I have a jailbroken Apple TV. Here are the real benefits as I see them.
Just use air video if you've got iOS and beam it to your Apple TV. Works great. Convert on the fly.
Most people jailbreak because they don't want to bother with converting their .mkv's to .mp4's (AppleTV compliant format). That's fine and dandy and definitely an option.
I, on the other hand, like having the latest firmwares and updates on my AppleTV and have other devices that I put my movies and TV shows on (iPhone, iPad, etc). So for me, the best option was to just convert all my movies/shows using Handbrake's AppleTV 3 setting (with a few modifications). It's super easy to queue a folder, so if you have a decent computer (I have a 2011 iMac), it's really no work at all.
From there, I use iDentify to add meta data info, which then automatically adds the file to iTunes. So yes, it's a multistep process, but it works for me
Many would argue that PLEX is more advantageous since they have a companion app for streaming to iOS devices. That's true, but I just use Air Video and point it toward my iTunes media folder.
But whatever works for you is best. I enjoy my setup and think it works wonderfully.
You senior JB's are a disappointing lot. Your arrogance does you no credit. "Do some research"? What kind of an idiotic answer is that? I am speaking from the position of a developer level, who can, frankly, make my iDevices sing, dance, and make a good cup of coffee at the same time.
dragonev has all but indicated that they do not have a lot of experience in this area, and is now seeking information. Their method of learning may be human interaction... you know, that thing homo sapiens did before the advent of Google? They may not have known where or *how* to start their search, and the more helpful members of this thread have given them a good jumping off point. An intelligent answer might have read, "Why not Google these terms, then come back with any questions?" Followed by said list, just 3 or 4 words long.
Instead, you're flaming someone who is starting off in the same position that *you* were once in. And on top of that, despite the answers that clearly had nothing to do with the original question in any conceivable sense and the disparaging and rude comments, they were still polite to you.
What an asset you guys are to the mod community.
I'm in your position too.
I have a apple tv2 and am looking to try to get more from it, but am struggling to find reasons to jailbreak (for my uses.)
Being in Japan, the streaming options are limited to say the least. We have Hulu but it is a world apart from the US version, and no netflix, bbc iplayer, amazon streaming etc etc..
I'm hoping apple will have an App Store in the future and expand its appleTV functionality. There is a lot of potential here which they are seemingly just sitting on..