my new apple tv unit just stopped working during the latest update. It is as if their is no power to it. I have unplugged for 24 hours, tried holding menu and down buttons and nothing seems to work. Its dead. What can i do?

Try a restore.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4367

Have you managed to resolve this webs66? I had the exact same thing happen to me. On my mac, I have no way of accessing the Apple TV. There is no software on my machine and it is not being recognized by iTunes. When connected to my TV it simply shows a graphic that I need to connect it to iTunes. Is the only way to have it recognized by connecting a microUSB to USB? Will HDMI not work?

You will need to use a micro USB to connect to iTunes in order to restore the unit.

If you see the "Connect to iTunes" screen on your Apple TV - Apple Support

So I took my AppleTV to the apple store. They were able to restore it through iTunes. Brought it home, and it won't power on. So now I'm trying to connect to it through iTunes, but iTunes does not recognize it.

Any ideas how to access it via iTunes if it's not showing there?

Did you follow the steps exactly?

Unplug all cables, connect micro USB, if it's a 3rd Gen ATV reconnect power

Make sure to connect directly to computer, not a keyboard port or USB hub. Try a different cable. If applicable check firewall and any security software installed.