Apple TV upgrade sweet, but rental terms rankle

NEW YORK -- Tremble, cable: Apple has its sights on you. Tremble, Netflix: Silicon Valley's brightest is out to get you, too.

The latest incarnation of Apple TV, a white box the size of a hardback book that connects to your TV, is an attractive alternative to the usual ways we get our video content, even if it still has room for improvement.

When it launched in March last year, Apple TV was mainly a way for users to get their iTunes content to play on the TV. You could buy movies on the computer, then transfer them to Apple TV, a slow process and hardly worth it. The movies were expensive and of poor visual quality.

A few months later, Apple Inc. gave the box direct access to YouTube videos, instantly making it more entertaining.

The latest software update, which arrived last week, takes Apple TV to a whole new level: It can now download rented movies directly from iTunes, with no need to involve the home computer.


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