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Amazon streaming 99-cent ABC and Fox shows... right now (update: purchases, not rentals!)
Eager to get on the new Apple TV's cheap 99-cent TV show rentals but not so pumped to wait four weeks for it to ship? No worries: Amazon's also now offering 99-cent rentals purchases of various ABC and FOX shows, which means a whole host of Amazon VOD-compatible devices just got some cheaper streaming options as well -- and hey, Roku just cut prices on its entire lineup of Amazon- and Netflix- compatible players, so you can get in the game for as little as $60. Of course, the Apple TV also features day-and-date movie rentals, local streaming, AirPlay, and that slick iPhone / iPod touch Remote app, but only your heart truly knows if those are worth an extra few bucks and a month of fevered desire. Update: As our astute commenters are pointing out, these are actually listed as 99-cent purchases, making this a far better deal entirely. We don't know if that's for real or just an error right now, though -- we're double checking and we'll let you know. Update 2: Yep, we've confirmed that these are 99-cent purchases, making this a much better deal than Apple's rental model -- although only you can decide whether you actually need permanent streaming access to Dollhouse Season 2. [Thanks, Stephen]
News Corp reportedly holding back iTunes rentals
With all of the speculation flying around about tomorrow, a few people are poopooing any idea that Apple will mention the iTV at all. The invitation doesn't say anything about it being "show time." Images like the guitar are usually reserved for iLife and the iPod, and it's unlikely that Apple will put a brand new iTV into that somewhat crowded mix. But there's something about the iTV that makes me think we'll see it after all, and it's the persistent rumor that Apple is chasing down TV deals for iTunes. News Corp is reportedly the latest holdout, but we've heard for a while now that Apple is running around trying to quickly hammer out deals for 99-cent TV rentals in iTunes (a system that will supposedly compete with the ever popular Netflix and Hulu services). None of this has been officially confirmed -- not by Apple or by any of the media companies that it's supposedly negotiating with. And of course, nothing is true until we see Steve talking about it on stage tomorrow. It's totally possible that he'll simply show off an updated iPod touch or a new version of iLife and then bid us good day. But I'm standing by my predictions! I think the time for a new iTV is now, and even if Apple goes on stage tomorrow and says that it's currently got deals with just a few companies, and there are more to come, a foot in consumers' doors is certainly better than nothing.
