Apple unveils new Apple TV: Streamlined UI, 1080p video output, full HD iCloud movies, same $99 price

Apple just announced at a media event occurring in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts that an updated Apple TV set-top box is capable of 1080p video output. Of course, 9to5Mac was the first to call that one. What is better: iCloud now streams movies in 1080p—an upgrade from the previous and often criticized 720p video resolution. Even more importantly, you can now access purchased movies in iCloud any time you want, just like with music and television shows.

Also updated is the Apple TV’s user interface. It is now more streamlined and taking advantage of the full 1080p video resolution. The new interface takes clues from iOS with its shiny new icons and the beautiful Cover Flow view. The new Apple TV has the same low price of just $99 and is available for pre-order today with shipments beginning March 16. In addition to the new Apple TV, Apple has tweaked its pricing matrix for movies and television shows on iTunes to reflect 1080p content. More on that below.

• Apple March 7th iPad event Liveblog (9to5mac.com)
• Apple drops 16GB iPad 2 to $399, $529 for Wi-Fi + 3G (9to5mac.com)
• Apple launches gestures-heavy iPhoto for iPad, can tell you weather in images. Available today for $4.99 (9to5mac.com)
• In new GarageBand, 4 iOS devices can “jam” in realtime (9to5mac.com)
• The new iPad has 10-hour battery life, is 0.6mm thicker and 0.07lbs heavier (9to5mac.com)
• New iPad preorders start today, available March 16 in ten countries (9to5mac.com)
• Yes, the new iPad is 4G LTE (9to5mac.com)
• iPad gets better cameras: iSight on the front, 5MP with 1080p video recording on the back (9to5mac.com)
• Voice Dictation on new iPad (9to5mac.com)
• Apple confirms A5X with quad-core graphics in new iPad (9to5mac.com)
• The new iPad is here and it’s got a Retina Display packing a million more pixels than your HD TV (9to5mac.com)
• Tim Cook: iPad is the poster child of the post PC world (9to5mac.com)
• Apple unveils new Apple TV: Streamlined UI, 1080p video output, full HD iCloud movies, same $99 price (9to5mac.com)
• Apple launching iOS 5.1 today with Japanese Siri support (9to5mac.com)
• Tim Cook: Post-PC devices made up 76 percent of our revenues (9to5mac.com)
• We now see International 4G iPads in Apple’s inventory system (9to5mac.com)