Question: What is a small network appliance and entertainment device that serves as a the media player for the iTunes Store?

Context articles: Middlebox
Unidirectional network
Media Player Classic
Amazon Fire TV
Juice Box
TV (software)
Apple TV
Apple Inc.
VLC media player
ITunes

A middlebox or network appliance is a computer networking device that transforms, inspects, filters, or otherwise manipulates traffic for purposes other than packet forwarding.
 Common examples of middleboxes include firewalls, which filter unwanted or malicious traffic, and network address translators, which modify packets' source and destination addresses.
 Dedicated middlebox hardware is widely deployed in enterprise networks to improve network security and performance, however, even home network routers often have integrated firewall, NAT, or other middlebox functionality.
 The widespread deployment of middleboxes and other network appliances has resulted in some challenges and criticism due to poor interaction with higher layer protocols.
A unidirectional network (also referred to as a unidirectional security gateway or data diode) is a network appliance or device allowing data to travel only in one direction, used in guaranteeing information security.
 They are most commonly found in high security environments such as defense, where they serve as connections between two or more networks of differing security classifications - also known as a "cross domain solution."
 This technology is also found at the industrial control level for such facilities as nuclear power plants, electric power generation/distribution, oil and gas production, water/wastewater, and manufacturing.
Media Player Classic (MPC) is a compact media player for 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows.
 MPC mimics the look and feel of Windows Media Player 6.4, but provides most options and features available in modern media players.
 It and its forks are standard media players in the K-Lite Codec Pack and the Combined Community Codec Pack.
Amazon Fire TV refers to two digital media players and microconsoles developed by Amazon.com.
 It is a small network appliance and entertainment device designed to stream digital audio/video content to a high-definition television.
 The device also allows users to play video games with the included remote, via a mobile app, or with an optional game controller.
The Juice Box is a low cost multimedia player made by toy manufacturer Mattel.
 The player features a 2.7 in screen with a native resolution of 240×160 px and runs μClinux, a microcontroller version of the Linux kernel.
 It was made and released in November 2004, and was discontinued in early 2005.
 It has 66 MHz ARM7TDMI architecture Samsung processor S3C44B0, 2 MBytes or 8 MBytes of RAM and 8MB of ROM.
 It was marketed as a portable media player for kids.
 The player only played a proprietary cartridge format.
 Nickelodeon, 4Kids Entertainment, and Cartoon Network put some of their shows on cartridges.
 However, the small screen and poor quality (6 frames per second maximum) alienated most people.
 Furthermore, the device entered a crowded market.
 Its rivals are the VideoNow and the Game Boy Advance, the GBA being the most potent.
 The difference is that GBA not only had TV shows (which can be played through Game Boy Advance Video cartridges), but could also play video games, as it was built for that.
 Thus many retail stores were left with a surplus of the device.
 Original retail price was about US$70.
Apple TV is a video streaming and digital distribution service developed by Apple Inc. exclusive to the namesake Apple TV microconsole and devices running iOS.
 It provides a listing of television shows available on video on demand applications from national broadcast networks.
 It also serves as a media player for television shows and films purchased in the iTunes Store, replacing the "Videos" application on earlier versions of iOS.
 Apple TV was first introduced in the United States as a preinstalled application in tvOS 10.1 and iOS 10.2 on December 12, 2016.
 It was later introduced in Australia and Canada in tvOS 11 and iOS 11, on September 19, 2017.
Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and sold by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance and entertainment device that can receive digital data from a number of sources and stream it to a capable television.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services.
 The company's hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, the iPad tablet computer, the Mac personal computer, the iPod portable media player, the Apple Watch smartwatch, the Apple TV digital media player, and the HomePod smart speaker.
 Apple's consumer software includes the macOS and iOS operating systems, the iTunes media player, the Safari web browser, and the iLife and iWork creativity and productivity suites.
 Its online services include the iTunes Store, the iOS App Store and Mac App Store, Apple Music, and iCloud.
VLC media player (commonly known as VLC) is a free and open-source, portable and cross-platform media player and streaming media server written by the VideoLAN project.
 VLC is available for desktop operating systems and mobile platforms, such as Windows 10 Mobile, Windows Phone, Android, Tizen, iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
 VLC is also available on App stores such as Apple's App Store, Google Play store and Microsoft Windows Windows Store.
iTunes ( or ) is a media player, media library, online radio broadcaster, and mobile device management application developed by Apple Inc. It is used to play, download, and organize digital downloads of music and video (as well as other types of media available on the iTunes Store) on personal computers running the macOS and Microsoft Windows operating systems.
 The iTunes Store is also available on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.