Well I’m sure everyone has heard by now, but the release of the Apple TV Take 2 has been announced at MacWorld. The Apple TV “Take 1″ we’ll go ahead and call it, was by no means a success. In reality the Apple TV was one of Apples least successful releases in 2007. Even Steve Jobs admitted in his keynote address that the Apple TV “has failed to meet expectations and truly link online content with the television.” So what does Take 2 offer that Take 1 didn’t?

Well from the outside you won’t notice much of a change, however, the UI has been totally revamped. With the new single menu interface it allows you to search quickly for whatever your heart may desire. Take 2’s biggest “wow factor” is by far its feature that allows you to buy music, movies, tv shows, even iTune rentals directly from your television, no computer hook up required. Take 2 will also be able to playback HD movies and will support Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.The coolest thing by far, and I’m sure everyone will agree with me is the direly needed price cut to the Apple TV as a whole.

Theres currently 2 available models out right now, theres the 40GB model that is now only $229 USD, originally priced at $299 and the 160GB model which is only $329. As movie rentals go though, HD movies are gonna run about $4.99, compared to the SD movies which are a dollar less, $3.99. Also theres around 600+ TV shows that are available for $1.99. Apple TV Take 2 will now support Flickr slideshows you can having running at any time, as well as .Mac accounts.Current Apple TV owners will be able to download the software for free in the weeks to come.