Apple takes on Google, Microsoft with web TV

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs also rolled out a completely overhauled lineup of iPod media players and the latest version of iTunes, with a new logo that does away with the outdated image of a CD.

The new Apple TV device, which accesses content from the Internet and plays it on a TV, will sell for $99. It is a quarter the size of the original, which cost $229. The 4-inch-square device allows users to rent TV shows for 99 cents and first-run films for $4.99. Earlier models, which allowed users to only buy shows, failed to find a major audience.

The biggest shift to iTunes is the introduction of a social networking feature called Ping, which allows users to recommend songs to followers or their chosen circle of friends. “It’s Facebook and Twitter meets iTunes.

It’s a social network all about music,” Jobs said at a presentation to unveil the products. But the centrepiece of the event for reporters and investors was Apple TV, which the company introduced in 2006 but which never became a big hit.

Jobs once referred to Apple TV as a hobby, but made clear that the company is now ready to seriously focus on marrying the web to TV, a combination that is also in the sights of some of the world’s most creative and deep-pocketed companies, including Google, Microsoft and Amazon.com Inc.

Alongside renting TV shows and movies, Apple TV users will be able to stream content from video rental site Netflix Inc. Apple said it has struck rental deals with Walt Disney Co’s ABC and News Corp’s Fox. “We think the rest of the studios will see the light and get on board pretty fast,” Jobs said.

Rival Google is taking a slightly different path with its latest offering of Google TV, which allows viewers to search and watch programs, DVR recordings and the Internet in one fell swoop.

Some new TVs will come Google TV-ready, though plans are in the works to market a separate stand-alone device in the fall. Google is working with the cable and satellite distributors. The revised iPod shuffle has been updated to include playlists and buttons to navigate the volume, and is smaller than the previous model. Jobs said it would play 15 hours of music, and would come in five different colours at a price of $49.

The nano, the next model up, now includes FM radio and can hold 24 hours of music. It will be priced at $149 for the 8-gigabyte version or $179 for the 16-gigabyte model, Jobs said.

A third revised iPod model, the touch, will include a front camera and is thinner than the current model. It will be priced from $229 to $399 depending on storage, and will be available next week.

Apple stressed the FaceTime video chat function on the touch, and its ability to play games with advanced graphics, a move which puts the device in competition with existing mobile gaming devices such as Sony Corp’s PSP, Nintendo Co’s DS, and soon-to-be released Microsoft-powered phones that will run some Xbox games.