Noted: One of the least publicized Apple products just got a price cut, as the company behind the iPhone took $100 off the 160 GB Apple TV. It now sells for $229. Apple also stopped selling the 40 GB Apple TV. Is it time to buy? You’d better keep reading.

The company entered the TV business in 2007 with a Mac mini-like box that downloads movies from  iTunes and displays photos from home computers on the big screen.  But the computer, which has a wireless chip from Irvine’s Broadcom Corp., restricted Internet browsing with limited access to YouTube and other online sites. It wasn’t meant to be another home computer. Critics also bashed it because it didn’t support full 1080p high-definition video.

This week’s price drop and nixing of the 40 GB, however has some wondering whether Apple is planning an upgrade. The TV wasn’t mentioned at all during last week’s iPod event. But a price drop indicates Apple is clearing out old inventory.  PCWorld believes a new Apple TV will arrive before Christmas. Why? Because Apple added more DVD content to the iTunes store last week and it surely wants to get a bigger piece of the online video market.

Wired News speculates that Apple may just morph everything into an actual Apple TV. Phillip Swann at TVPredictions.com believes Apple should just get out of the business and says, “But Apple TV’s colossal failure is more evidence that the media has been dead wrong — and that digital downloads are still years away from reaching a mass audience.”

Well, improvements can and should be made to the product. Tech news site Ars Technica offers several tips to make Apple TV useful for consumers: Add DVR technology, allow unrestricted access to online video like Hulu, and, of course, fully support 1080p HD video.

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