Apple has revealed its new, streaming-only Apple TV. And it’s just 1/4 the scale of the old one. The brand new version will pack built-in power supply, HDMI, ethernet, and 802.11n wireless, priced right down to $99. (UPDATED: Now with hands on)

The new Apple TV will stream rental movies directly from iTunes, or beam videos from your individual computer, bypassing local storage-and the potential of buying anything. Some local storage shall be available, however, to buffer and navigate streamed movies while viewing.

Content-wise, Apple is now offering $0.99 rentals from ABC and Fox, in addition as (and more excitingly) full Netflix streaming support. First-run movies shall be available in HD for $4.99 a similar day they’re released on DVD.

Visually, there doesn’t look like much of a metamorphosis here-the UI is usually an identical, though the combination of Rotten Tomatoes scores are a neat inclusion, and may help avoid ruining your evening with a sour rental.

Hands-On Impressions

Engadget says:

We like what we see. The streaming was speedy and very clear during our demo, and the entire speed of the interface seemed really solid. We also learned that the box is indeed 720p (just as we’d reported earlier). Apple told us that they felt that using 720p allowed them to strike a balance between quality and bandwidth.

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