Apple has been busy pushing out updates for the Beta version of its upcoming iPhone and iPod Touch Firmware, but a recent addition to a configuration file has revealed that the iPhone family may be expanding.

Speculations and rumors have been running rampant about Apple releasing a portable tablet version of the Mac which might run the iPhone OS. However, the reference to “iProd 0,1” was first spotted in March indicated that Apple already had this device in testing earlier this year but it is unknown whether or not the same mentions of “iProd 0,1” in both Firmware builds are the same. It is likely that Apple upgraded the device to “iProd 1,1” (which is also mention in the newest Firmware build) and that the second “iProd 0,1” is simply another prototype from the same family. There is no word on when these products will be released or whether they will come to fruition but it’s highly probable that is the tablet we’ve been waiting years for. A rumored September release has been passed around which would coincide with Apple’s usual refresh of the iPod line. What is just as revealing is that more references to future products appear such as “iPod2,2”, “iPod3,1”, and “iPhone3,1.”

The iProd1,1 device has been assigned a new productID of 4762 (versus 4757 of iProd0,1) and assigned a different ConfigurationDescriptor of “standardMuxPTPEthernet.” iPhone models also have this designation, and the additional interface identified in the plist for this configuration is “AppleUSBEthernet.” The consensus here seems to be that the new device may have gained high-speed networking capabilities—though the iPhone uses the interface to tether to a laptop to share its 3G connection.