Apple took the wraps off the new Apple TV at a media event in San Francisco. It shouldn't come as a news bulletin that Apple TV hasn't exactly set the world on fire, but it was refreshing to hear Apple CEO Steve Jobs admit as much.

He then detailed what the firm has done to drum up excitement for the video streaming product, which mainly consists of applying the tried-and-true formula of offering more features for less money.

A paltry $119 in Canada (or a strategic US$99 stateside) buys an elegant, black box about a quarter of the size of its predecessor that streams HD movies and TV shows. Apple says the less than four inches square enclosure is 80 per cent smaller than the previous generation.

Provided your ISP hasn't set a prohibitively low bandwidth allowance, you can use Apple TV to download HD movies to rent (including first run movies) for C$5.99.

With no provision to buy, there's no need for costly storage within the unit (which helps explain its low price).

Apple TV has built-in HDMI, Wi-Fi, Ethernet and an internal power supply for easy set-up.

In the U.S., Apple TV users can now rent thousands of commercial free, HDTV 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.

As had been widely rumoured, Apple TV now gives access to the Netflix streaming catalogue for Netflix subscribers in the U.S., and the ability to browse and search, rate content, add to or remove from a queue, or instantly stream straight to an HDTV.

Apple TV users in the U.S. can also enjoy millions of YouTube videos, more than 200,000 podcasts, 4,000 Internet radio stations and personal photos from MobileMe and Flickr.

The seven-button aluminum Apple Remote (included) is a model of elegance in design.

Article Tags:  movies, users, netflix, available, streaming, apple tv