Available in Ireland in February...

With all the talk this week about the Apple iPhone, its easy to forget that the AppleTV device was also launched. AppleTV (called iTV during its development) allows for content to be streamed from a Mac or PC to your television.

All content in iTunes can be played on your TV, when sent via wireless technology. For instance, if you have an Airport network at home, and a Mac connected to this network, the AppleTV box will pick up music, photos and videos from the Mac and stream them to your TV. You can browse music, iPhoto pictures and play any QuickTime movies.

The Mac in your house doesn't have to be switched on for this to work. AppleTV comes with a 40GB hard drive and will sync wirelessly from your Mac. It can be set to sync automatically, so that when you download new music or video, this will arrive on the AppleTV without any user interaction.
Apple TV costs 299 euro and is available from the Apple Store for Ireland. It ships in February, but is available to order now.

Simon Spence/2007