Ars Technica has a great review of the new Apple TV.  Quite why one would want to buy one of these things is completely beyond me:

…It cannot share an Internet connection with another device, and it cannot broadcast music to Apple’s Airport Express. You cannot attach an eyeTV to it, or any other TV tuner for that matter (and therefore it cannot record TV shows). It can’t play most codecs out of the box, you can’t buy content directly from the iTunes Store, and it has very limited tech specs…

Even ardent mac addicts must question the appeal of this.  There is nothing compelling about it beyond the improved 12 foot interface.

Meanwhile, my Mac Mini will survive only until I find a MythTV/Linux setup that can replace it in terms ease of use.  If only Apple would open up FrontRow in the meantime, the nice folks at Elgato could complete the integration that we all crave.  The big question for me at the moment is if OS 10.5 (Leopard) will contain an improved Front Row interface.