Apple TV: Take Two – this time it has movie rental and internet

This is Apple’s second crack at the TV market. They went out and they talked to their users, and discovered that people want more content for cheaper, and they want it in HD. A slashed price and a deal with popular film rental site NetFlix (American LoveFilm) could see this become a contender in the living room.

Features include:
More movies, TV shows and music
All HD
Computer link ups are all over streaming – no syncing (it’s simpler)
It’s a rental market – not about buying, it’s about renting. Means it’s cheaper and there’s less storage required.

Where’s the content coming from?
From Hollywood – first run movies – $4.99 out the day the DVD comes out.
From the TV networks, it used to be $2.99 for HD TV shows now it’s $0.99 cents for ABC and Fox shows. (Steve is optimistic the other networks will come on board.)

As a NetFlix subscriber you can stream for free… you can also watch anything you want on Youtube, and if you want to you can stream stuff off your PC.

It has a simple UI for flicking between internet, movies and TV. There’s a feature where you can read reviews before renting.

You can stream from an iOS 4.2 device too… this is where the Aeroplane feature comes in, so you can send pictures from your iPad to your TV, any TV. Pretty nice.

Price of Apple TV – $99 – out in 4 weeks in US

Anna Leach