Apple is planning to enter the living rooms of people by launching its Apple TV.

The new device will be a set-top box in which one would be able to play movies on a TV by means of iTunes on a Mac or computer.

According to Shaw Wu, an Analyst with Kaufman Bros., so far Apple has sold as many as 3 million set-top boxes.

For the new system, consumers will be required to pay for only those channels that they want to watch. No extra money will be demanded from them for channels that they are not interested in watching.

In a discussion with the Apple’s executives, it was decided that the consumers will be charged 99 cents for a single episode. It is worth noting that most movies and TV shows are available on Apple’s iTunes for just $9.99 and $1.99, respectively. For High-def, the charges are $2.99.

After the announcement, the shares of Apple jumped 23 cents to $250.33 in Nasdaq Stock Market.

Just before Apple’s announcement, the electronics leader, Sony also declared the launching of online music and entertainment system that is slated to give tough competition to Apple’s iTunes.

It is not clear whether Apple will open its App Store for Apple TV. In case it decides to open App Store, then many developers will have to make programs that will be suitable for TV.