Apple has pushed out a new version 4.3 firmware update to Apple TV. New in this update is the ability to purchase TV shows. This is a shift in direction as 99 cents rental-only approach is the only option when Apple released second-generation Apple TV back in September 2010.

You can now buy TV episodes directly from Apple TV and your purchase will appear under the “Purchased” section of iTunes on both desktop and iOS devices. You can redownload and restream the purchased shows for repeat viewing.

TV shows is generally $2.99 a pop but most will welcome there is such an option. Fox and ABC remains the only two major networks offered in Apple TV, with CBS and NBC missing. With the offering for purchase option, lets hope more studio willl offer their contents in Apple TV.

The new update also adds Vimeo as a service accessible directly from Apple TV. A strong endorsement for Vimeo video site.

Vimeo, a favourite video hosting site for professional videographers, released its Universal Player which enables playback of video using HTML5 for browser that does not support Flash such as the Safari on iPad and iPhone.

Vimeo supports HTML5 video playback since January this year. Before the release of the Universal Player, you can watch Vimeo video on your iPhone or iPad provided you are on Vimeo.com. With the Universal Player, vimeo video embedded in blogs or other sites can be played on iPhone and iPad.

The Universal Player is as easy to use as the old embed code, just a lot more compatible. Instead of being a direct link to a Flash player the new Universal Player can automatically detect what kind of device is viewing the video and choose the optimum player based on the device’s capabilities. For example, it will serve mobile video to iPhones and Androids and HD to iPads and Desktops. On other mobile devices it can use the native player of the device or an optimized mobile Flash player with bigger controls. It also allows us to introduce new players as technology changes, potentially allowing us to do things like serve HTML5 to IE9 and WEBM video to Firefox.

Via Vimeo Staff’s Blog

YouTube reported a mind-boggling statistic of 20 hours of video uploaded every minute on the number one video sharing service on the planet. If you can’t get enough of it, below are eight popular video sites besides YouTube. Choices make life interesting right?

• Hulu.com Hulu may well be the best competitor for YouTube. Too bad the service is currently only for US.

• Vimeo Vimeo allows only user created content to be uploaded. It is the first video sharing site to support HD resolution video. Musicians such as Kanye West and Nine Inch Nails use Vimeo, so does the US White House.

• Metacafe A popular site for video entertainment, powered by you.

• Justin.tv The most popular site currently for live video streaming. Ashton Kutcher used it to announce live when he hits 1 million Twitter followers.

• ustream.tv Competitor to Justin.tv.

• DailyMotion Originated from France and now getting over 50 millions visitors monthly from all over the world.

• TuDou The biggest chinese video site based in Shanghai, China.

• Veoh Depending on your luck, Veoh’s service might or might not be available in your country. Since May 2008, Veoh discontinued service in several countries in order to focus on market which it has the most viewers.

Found any notable video site that you could recommend?