Apple TV may be launched in India soon

With iTunes making its entry in India last week, it may also be possible that the Apple TV would make its way to India in the near future. A recent report suggests that the Apple TV will be launched in India within a fortnight and would be priced at Rs 6,990.

We contacted Apple regarding the same but the company declined to shed any information on the topic. We also got in touch with some dealers of Apple products in the gray market, but they stated that none of the Apple TV units were currently available. The authorised Apple resellers too do not have any units of the Apple TV in stock.

However, it would make sense if Apple does launch the Apple TV here in India, as iTunes has a variety of content people here might be interested in buying.

But keep in mind that the Apple TV and the Apple HDTV aka Apple iTV are two entirely different products. The Apple TV is a small media receiver that can play content from iTunes on an HDTV. The new Apple TV was announced earlier this year and it features the same design as the previous generation Apple TV, and includes a single core A5 processor. This model, unlike the previous version, also supports playback of 1080p content from iTunes.

Last week, Apple opened its doors to Indian consumers and made purchases possible on iTunes. Indian users of iOS devices can now purchase books, music and even rent movies using iTunes.

The iTunes Store lets users purchase tracks for as cheap as 99 cents. The service took really long to come to India and was not accessible here until now.

Users of devices such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch will now be able to purchase local and international music from the iTunes store. Single songs are priced anywhere between Rs 7 to Rs 15 and entire albums start from Rs 70. The store now features Bollywood and Tamil film tracks as well as international music.

Apple has also launched the iTunes Match service in the country. This service allows users to store all the music they’ve bought from sources other than iTunes to the cloud for easy  accessibility. The Match service will cost Rs 1,200 a year.

The iTunes Store also offers you  the option to rent out movies instead of purchasing them. For example, the Salman Khan starrer Ek Tha Tiger in HD, which is available for purchase for Rs 290, can be rented for a one-time watch for Rs 120. Non-HD movies are available for as low as Rs 190 for purchase and Rs 80 to rent.

“Movie fans can choose from a wide selection of films available for rent or purchase from the iTunes Store, with many available in stunning HD, from major studios including 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, The Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures, as well as leading local distributors,” a press release stated.

Besides India, the iTunes Store has been thrown open to 55 other countries including Russia, Turkey and South Africa.