It seems Apple has realized people may actually want to purchase content and watch it on their Apple TV devices instead of just stream content from a very limited set of suppliers. To facilitate this, the company issued an update to the Apple TV late yesterday that will allow users to stream purchased high-definition TV shows directly from iTunes.

Specifically, the update makes the following changes:

• iTunes TV Shows: Purchase your favorite TV shows directly from the iTunes Store and watch the shows you already own, commercial-free, in HD.

• Vimeo: Browse and play videos from Vimeo, access your video inbox, and mark videos you want to watch later.

You may recall that when the second generation Apple TV first launched it only allowed users to rent movies and shows and there was not an option to purchase titles for permanent ownership. Now, that’s changed — at least for TV programs.

For users in the U.S., Apple has also rolled out preliminary iCloud support with this update, allowing users to re-download some purchased television shows, though movie support is not yet available. We expect full iCloud support sometime in the next few months.

With all the ways in which consumers can get video content to their televisions, its sometimes difficult to figure out what way is the best. From Netflix to Google TV to Amazon, Apple TV and more the number of choices has grown a great deal over the last few years.

Now, another player in the race for your living room is upping its game. Roku, which has only been available online, has announced that its media streaming box, the Roku XD model, will be available nationwide at all Best Buy locations. This is a big move fore the company and one that they obviously hope will lead to increased sales.

The Roku box has been doing pretty well as an online-only option (selling over 1 Million units) so getting into stores and in front of more potential buyers has got to help sales. However, as with any device of this type, content will be king. The convenience of being able to stream Netflix, Amazon, Pandora, Hulu and more using one box may appeal to many. Plus, the price of $79.99 is also pretty good.

However, for those who already have other hardware options to stream content (an XBox 360 or PS3 for example) this device may be a non-issue. Plus, there’s no way to get anything on this device from iTunes so that may also eliminate some potential users who prefer to stick with Apple’s offerings.

Still, competition is a good thing and the more players in this space, the better. Good luck Roku.

Check out the full press release from Roku after the jump.

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In a move some could consider a direct answer to Amazon’s announcement this week that Prime members can watch streaming content and its included with their membership, Netflix announced a new deal with CBS to bring shows from the network’s library to the service’s roster of streaming content.

Of course, Netflix and CBS did’t announce the terms of their deal but only said it will bring CBS content to Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” service for the next two years. CBS also has an option to extend the deal for another two years. Some of the content available because of this deal includes episodes of recent shows such as Medium and Flashpoint, as well as full seasons of older shows like Star Trek, Twin Peaks, Frasier, Cheers and The Twilight Zone.

“We are thrilled to be bringing CBS shows to Netflix and are looking forward to growing our relationship over time,” Netflix’s Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said in a statement. ”Netflix is now the only online premium subscription service with shows featured on all four broadcast networks and dozens of cable TV’s biggest brands.”

Click through to check out the full press release.

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Indeed it is the time of year when inevitability the lists appear and people pick their favorites of 2010. Some have already done their lists and some, like me, like to wait a bit. That said and since I don’t want to be accused of not following trends, I will also be making a list (or two) of my picks of the best of 2010. However, in the interest of clarity and brevity (or neither), I’m going to pick my top 5 (or so) things in the main categories we cover here at The Flickcast.

Although, as our own John Carle covered the best of 2010 in games so well already, I won’t make much (if any) a list of those and will just mention my two favorites. In case you’re not familiar with those main categories we cover, they are as follows: Movies, TV, Comics, Games, Tech and all things Geek.

So, to that end, here’s my list (or lists really) of my picks of the top stuff of 2010.

Movies

Inception – I love smart movies and this one is pretty damn smart. Featuring great performances, a mind-bending plot and twists galore, director Christopher Nolan delivers with one entertaining ride I was talking about for weeks (and months) afterward. And with all the ways I can get distracted by other things, to still be taking about this movie now is a testament to just how great it is.

True Grit – I love Westerns and this one will go down as truly one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and the rest of the cast are superb and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld owns the screen. She is definitely one to watch. Plus, the Coen brothers have a genuine love and reverence for the classic Western conventions, even when they twist and turn them into new and even more compelling shapes.

The Social Network – When I first heard of this movie I was skeptical, as probably most were, about how interesting a movie about Facebook really could be. I had nothing to worry about. This brilliant film, directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, delivers on all levels and tells a compelling story of one of the most impressive success stories in history. Along the way it also shows us a little something about the nature of greed, friendship and the real cost of success.

Winter’s Bone - This tale of a real heroes journey to find out what happened to her father before the bank forecloses on her home resonated with me for quite some time after watching this film. Jennifer Lawrence as the young mother and John Hawkes as her meth-snorting uncle really deliver top performances. Part crime movie, part thriller and part coming-of-age-story this film’s stark realism takes you into a world you didn’t know existed and holds you there until the lights come up.

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Steve Jobs famously referred to Apple’s set-top box as “just a hobby.” Then again, Apple seems to enjoy bragging about their sales numbers. Case-in-point: the Cupertino company issued a press release saying that it expects to sell 1 million new Apple TVs by the end of the week.

With three months of sales under its belt, the 2nd generation Apple TV is certainly selling well by all accounts, but not quite on par with some of the company’s top sellers like the iPad and iPhone. Don’t take it from me, here’s what the official Apple PR had to say:

“Apple® today announced that it expects sales of its new Apple TV® to top one million units later this week. The new Apple TV offers the simplest way to watch your favorite HD movies and TV shows, stream content from Netflix, YouTube, Flickr and MobileMe℠, all on your HD TV for the breakthrough price of just $99. iTunes® users are now renting and purchasing over 400,000 TV episodes and over 150,000 movies per day.”

As an Apple TV owner, I have to say the features that really sold me were the great sub-$100 price-point, the ability to stream Netflix Instant movies and shows, and while I didn’t know it at the time, the new AirPlay features available via iOS 4.2 devices, makes tossing streaming video from my iPad to the flat-panel TV so amazing and easy.

Now, when I stumble on todays’s viral video on YouTube, I don’t have to keep it to myself. My significant other has become quite used to me blurting out, “You have to watch this, NOW!” And AirPlay makes that happen smoothly with a couple of jabs of my finger.

Still, for such a humble price-point, I keep expecting more out of Apple TV. For instance, where’s the browser? Sometimes, it would be handy to pull up a website on the plasma. Or how about apps? Why can’t I run Angry Birds on my Apple TV? Perhaps Jobs is saving that for a future update. You know, when Apple TV finally graduates from tinkering in the garage and goes out and gets a real job?

It’s not easy being a consumer trying to cut the cable or fiber cord these days. You’d think with a bevy of hot new set-top boxes like Apple TV, Google TV and Boxee, we’d be living in a Utopian future where television finally does what we want and dumping your expensive provider was a real possibility.

Not so fast, because it’s just not the reality, at least not yet. And predictably, given the nature of content owners, the issues are control and profits.

As thousands of new Apple TV owners plugged in their shiny new boxes, the realization that only a handful of networks were available, slowly began to sink in. With shows from ABC, Fox, Disney, and BBC, Apple TV via iTunes simply does not offer enough diverse content to satisfy most TV-watchers. While that’s a nifty start for Apple’s reboot of Apple TV, certain shows are conspicuously absent.

Are you a ‘Wipeout’ or ‘Big Bang Theory’ fan? Unfortunately, you’re out of luck since iTunes doesn’t carry those shows. And if you think Google TV might be your salvation, it just may be worse for owners of Logitech’s Revue Google TV devices. Upon Google TV’s release, the big three networks as well as Hulu began to block Google TV owners from streaming their shows.

So it’s no shocker that the recent reporting talking about how Microsoft is potentially cobbling together enough network deals to launch it’s own streaming service on the back of its extensive installed base of Xbox gaming systems, has many consumers quite skeptical.

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Today, everyone’s favorite movie and TV streaming service that also sends you programming on DVD and Blu-ray announced that beginning today the company will offer a new, streaming-only service option for $7.99 per month. The plan, which does not include any by mail content rentals, allows users to stream available titles to their televisions, mobile devices, and computers.

According to the company, they are “Creating the best user experience that we can around watching instantly is how we’re spending the vast majority of our time and resources.” Mmmkay. Sounds good.

Unfortunately, with good news also, on occasion, comes bad. The company also announced an increase to monthly plan prices by from $1 to $8. Netflix did not offer any reason for the increases, but did say price of its two most popular plans — one DVD and 2 DVDs — will only rise by $1. Thanks for that. Click through to see how the new Netflix plans work.

Will this change cause most people to switch to the streaming only plan? Maybe. What about you guys? Will you switch or do you still l like getting physical media?

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What interesting timing Google has. On a day when many Apple TV pre-order customers are eagerly plugging in their little black cubes and exploring what Apple’s brand of TV-Internet convergence has to offer, Google launches a dedicated site for their own Google TV. While we’ve previously covered the coming of Google TV, details about the forthcoming product have been notoriously scarce. Flash-forward a month and finally, the veil is being lifted on the internet giant’s plans for your living room.

“Your TV just got smarter.” A great tagline and not a bad way to summarize what Google TV will do for the average couch potato. Let’s explore exactly what Google is bringing to the table, shall we?

Befitting a search engine behemoth like Google, a universal search will allow you to query for content across your apps, channels and the entire web simultaneously. Want to browse the web on your ginormous flat-panel? Not a problem for Google TV, as you can browse the entire web in a browser optimized for the ten-foot experience.

However, it sounds like web site owners will need to optimize their sites for the Google TV experience, something that’s in the works at some of the hottest properties across the web. A blog post by Google references some web content producers who are tuning up their sites to offer the best browsing experience on your TV.

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Earlier this month, we brought you a host of new product announcements from Apple, including news that Apple would be releasing a highly-updated version of their Apple TV. Unlike the new iPods which went on sale shortly after the news event, the Apple TV was slated for pre-order status and Apple claimed it would ship later in September.

Well, it appears that either Apple has a production issue with the new device, or the Apple TV is attracting a whole lot more pre-orders than were expected. Flash-forward to today, and a quick perusal of the Apple Store reveals that the updated Apple TV will now ship in 2-3 weeks, easily pushing things into Mid-October.

Lending credence to a potential ship date snafu, Apple Insider is reporting that some pre-order customers who specified rush shipping, are now starting to receive an email from Apple claiming that these rush shipping charges will be refunded due to a ‘possible delay.’

“Our records indicate that when you placed your order you paid for upgraded shipping,” Apple wrote in the emails. “Due to a delay, we may have not been able to meet our delivery commitment.” The email goes on to say that Apple has “processed a refund for the shipping charge on your order. Please contact your card-issuing bank for information on when the credit will be posted to your account.”

Curiouser and curiouser. While Apple has insisted that their new streaming media device would ship in September, and even the company’s online store is reporting a status of “Ships: September” for pre-orders, it’s simply not clear at this time if first Apple TV shipments will be pushed back into mid-October.

It will be interesting to see if Apple ends up citing a hiccup in production or whether crushing demand for the new device is to blame. Either way, we’ll be bringing you all of the latest news from Apple and from around the web as it breaks.

With Apple’s recent announcement of the new Apple TV, the competition for your living room is heating up once again with Google set to soon jump fully into the fray. Announced in May, Google TV has officially been given a launch date here in the US.

According to the report, Google will launch its TV service in the United States this autumn and worldwide next year. CEO Eric Schmidt said the service, which will allow users to browse the Internets via their televisions, would be free, and Google will work with a diverse group of content providers and electronics manufacturers to bring it to consumers.

Companies such as Sony and Samsung are already looking at including the service in their devices. More are sure to follow suit, if only to try and secure a better deal for themselves then Apple has traditionally provided.

The real question is do people want to use the Internet on their TV’s? I suppose they do considering I do it every day by watching something like Hulu or Instant Netflix on my TV via the XBox 360 or PS3.

Although, I wouldn’t exactly call me a “typical consumer” so what I do with technology might be more than most people are willing, or able, to do. That said, if Google TV does end up having those features, I might be more interested.

Want to know more about Google TV? If so, check out the official video explaining it after the jump.

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At a packed media event today Apple announced some new things that were met mostly with enthusiasm by the attending crowd. Among these new things was iOS 4.1 and 4.2, new iPods and a new version of the Apple TV.

Here’s a summary of the announcements:

iOS 4.1 – iOS 4.2

• High Dynamic Range photos: Takes three photos and combines them to form one better one.

• Proximity sensor, Bluetooth and the iPhone 3G.

• High-definition video upload over Wi-Fi.

• TV show rentals and purchase

• Game Center debut

iOS 4.2

• Brings iPad up-to-date with iPhone 4 including folders, better multitasking, etc.

The iOS 4.1 update will be available next week through iTunes. iOS 4.2 will come in November.

New iPod Nano

• New square design
• Touchscreen interface
• VoiceOver
• FM radio
• Nike+ and pedometer
• 24-hour battery life
• Six colors
• $149 for 8GB and $179 for 16GB
• Preorder today, shipping in a week

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Sometimes, things happen in public that actually reflect things you’ve been discussing in private. In this case I was just having a discussion about TV show rentals the other day and was lamenting the fact that Apple didn’t offer that model for its Apple TV device. Cut to today and it looks like that problem might be remedied by Apple shortly.

According to Bloomberg, Apple is supposedly in “advanced talks” with News Corp., CBS and Walt Disney Co. to allow iTunes users to rent their programming for 99-cents an episode instead of, or in addition to, the existing model where you can only purchase content. From the article:

“The content deals would give Apple users access to some of the most-watched shows on TV and increase the appeal of its devices. . . Added programming also would build on iTunes’ role as the biggest retailer of music and mobile applications, and help Apple ward off companies like Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., which offer their own online video services.”

Not only that, Apple will reportedly announce this service, and potentially more, at an as yet unofficial press event on September 1st. Some of these other things could include an Apple TV re-branded as the iTV and/or new versions of the iPod. With Apple, really anything is possible.

As someone who’s just gone through this and only wanted to rent some episodes of a show and not own them, I hope the rental deal turns out to be true. It makes sense that companies would want to offer this option in order to get some revenue instead of none from people only looking to rent a show and not own it. Hopefully we’ll find out on September 1st.