After years of speculation and rumor about the mythical Apple television, here’s another round of it that might put the topic to rest for a while… Apple, The Wall Street Journalreported Monday, quietly shelved the project more than a year ago after finding that it would be difficult to produce a product that could set it apart from the pack.

Apple “searched for breakthrough features to justify building an Apple-branded television set” but came up short, the paper reported, citing unnamed sources.

Such breakthroughs that were apparently under consideration sound pretty ho-hum – Ultra HD/4K display, sensor-equipped cameras to make video calls, among them.

But Carl Icahn, in an open letter on Monday to Apple CEO Tim Cook holding that the company’s shares are worth a lofty $240 (they’re trading at about $130 per share at the time of this writing), remains confident that Apple will still make a go at the TV, as well as connected cars.

“Apple is poised to enter and in our view dominate two new categories (the television next year and the automobile by 2020) with a combined addressable market of $2.2 trillion, a view investors don’t appear to factor into their valuation at all,” Icahn wrote.

With respect to the long-rumored Apple television, that’s sort of a replay from October 2014, when Icahn expressed confidence in another open letter that Apple would introduce a 4K set sometime in fiscal year 2016.

Icahn wrote this week that he still expects Apple to start selling two Apple television sets – UHD models with 55-inch and 65-inch screens, in FY 2016, so at least he’s consistent. He also sees Apple generating revenue of $15 billion in FY 2016 on sales of 10 million units, rising to $37.5 billion on 25 million units in FY 2017. 

“[W]e view television’s role in the living room as a strategically compelling bolt-on to the Apple ecosystem,” Icahn wrote, adding that he also plays into the rumor that Apple is preparing to launch its own "skinny bundle” of pay-TV channels and a new Apple TV device.

Icahn then went on CNBC, saying that he read the WSJ article but stands by his belief that Apple will still pull the trigger on its own television set.  

For now, Apple’s public video strategy continues to center on the current generation (and recently price-reduced) Apple TV device, and support for services such as HBO Now, HBO’s new stand-alone OTT service.

But when the HBO Now deal was announced, Cook open the door to much more, noting that the aim of Apple is to “reinvent the way you watch television, and this is just the beginning.”

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn alerted the world Wednesday via Twitter to expect an “interesting" open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook to emerge on Thursday. Little did we know that it would be quite entertaining as well.

It’s been awhile since anyone has stirred things up about that mysterious Apple television. Leave it to Icahn (iCahn?) to stoke the flames of hype.

In that letter, Icahn basically urges Apple to repurchase a bunch of stock posthaste because Icahn believes Apple “is dramatically undervalued in today’s market,” and included a product-by-product review on how he came up with his forecast for the mighty CE giant and a model that values Apple at $203 per share (Apple shares were trading at $101.68 each Thursday morning).

On the product end, Icahn discusses products such as the new Apple Watch, iPhone, and the iPad, and a section on a purported Apple-made UltraHD TV that leaves enough wiggle room to drive a Mack Truck through.

“While Apple has not announced plans for a TV set and may never do so, we believe we have good enough reason to expect the introduction of an UltraHD TV set in FY 2016,” Icahn writes. “We think television represents a large opportunity for Apple, one that reaches far beyond ‘the hobby’ that Apple TV currently represents.”

He then goes on to mention that Cook has stated publicly that “TV is an area of great interest for Apple,” and agrees that it should be.

Count Icahn among the 4K believers, holding that it will drive a “major TV replacement cycle” as prices drop, with Netflix viewing UltraHD streaming as major catalyst.

And despite saying that Apple may never release a TV, Icahn has a good idea of how many units Apple could move. In his view, Apple stands to sell 12 million 55” and 65” TV sets in FY 2016 and 25 million in FY 2017 at an average selling price of $1,500 “at gross margins consistent with the overall company.”

And Icahn sees the UltraHD TV as more than a TV, but a “centerpiece to the modern living room” that could serve as a gateway into the home for Apple’s expanding ecosystem.So, what are you waiting for?

If Apple does build a TV, I agree that it might as well go the 4K route. But short of going all-in on a product category that is insanely competitive, I don’t know why Apple wouldn't want to simplify everything by developing a new version of an Apple TV device that features an HDMI pass-through. In that scenario, Apple can easily hijack the user experience  while still supporting traditional pay-TV services and layering in iTunes and any other OTT fare it (and its users) desire. Building a TV and perhaps its own virtual MVPD offering could come later when or if the economics to do so improve.

But in the meantime, we've got a fresh hype cycle underway on the elusive Apple Television, the techno-unicorn of this age.