Apple has officially confirmed that it has begun shipping Apple TV, a system that uses Wi-Fi to transfer iTunes movies, TV shows, music, photos and podcasts from a PC or Mac to a TV.

"Apple TV is like a DVD player for the internet age providing an easy and fun way to play all your favorite iTunes content from your PC or Mac on your widescreen TV," said Philip Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide product marketing at Apple.

"Apple TV allows you to play your content from a PC or Mac using your existing Wi-Fi network as well as the newest and fastest version of Wi-Fi: 802.11n."

The service includes over 400 movies and 350 TV shows in "near DVD" quality, over four million songs, 5,000 music videos, 100,000 podcasts and 20,000 audiobooks from the iTunes Store.

The set-top box has a 40GB hard drive to store up to 50 hours of video, 9,000 songs or 25,000 photos, and is capable of delivering high-definition 720p output.

The device can connect to TVs via HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports.

Apple TV requires iTunes 7.1 or later running on a Mac with OS X version 10.3.9 or later, or a Windows PC with Windows XP Home/Professional SP2.