Apple TV Gets Software Upgrades

Apple has updated the software for its little hobby, otherwise known as the $229 Apple TV, Wired reports. The new update lets the Apple TV recognize any programmable remote control, not just the crappy little one it comes with or the iPhone’s Remote app.

The update also lets the Apple TV stream music files wirelessly over AirTunes to the company’s Apple Airport Express wireless routers. There’s still no word on when Apple will enable wireless streaming out of, say, an iPod touch, but we suppose this is progress to some extent.

The Apple TV remains the best way to synchronize mobile media content between iPods, iPhones, PCs or Macs, and your living room television, and it now offers direct movie rentals as of earlier this year. But it’s still a walled-garden media device that exists to sell content from the iTunes Store more than, say, a more flexible media unit like a DVR or (heck) a DVD player.

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