The new Apple TV for $99

Steve Jobs just pulled out the world famous “one more thing” for nothing other than… a new Apple TV. It’s now a streaming-focused device (as we predicted months ago) in a small matte black enclosure we’re calling “the hockey puck.” It has HDMI, Ethernet, optical audio, and USB plugs around back, and of course 802.11n for the cable-averse. Inside there ain’t much — there’s no local storage, which makes this thing an entirely different beast than old Apple TVs, relying entirely on the “cloud” for content. Those new streaming HD TV rentals from ABC and Fox will be a mere 99 cents, while first run HD movies will be a less thrilling $4.99. Other services include Netflix, YouTube, Flickr, and Mobile Me, along with Rotten Tomatoes integration in the movie catalog. You can also stream from your computer, if you miss those old hard drive-sourced days of yore, but iOS 4.2’s AirPlay also enables streaming from an iPad straight to an Apple TV for something much more surreal. The best news? Apple will start shipping this sucker four weeks from now for $99.

Update: We just got confirmation from Apple that the new Apple TV will be streaming 720p video only (no big surprise there), and that existing Apple TVs won’t be getting an upgrade to the new cloud-based software (again, not a shocker).

Update 2: Can’t imagine life without a 160GB hard drive? The original Apple TV is still on sale at the Apple Store for $149. [Thanks, Josh]

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The new Apple TV for $99 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple demoes iOS 4.2, features AirPlay media streaming

Apple is also talking up iOS 4.2 today, which will be everything iOS 4.1 is bringing, plus some extra goodies, and will finally bring iOS 4 (hello multitasking!) to the iPad. The most exciting of the new features is AirPlay, which is Apple’s redub for AirTunes, with the important addition of being able to stream music and video to your i-device over WiFi (with an iPad even acting as host for the new Apple TV). Also over WiFi is a new wireless printing feature, complete with a little Print Center applet that sits in the dock and lets you manage your print jobs. It might not be sexy, but it’s certainly a welcome addition to iOS. Apple will be launching iOS 4.2 for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch devices in November.

Apple demoes iOS 4.2, features AirPlay media streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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