The little black box known as the second-generation Apple TV must be feeling mighty neglected of late, with speculation running rampant that Cupertino is in the throes of creating an honest-to-God, full-fledged television set -- or at least a baby step by introducing television functionality to the iMac. But what would a true “Apple TV” (“iTV”) need to succeed? Journey with us now as we join the speculation.

It’s not a huge leap of faith to imagine that Apple might be working on an HD television set -- after all, former CEO Steve Jobs told official biographer Walter Isaacson that he had finally “nailed it” in a rare moment of honesty when discussing future products from the company. Of course, many of us are perfectly happy with the HDTVs already in our living rooms, so what could Apple bring to the table that consumer electronics companies have missed for decades?

We won’t pretend to know all the answers, but here are a handful of things we’d certainly love to see from Apple’s next invasion into the living room.

“Play Last Night’s Episode of ‘Community’”

Siri is already rumored to play a key part of any Apple-branded television set, and there’s no denying the currently iPhone 4S-only technology would be a perfect match. Instead of a traditional remote control littered with way too many buttons, you’d simply speak commands to the TV set and it would know what you want. Does that mean there will be no remote at all? We’re guessing Apple will bundle at least a basic remote control like the one included with the second-generation Apple TV, as well as updating the Remote iOS app for more advanced features.

As cool as a Siri-based television sounds, we can definitely see a few disadvantages. For example, you’ll never be able to control the TV set while holding a large party with a bunch of loud, boisterous guests talking over each other. And those epic battles married people and roommates endure fighting for control over the remote? You ain’t seen nothing yet, with couples screaming commands back and forth at Siri until her virtual head explodes.

Go Big or Stay Home

Despite what analysts tell their male patients, size does matter when it comes to a television set. Bigger is better, and these days even a 50-inch set seems too small in many homes. There’s no way of knowing exactly in which sizes Apple might offer their rumored HDTV, but at least one recent report claims three sizes starting at 32 inches and topping out at 55 inches.

A trio of sizes makes sense, although limiting it to two would be more Apple-like: For example, the company already offers the iMac in both 21.5-inch and 27-inch sizes. But here’s hoping that the maximum size is more like 60 inches -- maybe we’re spoiled, but we already have a rather nice 50-inch Samsung, so it will take the next step up to entice us into buying out of the gate.

Don’t Just Upgrade the iMac

Speaking of the iMac, another recent rumor claims that Apple may try to shoehorn television technology into the existing iMac next year, with a true HDTV set coming later down the road. While this may excite the geeks among us who already use a Mac mini or an old Mac in their living room, it’s not quite pushing the right buttons with us.

Anyone remember the 1993 debacle known as Macintosh TV? (We get chills down our spine just thinking about it -- and not in a good way.) That was Cupertino’s first attempt at integrating a television set with a Mac, and it flamed out four months later with only 10,000 units having been manufactured. There are plenty of great options for getting TV on our Macs and even recording it (Elgato’s EyeTV certainly comes to mind) -- let’s focus on a true living room experience and save the Mac for our laps and desks.

Total Control

As we add more devices to our home theatre setups, complications arise when it comes time to turn them all on and make sure everything’s set to the right input. Companies like Logitech have been working on this dilemma with their line of Harmony remotes (and more recently the $99.99 Harmony Link, which turns an iOS device into the remote), but if Apple hopes to dominate the living room, they’ll have to step outside of their own little world and address this particular elephant.

How could they do it? By including a sophisticated IR blaster with the HDTV, which can then be controlled with the existing Remote iOS app or better yet, through any third-party offering in the App Store, thanks to a new API. That’s a tall order considering all of the boxes, game systems and other devices out there, especially when you factor in adding Siri control over at least the most basic features of each.

It’s The Content, Stupid

Last but not least, we come to the content. There’s no denying that the iTunes Store has a lot to offer, but there’s a whole other world out there, including Hulu Plus and Amazon Instant Video, neither of which are yet available from the existing Apple TV box but are freely available from competitors like Roku. Other services should include favorites such as Plex, Boxee and XBMC, which have been available on hacked Apple TVs for years and really deserve to find a home there permanently. Sure, Apple might have to take one for the team by letting these rivals on their branded HDTV, but if they don’t, they’ll have less to offer than companies who have been making TVs for far longer.

It’s a logical conclusion that an Apple television will include everything we have today with the second-generation Apple TV: AirPlay, internet services like YouTube, Vimeo and Netflix, access to existing iTunes Store content and iCloud services such as Photo Stream. But Apple will have to go even further to compete with what’s already out there -- we think they should be shooting for eliminating as many boxes from an existing home theatre setup as humanly possible, including their own!

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(Images courtesy HitechBytes.com, RadioMobileTech.com, Guilherme Marins Schasiepen, VectronicsAppleWorld.com)