Have you ever wished you could stream The Big Bang Theory, Two and Half Men, or anything from HBO on your Apple TV, all without the bank-busting necessity of paying for it by the episode? Now you can… if you live in Germany. Last week Apple added Vivendi‘s new subscription video service Watchever in Germany. The service is best described as a German version of Netflix that holds both German and American content, including content from HBO, CBS, ABC and BBC. For a fixed price of 8.99 euros per month, users get unlimited access to thousands of films from US, European and German productions without additional costs or commercials.

Though many of you may think that there isn’t much to say here, we think it’s an interesting move from Apple, because this is the first time Apple adds region-specific, non-US video service on Apple TV. It could mean there is more to come soon: more services and more countries. It’s also interesting from the point of view of Apple’s strategy for the next Apple TV (set-top box or standalone TV set).

We are all still waiting on Apple to make its big announcement regarding television. The fact is, Apple is being down-right HUSH-HUSH about it all. One could argue, and it might as well be me, that Apple is sitting back placing content deals all over the world so that when there offering launches it is not a US-only-device. Everything Apple does is global. They do not sell a product unless they can get in every market possible. Well, a television service that is only based on content out of the United States would be lacking on the international stage. On the other hand, a television service with international content deals – that would be interesting.

Image: Christian Krämer

Visit What's on iPhone for the best iPad and iPhone app reviews!
Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!

There was one more thing coming at the end of Steve’s show today and this time it was one more HOBBY… The new Apple TV is here! This tiny matte-black box (80% smaller than the previous generation) will stream HD (720p) movies for $4,99 and commercial free TV shows for 99 cents  (ABC, ABC Family, Fox, Disney Channel and BBC America are on board;  all rentals, no purchases) and your Netflix content if you are a subscriber. It has HDMI, Ethernet, USB and optical audio ports, Bluetooth and dual band WiFi (802.11 b/g/n at 2.4GHz and 802.11 a/n at 5GHz). There will be no local storage. AirPlay – the new feature that will come with iOS 4.2 in November – will let you to stream movies from any iOS device to your HDTV through the Apple TV. It will be shipping within 4 weeks for the “breakthrough “ price of just $99.

Visit What's on iPhone for the best iPad and iPhone app reviews!
Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!