NEW Apple TV Has Gone to the Dark Side

…in a good way. Today’s Apple Music Event yielded some pretty cool things, one of which was a welcome update to the Apple TV.

Here’s what’s new:

• new matte black color
• 1/4 of the size (it’s been compared to a hockey puck!)
• added HDMI (YES!) and digital audio outputs
• NO internal storage—only rentals from the iTunes Store
• day-of-release HD movies rent for $4.99; HD TV shows rent for $.99
• $99 price tag
• includes a remote

On the lack of storage—one of the major changes that surprised me—Jobs noted that people “don’t want to manage storage… they just want to watch movies and TV shows.” And of course, that whatever hardware we have has to be “silent, cool and small.”

Subscribers to Netflix’s streaming service (at $8.99/mo. or more) will have access to streaming content on the new Apple TV for no additional charge. In addition, Apple TV users will also be able to stream content from MobileMe, YouTube and Flickr.

Also new in this announcement is AirPlay, which replaces AirTunes (more about this coming up in the iOS4 update article). AirPlay allows streaming from one device to an Apple TV—say, from your iPhone or iPad to your new Apple TV. Jobs demonstrated this by streaming a movie from his iPad to an Apple TV using the venue’s Wi-Fi.

Notable tidbits: At launch, only ABC and Fox will offer their HD shows for rental at the $.99 price. The Apple TV will be available in roughly four weeks—the beginning of October—and it’s available for preorder now.