The much awaited Take 2 update for Apple TV has been quietly made available by Apple the other day, as a free download for owners of its digital media receiver. You can update your system software right now and enable yourself to browse, purchase, and rent content via the iTunes Store, while the much-rumored rental of HD movies (directly from the set-top box) is one of the included features.

All you need to do is select the "Update Software" option under the "Settings" menu, in order to start downloading the Apple TV "Take 2" Software Update. The entire process will only take 20 minutes of your time (10 minutes to download and another 10 minutes to install).

The guided tour, available in all shapes and sizes, streaming and download, walks viewers through some of the basic changes and additional features soon to become available with the new software update. As mentioned above, Version 2.0, aka "Apple TV Take 2," will allow you to browse, purchase, and rent content via the iTunes Store. The much-rumored rental of HD movies (directly from the set-top box) is indeed one of the included features.

The update was expected to hit AppleTVs two weeks ago, as a free download, but then an Apple press release revealed it was "not quite finished," disappointing videophiles who had to wait to this day for it to become available.

Movie rentals, that extra elusive feature everyone's been dying to hear about in relation to the AppleTV, are priced as follows, according to the Cuperino-based manufacturer of consumer electronics:

- $2.99 for library titles ($3.99 in HD)
- $3.99 for new releases
- $4.99 (only a dollar more) for HD titles with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound.1

You can hold on to a movie for 30 days, but as soon as you hit the play button on them for the first time, the 24-hour countdown begins - movie expires within 24 hours of playback beginning.