Just slightly ahead of the new Apple TV's arrival at purchasers' doorsteps, Apple has posted the restore firmware for the new device (download link). The firmware's filename and .ipsw extension both confirm what practically everyone already knew: the new Apple TV runs on a flavor of iOS, the same operating system running on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. That, combined with the Micro-USB "service port" on the Apple TV's backside, means it's only a matter of time until it gets jailbroken.
Apple TV running iOS also means it would be relatively trivial for Apple to introduce an App Store for the device. In fact, with a more general-purpose version of