Apple TV Upgrades: Xvid (And More) Support, 120GB HD

[musicpenguy]

You do know that AVI Containers are one of the few formats that supports AC3 i.e. true surround sound: mp4s don't have that which is why nobody uses it! So this is a huge breakthrough and I will eventually actually buy one!!!!!!

Edit: what is this SSH I have been hearing about how would it benefit a user??
Thanks

 

[johnee]

Cost and the fact that not many people have more than 40GB of media on their local computers.

My music collection is ~31GB right now, but I really doubt I'm in the majority of iPod/iTunes users -- hence the iPod Nano selling well with its 2, 4, and 8GB capacities.

-Aaron-

ah, but apple tv is for movies which are MUCH larger.

 

[aristobrat]

In theory, could you install and run Folding@home on the TV?

Yeah, but honestly, as hot as the thing gets now, I'd be afraid it'd spontaneously combust if you ran a truly CPU-intensive process for a few hours.

 

[gugy]

Sorry if you don't find anything exciting about ATV.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying I am not excite, I just trying to comprehend the excitement behind these news.

 

[justflie]

Yeah, but honestly, as hot as the thing gets now, I'd be afraid it'd spontaneously combust if you ran a truly CPU-intensive process for a few hours.

Lol, I guess it wouldn't really be called spontaneous combustion in that case I'm pretty sure that the processor isn't this thing isn't all that special (and why would it have to be), but I guess every little work unit helps!

 

[Eraserhead]

Edit: what is this SSH I have been hearing about how would it benefit a user??
Thanks

Secure shell, SSH allows you to use a program like Transmit (or the command line) to copy data onto the Apple TV.

 

[Digitalclips]

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying I am not excite, I just trying to comprehend the excitement behind these news.

OK ... Did I convince you ?

 

[milo]

I think the biggest flaw in this device is the surround. I can live with everything else. Let's get mp4 surround working on this sucker.

Has anyone tried playing surround QT content yet? Do we have confirmation that it doesn't work?

If it doesn't work now I'd bet it will in the future with either a hack or a software update from apple.

 

[Digitalclips]

Secure shell, SSH allows you to use a program like Transmit (or the command line) to copy data onto the Apple TV.

Any way to switch on ARD via command line? If so idiot level instructions please

Also I have Transmit, I have the IP of ATV ... what next? FTP isn't running on ATV so I am lost as to how to connect.

I would rather use ARD if possible though.

 

[gugy]

OK ... Did I convince you ?

It does open more possibilities than before, That's for sure.
It's worth to take a second look at AppleTV.

Now, with this, is it possible to get then 1080p support and 5.1 audio?

Cheers

 

[Digitalclips]

I does open more possibilities than before, That's for sure.
It's worth to take a second look at AppleTV.

Now, if this, is it possible to get then 1080p support and 5.1 audio?

Cheers

Just curious, where are you going to get 1080p material and what HD TV did you decide on for 1080p? Last I looked there was not much around, perhaps more are available now. I'm still left wondering about material though.

 

[Markleshark]

Nice, but I don't know if id buy one knowing id have to open it up to get it to do what I want...

 

[enjoyapple]

can any ?TV owner tell me if there's any way to stream only the images and movies via the ?TV but the sound via an external MAUDIO sonica card attatched to MPBC2D?...

 

[aristobrat]

Any way to switch on ARD via command line? If so idiot level instructions please

Also I have Transmit, I have the IP of ATV ... what next? FTP isn't running on ATV so I am lost as to how to connect.

Use SCP instead of FTP to copy files? If SSH works, I think SCP should.

 

[peterjhill]

weakknees

How long until I can buy a HD from weakknees.. I guess there are some issues since the mac os is more copy protected than tivo.. It would be nice if someone offered this as a service.

peter

 

[Hattig]

Awesome stuff.

Apple should offer a 120GB version for $399 for those of us with large photo collections / music collections / media collections / don't want the computer to be on all the time desires.

The SSH + Codecs 'hack' is awesome, and makes the device desirable to a lot more people.

C'mon someone, install Apache on it! It's just a BSD box with a pretty GUI...

Edit: I'm sure I read somewhere that someone had verified that 5.1 surround works with AVI files which use AAC surround sound...

 

[gugy]

Just curious, where are you going to get 1080p material and what HD TV did you decide on for 1080p? Last I looked there was not much around, perhaps more are available now. I'm still left wondering about material though.

Not now, but this summer Pioneer Elite is going to have two HDTV (50" and 60") sets at 1080p that are just fantastic. I am planning to purchase it.
As for content, mostly now is 1080i or 720 for broadcasts that I can record using Elgato.
But, as time goes by, 1080p is going to be more relevant.
I am just looking at the near future to make a wise decision about AppleTV.

 

[Orge]

Any way to switch on ARD via command line? If so idiot level instructions please

Also I have Transmit, I have the IP of ATV ... what next? FTP isn't running on ATV so I am lost as to how to connect.

I would rather use ARD if possible though.

There's a couple of online tutorials at Apple's site for configuring ARD remotely:

v2 is http://snipurl.com/1dszl

You'll find earlier versions linked from that page as well.

Good luck, young padawan!

J

 

[mikeinternet]

....I am still puzzled as to why such a small Hard disk was shipped with it though.

i'm surprised it had a hard disk at all, let alone a huge one. it doesn't (as of now) DVR or buy direct from iTunes. it is meant to playback what is on your comp. i understand that you can put stuff on its drive and use it without a computer, but why bother? just so you can turn your comp off?

they should have just used a small flash drive for the os.

 

[volvoben]

When the tv was first announced I was rather excited, probably in large part because it was something from apple for only $300. Later on though I realized that it had the giant flaw of only playing ipod-like video formats (plus my videos are kept on my linux server until, someday, i trip over $2800 and can buy a mac pro plus some ram and another few HDDs)

I almost skipped over this article because it had tv in the headline, but if with a bit more time/hacking we can just browse shared network folders for video the tv becomes a nice option. surround sound would be nice, but i personally have a very high end stereo setup and definitely can't justify surround for another 5 or more years.

note on HDDs: isn't the point to mainly stream video over ethernet? I can stream relatively large (920x640 mpg) video just fine between my computers now over ethernet, unless you're watching huge HD video why store anything, especially music, on the tv HDD unless your main computer is off and non-ethernet-wakeable?

 

[Digitalclips]

i'm surprised it had a hard disk at all, let alone a huge one. it doesn't (as of now) DVR or buy direct from iTunes. it is meant to playback what is on your comp. i understand that you can put stuff on its drive and use it without a computer, but why bother? just so you can turn your comp off?

they should have just used a small flash drive for the os.

In the last 2 hours my AVT now has a dozen movies on and several thousand songs and a few photo albums. My computer in my office can be switched off and they are still there. As you say that's probably the main reason. If not there would loads of moaners (you know the ones that have to find fault with everything ) saying how useless ATV is since it still needs a computer on to stream all the time. I am blown away by it!

Plus $299! It's a steal!

 

[Yvan256]

I'm just waiting for a hack to make the TV work on 4:3 televisions. It works fine on mine, but it really should have a TV ratio setting. I can connect via components, I can display 480p. But the ratio is 4:3, not 16:9.

When you think that a simple firmware update would make the TV available to a lot more people, you have to wonder why Apple hasn't done it in the first place.

 

[05elstonc]

On the 5.1 sound front. Apple has really future proofed the hardware in the AppleTV. They put in one of the latest and greatest Audio Codecs from Realtek the ACL885.


"The ALC885 is a high-performance 7.1+2 Channel High Definition Audio Codec with advanced lossless content protection technology that protects pre-recorded content while still allowing full-rate audio enjoyment from DVD audio, Blu-ray DVD, or HD DVD discs."

"Support for 16/20/24-bit S/PDIF input and output offers easy connection of PCs to high-quality consumer electronic products such as digital decoders and speakers. The series incorporates Realtek proprietary converter technology to achieve 106dB Signal-to-Noise ratio (SNR) playback quality and 101dB SNR recording quality, and is designed for Windows Vista premium desktop and laptop systems."

This indicates to me that Apple knows that true surround sound is a real desire of consumers and they wanted to make sure that a simple software update would unleash the power as soon as the iTunes store content is ready.

 

[Airforce]

Plus $299! It's a steal!

I wouldn't go that far....

 

[Rocketman]

I did a little reading of digg this morning and those guys are mostly PC hackers with an emphasis on linux and windblows. These guys are whipping out their credit cards and buying AppleTV's by the dozens!

Some several each.

Why?

Hacked to play every major vid format and soon 5.1 audio too.

Hacked to be a router.

Hacked to be a mailserver.

Hacked to serve the content on their PC content servers via Apple TV to play their many "Apple unsupported video formats".

Micro servers for gaming programs, to send stuff from their now less exciting Xboxes.

Someting to do as a hobby. These guys are having some actual fun with this.

Interesting. Apple is appealing to Wozniacs of the year 2007. This is good stuff.

Rocketman