using another user account. Leopard then has a bit of what the techies would call "a freakout" and wipes all application data, stored accounts and user documents.

According to the company line, fewer than 100 cases of this sort of error have been reported, but no doubt Apple engineers are working long and hard on an update.

People often talk about the "early adopter tax" which causes people to pay a premium in cash to get a hot new technology, but those who want the latest and greatest can also cost you dearly in terms of lost time and data while all the kinks in a new system get worked out. If you are going to get an OS release before the first major update, be it Mac, Windows or Linux, it's always a good idea to back up regularly.

VMware has announced that Fusion 3 will be available worldwide on October 27 and is available for pre-order from now. The firm described it as 'The best way to run Windows on the Mac', in case you weren't sure what it did.

VMware said that VMware Fusion 3 was built with Snow Leopard in mind and made the most of its advanced architecture through the addition of a new 64-bit core engine and native support for the 64-bit kernel. In a statement it added, "VMware Fusion 3 will be the first to enable the full Windows 7 experience, side-by-side with your Mac, complete with Windows Aero and Flip 3D".

Its 3D graphics capabilities and support for OpenGL 2.1 and DirectX 9.0c Shader Model 3 will let users play 3D Windows games and applications, without rebooting.

Jocelyn Goldfein, vice president and general manager, desktop business unit at VMware said, "VMware Fusion 3 builds on our proven platform and makes it even easier for users to run Windows applications on the Mac", in case we still hadn't quite got the message.

VMware Fusion 3 is now available for pre-orders at VMware, the Apple Online Store, and Amazon.com for a suggested retail price of $79.99 starting today. Upgrades from previous versions of VMware Fusion to VMware Fusion 3 will be available for $39.99.

According to a new survey the Mac/PC divide isn't as great as we've been led to believe. Although there are undoubtedly a growing number of Mac users, in about nine out of ten homes they still share desk space with a PC.

A US based survey from the NPD Group has found that approximately 12 per cent of all computer owning households own an Apple computer, a three per cent rise against last year's figures. Of those 12 per cent, nearly 85 per cent also own a Windows-based PC.

However, this possibly says more about the nature of Mac owners than it does about PCs. The survey suggests that Mac owners were twice as likely to own three or more computers than their PC using equivalents and were more likely to own a netbook, computer or a laptop - 72 per cent in comparison to PC owners' 50 per cent. Not only this, but they also appear to earn more money and spend it on expensive gewgaws like iPods.

"Thirty-six per cent of Apple computer owners reported household incomes greater than $100,000, compared to 21 per cent of all consumers," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis.

"With a higher household income, though, it's not a surprise that those consumers are making more electronics purchases. The average Apple household owns 48 CE devices whereas the average computer household owns about 24."

How the other half iLive, eh?

Rap star Eminem has had no shortage of conflicts in his career - the Insane Clown Posse, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Sacha Baron Cohen's "Bruno" character. But as of yesterday, Eminem can scratch at least one name off his enemies list: Apple Inc.

The rapper's Eight Mile Style publishing company came to a settlement with Apple over the sale of Eminem's songs on iTunes. According to Eminem's hometown paper the Detroit Free Press, the suit alleged that Apple had sold some $2.35m worth of songs without ever having received permission from Eight Mile Style to offer them on the iTunes service.

So settling the case probably wasn't at the top of Apple's to-do list, and in terms of importance it wasn't exactly on the level of the options backdating case of 2007 or the ongoing collusion investigations with Google, but it's a nice bit of publicity for iTunes and a good sign that we may be moving out of the litigation frenzy that has plagued the online music industry since its earliest days.

Plus, it leaves Eminem free to focus on battling his more dangerous foes, like hand-puppets, actors and guys in clown makeup.