When Steve Jobs announced the new palm-sized AppleTV on Wednesday, replete with AirPlay-streaming functionality from your computer’s iTunes library, 720p high-def video and Netflix capability, many of us wondered if Cupertino would (or even be able) to extend the new functionality back down the line to the older, drive-based model.

Nope, says Ars Technica. An Apple spokesperson confirmed to them that there will be no software updates to bring the new AppleTV functionality to the last generation model.

To be honest, I wasn’t suspecting anything different. According to Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, even though the AppleTV doesn’t look like it is running iOS, it is… an assertion supported by the new AppleTV’s A4 CPU. The new software probably doesn’t even work on old AppleTVs, and rolling out a major software update for the obsolete model would essentially require coding the functionality from scratch.

Still, it’s disappointing. I, like many AppleTV owners, gave Apple my money for their “hobbyist” device, supporting and defending it for years even while Apple ignored it. Now that they are taking the device seriously and finally bringing the AppleTV brand up to spec, though, Apple’s quick to abandon us.

[via 9to5Mac]

Today is all hardware on the daily deal showcase. First up is Apple’s new nano, smaller and with a touchscreen. The 8GB and 16GB versions also come with new prices for pre-orders. Next is the Apple’s new touch iPod, complete with the high-def Retina Display, iOS 4.1 and front- and rear-facing cameras. Finally is the revamped Apple TV complete with a smaller footprint, smaller price tag but many new features, including Netflix support and streaming 99-cent TV episodes from ABC and FOX.

Along the way, we’ll also check out deals on iPhone and iPad gear, as well as applications from iTunes. As usual, details on these and many other items are at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Too busy to read our liveblog coverage of Apple’s September iPod Event? Everything you need to know about Apple’s new products is below the fold, including details about the new iPod Shuffle, Nano, iPod Touch, AppleTV, iTunes and iOS update.

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It’s smaller, cheaper and packed with HD offerings — let us know in the comments whether you’re ready to spend $99 for the new AppleTV.

In what has proven a remarkably succinct presentation, Steve Jobs has just unveiled his “one more thing…” and it’s the new AppleTV. Except, as Jobs quips, it’s “one more hobby.”

Also surprising: despite rumors, it’s still not called the iTV, and doesn’t run iOS. It’s still just the AppleTV, except now it’s black. The only rumors that were true? It runs Netflix and it costs only $99.

“We introduced Apple TV four years ago. We’ve sold a lot of them, but it’s never been a huge hit. Nor has any competitive product,” says Jobs. “

We’ve talked to people who have Apple TVs, and they love them, a lot! What have we learned? The number one, two, and three things they want: Hollywood movies and TV shows whenever they want them. They don’t want amateur hour, they want professional content. And they want HD.”

“The HD revolution is over, HD won. They want lower prices for content. They don’t want a computer. This is hard for people in the computer industry to understand, but it’s very easy for consumers to understand. They don’t want to manage storage.”

The new AppleTV is a fourth of the size of the last AppleTV, and you can hold it in the palm of your hand. The back contaiTins the usual slots, including power, HDMi and Ethernet, with an Optical Audio port to boot.

As Jobs hinted, there are no purchases (except if you do it through iTunes), and no storage management. The new AppleTV is streaming only, and you can either stream them directly from Apple or from your computer.

HDTV shows will cost only $0.99 from ABC and Fox. As for movies, expect them to cost $4.99 to rent… which is certainly not competitive with the rest of the market, although it’s worth noting these are first-run films.

Wondering if a film is worth your time? Movies will now be accompanied by the RottenTomatoes rating.

The new Apple TV will also include the usual gaggle of internet providers, including the rumored Netflix, the ubiquitous YouTube, Flickr, MobileMe and Internet Radio.

You will be able to use AirPlay to stream content from an iOS device to the AppleTV.

“You’re going to be able to watching a movie, walk into your living room, and push a button and watch the rest of it on your Apple TV,” explains Jobs. “Walk into your home with photos on your iPhone, push a button and share a slideshow on your TV. It’s going to be pretty cool.”

The AppleTV will be available in four weeks, with pre-order opening today. It’ll cost just $99.

Take this with a pinch of salt, but we’ve been tipped that Apple’s rumored $1 TV subscription service, due to be unveiled next week, is technically correct but missing an important detail.

If past behavior is any indication of the future, Apple’s September 1 announcement could mean more coins in the pockets of savvy investors – or so says one analyst. Since 2005 (except 2008), the announcements resulted in an average 12 percent increase in Apple stock price by the end of the month. That rise nearly doubles to 22 percent by the end of the year.

“We believe that investors generally anticipate the Sept. event by the beginning of the month, and anticipation builds ahead of the holiday shopping season with Apple’s iPod lineup (along with Macs and other products) set for holiday sales,” Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told clients Wednesday. “However, keep in mind that historical trends are not necessarily an indicator of future events,” he warned.

All the internet scuttlebutt at this point converges upon one big and tasty rumor: Apple will announce a new, iOS-driven AppleTV called the iTV in September, which will cost $99 and have no local storage, but support streaming media only.

If the rumor is true, it’s a bold plan by Apple to transform their “hobby device” into a veritable cable, satellite, HTPC and Netflix killer… but if content carriers aren’t on board and the price isn’t right, even iOS isn’t going to save the new iTV from the ignominy of its predecessor.

According to Bloomberg, though, Apple’s really close to inking deals with News Corp. and Walt Disney to offer $0.99 show rentals over iTunes.

Currently, renting a show for 48 hours through iTunes costs $1.99, which is just enough to keep iTunes from being a competitive way to watch a show, especially when it’s on both the boob tube and sites like Hulu for free… albeit with ads.

$0.99 is a much easier to swallow price for renting a show. It’s a no-brainer price point that is hard to resent, and easily justifiable for most consumers if they can watch a show at their convenience, legally and without ads. It’s also an imperative price point for a streaming iTV with no local storage to reach in order to succeed.

All the stars seem to be in alignment for the iTV: the price now seems set to be right for the device itself and the content it’ll play. If Apple doesn’t announce the iTV in September, this will end up being the most disappointing rumor of the year.

Yesterday’s report that the AppleTV would be rebranded the iTV was something of a puzzlement to Brits. After all, ITV is already an extremely prominent UK television broadcaster, isn’t it? Isn’t that obviously a brand conflict?

That’s just what ITV itself is asking, according to a sketch report by the Mirror, and they are reportedly hopping mad about the rumored name change.

“You only have to look at recent problems with the iPhone 4 to see not everything Apple produces is gold dust,” said an ITV insider. “We all take our ITV brand very seriously and we’ll do everything in our power to protect it.

Yup, they went there: the low blow of Antennagate. And isn’t this all much ado about nothing? A rumored name change does not a lawsuit make.

In fact, it seems like Apple themselves are denying the name change, telling the Mirror that the names won’t be “too similar.” Unless Apple’s being patently disingenuous here —renaming the AppleTV to the iTV won’t be “too similar” to the ITV brand because it will, in fact, be identical to it — that reads like an official denial of a name change.

Or is it? According to 9to5Mac, the original Apple comment cited by the Mirror was the “the names won’t be too similar” quote above, but the Mirror article has since been updated to the standard “Apple does not comment on rumors” response.

In other words, the Mirror is a rag engaging in some shady journalism, and has silently edited its story to eliminate some out-of-character verbiosity on Apple’s part. ITV might be mad about this rumor, but Apple’s certainly not ready to comment about it yet.

Following up their earlier report that the next iteration of the AppleTV would be a $99, iOS-driven device, Engadget is now reporting that when that device arrives, it’ll be an AppleTV no longer. Come this autumn, prepare to meet the iTV.

Internally, the iTV will be very similar to the iPhone 4, right down to an A4 CPU. According to Engadget’s sources, though, the A4 won’t be able to output full high-def, 1080p video, but will max out at 720p… prompting some truly bitter internal debate in Cupertino’s halls, we’re told.

Why not? Engadget’s source says it’s because the A4 CPU can’t handle 1080p output, but that doesn’t make any sense, given the fact that the iPhone 3GS could play full HD video just fine. And why would there be any internal debate about maxing out at 720p if it was an unavoidable hardware limitation, and not a conscious choice? Are they planning the iTV’s second-generational obsolescence right out of the gate?