As expected, the new iTunes was launched today at the San Francisco event. As expected, the new iTunes will new feature a lineup of movies from Walt Disney, Pixar, Touchstone, and Miramax. But surprise! iTunes now stocks on-the-go video games. And even more surprise! There's a hot new Apple Box sighted on the horizon: the (temporarily code-named) iTV.

iTunes will stream movies to customers in near-DVD quality at resolutions up to 640x480 (depending on the video iPod or media player). CUstomers can order the iMove the same day as it comes out on DVD, or they can pre-order and have iTunes deliver it automatically when the movie is released.

The games available from iTunes will work on 5th generation iPods. All the games in today's lineup will be available for $4.99 each, and include:

• Tetris, Mahjong and Mini Golf from Electronic Arts Inc.;
• Pac-Man from Namco Networks America Inc.
• Cubis 2 from FreshGames, LLC;
• Bejeweled and Zuma from PopCap Games, Inc.; and
• Texas HoldÂ?em and Vortex from Apple.

Ah, and now the (temporarily code-named) iTV. As suspected by a New York Times writer, it's the Living Room Mac Box, more or less. The same movies you download into your Macs and iPods may one day stream onto your flat-screen TVs. It will communicate with your Macs wirelessly via 802.11 (it also has a USB and Ethernet connection). It will hook up to the TV via component audio or even HDMI. And it will be available, as they claim, in Q1 2007 - two seasons from now. (Most likely, it would be - Steve Jobs demoed a unit at the San Francisco event).

Ah, but this is only half the battle, so they say. They also unveiled the latest generation of the iPod family. Check that out at our companion article!