$99 Apple TV 2 just got much more attractive

Apple TV just jumped a few places up the totem pole of internet TV (iTV) set top boxes, with the help of some really cool new tools allowing you to override its restrictions and add powerful new capabilities.

The XMBC app released Friday, allows the Apple TV 2 box to support almost every type of video, including full 1080p HD video, and will allow for the future support of plugins - kind of like the plugins and extensions offered in the Mozilla Firefox web browser.

Now in order to open up this kind of functionality on your AppleTV set top box, you will have to connect it to your computer via a USB cable and jailbreak it with Season Pass. Season Pass will automatically install the XBMC app.

Plugins will be listed on the XBMC Plugins Page as they become available.