SAN FRANCISCO — Apple is taking a bite out of online TV rental prices.

The computer maker, which revolutionized the music industry nine years ago with its iPod and online iTunes store, said Wednesday it is revamping its Apple TV set-top box to rent TV shows for 99 cents.

Initially, only shows produced by Walt Disney Co.’s ABC TV network and News Corp.’s Fox network will be available at that price.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who announced the new product and service at a company event in San Francisco, said of other film and TV distributors: “Not all of them wanted to take this step with us. We think the other studios will see the light.”

The rental price of movies on the same day they’re available on DVD will be $4.99 on the Apple TV, then get cheaper as time goes on, he said. All offerings will be in high definition, when available.

Unlike the Netflix Inc. online subscription service, which will also be available via the new Apple TV device, no monthly fee will be required to get the rentals.

The device has an HDMI connector to hook it into a high-definition television, and it’s Wi-Fi enabled. It has no storage — all offerings will be rentals, delivered via the Internet.

Price of the new Apple TV set top box, which is about a quarter of the size of the current Apple TV introduced four years ago, will be $99, down from $229 for the current version. The new Apple TV will be available in about a month, Jobs said.

Apart from Apple TV, Jobs announced upgrades to all of the company’s iPod music players. He said that 275 million iPods have been sold. The upgraded models, which will be available next week:

• iPod Touch: This touch-screen music player — which also has Internet access to browse the Web and get apps for gaming and various tasks — will be getting a front-facing video camera to allow for live video chats. This service, which Apple calls Facetime, was introduced in June for the latest version of the iPhone. Video chats on the iPod Touch will be enabled only in Wi-Fi areas.

Also new on the iPod Touch: a higher-resolution screen — the same one that’s on the latest iPhone — plus a rear-facing camera for photographs.

Price will be $229 for the 8GB storage model, topping out at $399 for the 64GB model.

• iPod Nano: This unit got the most radical makeover. Apple has done away with the traditional click-wheel in favor of a touch screen on the player, which is nearly all-screen in appearance and square in shape. It will include a radio, but no camera. Starts at $148 for the 8GB storage version.

• iPod Shuffle: The smallest iPod, with no screen, will again get buttons (the current model is buttonless) to make it easier to use. Price: $49.

Otherwise, Jobs announced iOS 4.1, the new version of the operating system for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It has a photo process called High Dynamic Range to produce clearer photos and GameCenter for group play of video games. It will be available for free for current iPhone and iPod Touch users next week.

Jobs said an upcoming new version of the operating system for the iPad tablet scheduled for November will include wireless connections to printers and the streaming of audio and video to remote devices.

Also new is a social-networking feature, Ping, added to iTunes to allow users to establish profiles, send messages to “friends” and share video clips. “It’s a social network all about music,” Jobs said.