The word is that in February you can rent movies right off of the Apple TV. They say it will start with over 1000 movies in both SD and HD. The down side is the price and the time limitation of watching the rental.

The Price:

Library titles:

• Standard Definition - $2.99
• HD, High Definition - $3.99

New releases:

• Standard Definition - $3.99
• HD, High Definition - $4.99

The Time Limitation:

Plagiarized straight from the Apple web site.

• Rent a movie directly from Apple TV and you have 30 days to start watching. Once you hit Play, you have 24 hours to finish it — or to watch it as many times as you want. Movie rentals disappear when they expire, so they won’t take up storage space. From the Rented Movies menu, you can see when your movies are about to expire.

There are also new Apple TVs.  As far as I can tell they are the same as the first generation except they are re-packaged and have a lower price tag.

• 40 GB is $229.00
• 160 GB is $329.00

In February there will be new software for the Apple TV that will have a new interface and allow movie rentals and connections to the photo sites Flicker and .Mac Web Galleries. Also with the new software you can buy from the Apple Store on the Apple TV.