Also arriving over Christmas was a new Apple TV. Having read a little about it's capabilities it seemed like it might be a reasonable addition to the living room audio / visual system.

So what is it? Well, it is a very small black box (controlled via a neat brushed metal remote control), which acts as a wireless transmitter / internet connection streaming data from your computer to the TV. Some external movie and other services are available via the internet, as are You Tube videos.

Relatively straight forward to setup (thanks Tony!), it was up and running in 30 minutes and has been a pleasure to use. From streaming You Tube videos, just having a random slide show (from an Aperture or iPhoto library) displaying on the plasma screen, to replaying the in-car videos of my GT3 antics to simply playing music by artists, albums or playlists.

I know there are many people out there who will say that different solutions, probably cheaper, can do what the Apple TV does. I don't doubt that. I do doubt that any other options would be neater, cleaner and more integrated with my existing computer technologies. And look as cool! Count me as a fan!