At D10, where Apple CEO Tim Cook was interviewed, he was asked about Apple entering the console market. The company has long been rumored to challenge Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo but Cook said Apple isn't interested ... in a traditional sense.

Cook was asked by The Verge's Editor-in-Chief Joshua Topolsky on whether Apple would enter the gaming industry, considering it's "fallen into being a big player in the gaming space."

"I view that we are in gaming now in a fairly big way. One of the reasons people buy an iPod Touch is gaming. Some buy it for music. I realize that is not the big screen you are talking about. Gaming has kind of evolved a bit. More people play on portable devices. Where we might go in the future, we'll see. Customers love games.

"I'm not interested in being a console business in what is thought of as traditional gaming. But Apple is a big player today, and things in the future will only make that bigger," Cook said.

It's unclear what Cook meant by "traditional gaming." Microsoft and Sony are firmly invested in controller-based gaming with a console under the television, while Nintendo brought motion gaming to a mass audience. When Apple has introduced products, each has integrated into its ecosystem. Will Apple unveil an iConsole? Will it be built into the Apple TV? Will an Apple television set include the technology?

There's also the question of how Apple would allow users to control games. Controllers have been requested for iOS devices instead of virtual joysticks, but Apple has never hinted it would offer an accessory. There's a chance a console could be controlled through an iPad, or even an iPhone, though that would mean users have to buy two Apple products to use one.

Apple already has the App Store with an active gaming catalogue, so launching a branch of that for bigger "triple-A" games is possible.

Geoff Keighley added on Twitter "Tim Cook has a world exclusive of his own next week as well," which would put the news during E3 2012 week and just before WWDC on June 11.

On TV, Cook added "it could be interesting."