Following days of speculation, Apple has announced the new Apple TV for the “breakthrough price” of $99 (€77.5). Apple TV users can rent HD movies (for $4.99) and HD TV show episodes from ABC, ABC Family, Fox, Disney Channel and BBC America for 99 cents.
The new Apple TV is a lot smaller (80% smaller according to Apple) and has built-in HDMI, Wi-Fi, Ethernet and an internal power supply. In addition to the TV shows and movies, Apple TV also streams content from Netflix, YouTube, Flickr and MobileMe, as well as music, photos and videos from PCs and Macs to the TV set.
“The new Apple TV, paired with the largest selection of online HD movie and TV show rentals, lets users watch Hollywood content on their HD TV whenever they want,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, in a statement. “This tiny, silent box costing just $99, lets users watch thousands of HD movies and TV shows, and makes all of their music, photos and videos effortlessly available on their home entertainment system.”
Apple TV users can now rent HD TV episodes on iTunes for 99 cents, with up to 30 days to start watching and then 48 hours to finish—or watch multiple times. Users can also rent over 7,000 movies with over 3,400 available in HD, with most new releases available the same day they are released on DVD. So far, only Fox and Disney (including ABC) studios and BBC America are delivering content to the new Apple TV.
In the US, the new Apple TV will be available later this month; for the UK, a price of £99 has been set and €119 for Europe. No delivery dates have been set, but the device can be ordered via the Apple online store. iTunes TV show rentals and Netflix are only available in the US. Netflix features require account subscription.
iTunes movies rentals are only available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and the UK.
