MACWORLD SAN FRANCISCO—January 15, 2008—Apple® today unveiled all new
software for Apple TV® that allows movie fans to rent movies on the iTunes®
Store directly from their widescreen TV, and lowered the price of Apple TV to
just $229. With iTunes Movie Rentals and Apple TV, users can just click a button
on their remote to effortlessly rent movies from a catalog of over 1,000 titles
by the end of February, including over 100 titles in stunning high definition
video with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, with no computer required.
DVD-quality iTunes Movie Rentals are $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new
releases, and high definition versions are just one dollar more with library
titles at $3.99 and new releases at $4.99. Apple will provide the new Apple TV
software free of charge to existing Apple TV owners when it releases the new
Apple TV priced at $229 in about two weeks.
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“With the new Apple TV and iTunes Movie Rentals, movie lovers can rent
DVD-quality or stunning HD movies from their couch with just a click of a
button,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “No more driving to the video store or
waiting for DVDs to arrive in the mail.”
iTunes Movie Rentals feature iTunes’ legendary ease of use, which makes
discovering and enjoying movie rentals as simple and easy as buying music on
iTunes. Once a movie is rented, it starts downloading from the iTunes Store
directly to Apple TV, and users with a fast Internet connection can start
viewing the movie in seconds. Customers have up to 30 days to start watching it,
and once a movie has been started customers have 24 hours to finish it—or watch
it multiple times.
With Apple TV, users can also view photos from their computers, Flickr and
.Mac Web Galleries on their widescreen TV as slideshows or screen savers, and
anytime photos are updated on Flickr or .Mac, they are automatically updated on
Apple TV. Apple TV users can now browse and enjoy the iTunes Store podcast
directory of over 125,000 video and audio podcasts, view over 50 million
originally created videos from YouTube or choose from a selection of six million
songs, over 600 TV shows and 10,000 music videos to purchase directly from their
Apple TV. Purchases downloaded to Apple TV are automatically synced back to
iTunes on the user’s computer for enjoyment on their computer, all current
generation iPods* or iPhone™.
Apple TV easily connects to a broad range of widescreen TVs and home theater
systems and comes standard with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio
ports. Using high-speed AirPort® 802.11 wireless networking, Apple TV now
automatically plays all of your iTunes content without setup or management**.
Pricing & Availability
The new Apple TV software will be
available as a free automatic download to all Apple TV customers later this
month. Apple TV, which includes the Apple Remote, is available from the Apple
Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple
Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $229 (US) for the 40GB
model and $329 (US) for the 160GB model (US and Canada). Apple TV requires an
802.11g/n wireless network or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking, a broadband
Internet connection and a high definition widescreen TV. iPod® games will not
play on Apple TV. iTunes Movie Rentals are available in the US only.
*Movie rentals work on iPod classic, iPod nano with video and iPod touch.
**Compatible with 802.11b/g/n. Based on an IEEE 802.11n draft specification.
Wireless video streaming requires an 802.11g/n network.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s
with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the
Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its
award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional
applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its
iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered
the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.