Hardware site Arstechnica has uncovered a new patent filed by Apple, detailing what appears to be plans for a centralised media hub with functionality akin to that of a multimedia PC.

In a strange design move, the functionality of the unit appears to be modularised, with a single device acting as a central interface for units such as an Ipod, hard drive or DVD/CD player. Whether or not that would include a TV-tuner module was not specified, but you have to imagine that Apple will be keen to go down that path.

Perhaps this will go some way towards increasing the functionality of the rather hamstrung Apple TV offering, which is currently held back by limited external support. Opening the service up to PVR features and increased codec support by way of yet another Apple device would certainly do the company's ever-increasing market share no harm.