Apple TV gets direct HD TV downloads, better browsing

After nearly a month after the big iTunes 8 update—yet no new features for Apple TV—I was wondering if Apple had forgotten (again) about its long-suffering set-top box. But update 2.2 has finally arrived, delivering Genius playlists, direct access to HD TV shows, and much-improved browsing options.

Of course, the highest-profile item on the list is the addition of Genius playlist creation; you just press and hold the play/pause button on the Apple TV remote for an instant, 25-song custom playlist based on the track you're listening to. Nice, I guess, but I've gotta be honest—I've barely used Genius at all since iTunes 8 was announced last month. (Indeed, just now, Genius on my Apple TV decided that "Future Lovers" by Madonna would go well with "Jesse James" from Bruce Springsteen's "Live in Dublin" set. Riiiiiight.)

Personally, I was more excited to learn that update 2.2 allows Apple TV users to buy HD TV shows (introduced alongside Genius during last month's Apple event) directly over the Apple box. Previously, you could buy and download HD TV episodes over iTunes and then sync them to Apple TV—doable but annoying, especially since you had to wait for entire HD episodes to download and sync before viewing.

Also new: The ability to browse movies by actor and director, at last. Just click on a movie title, select the "More" option, and select a name from the list of actors and directors; their other movies on Apple TV will appear to the right. It's a feature that's long been available on set-top competitor Vudu, and long overdue on Apple TV itself.

Other new features: Chapter, audio and subtitle selection for movies (again, long overdue), on-the-go playlists, music video playlists, and a "standby" mode.

Related:
Apple TV: About Apple TV software updates [Apple]
Apple TV (or Vudu, or Xbox Live) vs. movies by mail [Yahoo! Tech]