Apple TV's new interface is looking really fantastic, sucking only the best parts of Cover Flow for eye candy, while keeping the interface efficient and large-scaled for plenty of data accessibility. The biggest surprise? Streaming is lightning quick. While users of Amazon's Unbox know that streaming delays can be a pain in the butt, ruining the experience of a spontaneous rental, Apple TV SD and HD clips were both ready to stream after only 5 to 10 seconds. We'll see how speedy the service is once Apple's servers are supporting the weight of thousands of fanboy hearts, but for now, we're pretty excited about the new direction of Apple TV.

UPDATE: Ars just uncovered that hi-def content can only be rented (not bought) and is only accessible through Apple TV (not iTunes on computers). Until our hard drives get a lot bigger, I don't mind not buying digital HD movies. [arstechnica]

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