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Boxee Offers Major New Features to Apple TV Owners

This is good news for Apple and the Apple TV. Anything that gets more of them to sell should be a blessing for Apple as I don't believe this is one of Apple's faster moving products (time will tell).

Not only does this get more people interested in the ATV hardware, but is surely to generate revenue on the back end for Apple thru iTunes. I see this as a win, win for the consumer, the developer and Apple
 
bommai said:
Why would you stay with 1.x software? No reason to! 2.x is way better.
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Becuase I'm using the composite to component kext hack, which at the last time I checked did not work with 2.x. I do not want to start fresh at the moment and once I get a new tv (after I move next week) I'll start fresh with that since I won't need that hack anymore.
 
tominated said:
please tell me there is a way to get plex instead of boxee on ATV. I like both but plex has a better UI, and I have no need for all that social crap in boxee
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Says Plex:

We believe that it is probably technically possible to get Plex to run on Apple TV hardware. The processor would be underpowered for most HD content, and it would probably perform very closely to the original XBox hardware (unless someone figured out how to utilize the onboard h.264 hardware). While it seems to be technically possible, this team has no plans to support Plex on Apple TV. We are big fans of both Apple and their technology, so we are not willing to engage in anything that Apple could consider "hacking" or encouraging people to hack. Our official recommendation is you want something like Apple TV, either buy an Apple TV, or spend the extra $200 and get a Mac Mini and be able to do both!
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http://wiki.plexapp.com/index.php/FAQ#Will_this_run_on_AppleTV.3F
 
I wanted to note that I've installed XBMC via atvusb-creator (waiting on boxee invite) and I'm having problems with streaming MVK files to ATV over SMB (XBMC does not have an AFP option). I do know, however, that the ATV can play the file fine (~3700kb/s avg bit rate) because changing the container to MOV works fine at the same bit rate. Also, using MOV as a container, I've successfully played ~5000kb/s+ files streaming. I'm currently copying the test MKV file locally to the ATV and will see if the problem persists. Of note, the file plays with the audio at normal speed but the video is in slow motion.

Just an FYI to those asking about HD content.
 
tominated said:
please tell me there is a way to get plex instead of boxee on ATV. I like both but plex has a better UI, and I have no need for all that social crap in boxee
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AFAIK xbmc has been able to run on the atv for a fair while now...

Cave Man, xbmc and plex use the xbmc skinning engine (so the interface is the same) and the same ffmpeg based xbmc player?
 
Yvan256 said:
This may sound dumb, but is there a simple (as in USB drive easy) method to force the :apple:TV in a 4:3 aspect ratio? (with subsequent letterboxing of 16:9 content and non-pillarboxing of 4:3 content)

I have an old 36" CRT TV which has component inputs and can do 480p (also 1080i but it flickers too much for my taste), but it doesn't have any "aspect ratio" setting.
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It may sound dumb, but I would like to know the same thing. I have a 50" Hitachi Ultravision 4:3 tv that has component inputs (and does 480i but not p) but no widescreen setting, and I have no intention of replacing it until it dies. If Boxee adds this option I will be all over it in a heartbeat.
 
Does this include the patchstick or do I need to patchstick the ATV before running this USB creator?

Thanks,
CrisK
 
Great to see some action by third parties on the ATV front; I'm still hoping for my simple objective since Day 1: To be able to run a web browser on the unit so I can use it for some ghetto interactive signage.

So many interesting possibilities if Apple just opens it up a bit. For my office, we just use the screen saver to scroll various logos and project photos; would be cool to have it do more in the reception area...
 
Netflix streaming to ATV possible now?

Would this make it possible to stream netflix movies on demand to apple tv?
 
UndisclosedP said:
XBMC will handle a load of formats, including divx, my question would be is the apple tv beefy enough to support the 720p x264 content that is avaliable on the internet. If so, this is very interesting to me as an upgrade to my xbox.
Click to expand...

thanks - and good follow up question. hmmm :rolleyes::cool:
 
Rireal said:
I wanted to note that I've installed XBMC via atvusb-creator (waiting on boxee invite) and I'm having problems with streaming MVK files to ATV over SMB (XBMC does not have an AFP option). I do know, however, that the ATV can play the file fine (~3700kb/s avg bit rate) because changing the container to MOV works fine at the same bit rate. Also, using MOV as a container, I've successfully played ~5000kb/s+ files streaming. I'm currently copying the test MKV file locally to the ATV and will see if the problem persists. Of note, the file plays with the audio at normal speed but the video is in slow motion.

Just an FYI to those asking about HD content.
Click to expand...

Excellent information. I too have the same experiances with some old hacks and Perian installed on my AppleTV. High bit rate mov play fine (but take forever to convert form x264 to mov). Please let me know how your test goes coping the mkv file locally. I have not had much luck. I wonder if boxee can change that...
 
traderx1 said:
Excellent information. I too have the same experiances with some old hacks and Perian installed on my AppleTV. High bit rate mov play fine (but take forever to convert form x264 to mov). Please let me know how your test goes coping the mkv file locally. I have not had much luck. I wonder if boxee can change that...
Click to expand...

It was the same deal locally. The playback was better but nowhere near watchable. I do want to say that x264 is a compatible codec for MOV containers. As long as it is not using High Profile, x264 should be able to play fine on the ATV. The thing is, most HD (MKV) content you get other than the iTunes Store is High Profile in my experience. It's easier to throw them in VisualHub on Go Nuts but it takes forever. Ideally, you could open up the MKV in Quicktime and Save As to self contained for MOV. As long as you have your ATV hooked up to a receiver (if the source was 5.1) and the x264 is compatible, you won't have to reencode.
 
Rireal said:
It was the same deal locally. The playback was better but nowhere near watchable. I do want to say that x264 is a compatible codec for MOV containers. As long as it is not using High Profile, x264 should be able to play fine on the ATV. The thing is, most HD (MKV) content you get other than the iTunes Store is High Profile in my experience. It's easier to throw them in VisualHub on Go Nuts but it takes forever. Ideally, you could open up the MKV in Quicktime and Save As to self contained for MOV. As long as you have your ATV hooked up to a receiver (if the source was 5.1) and the x264 is compatible, you won't have to reencode.
Click to expand...

Well, I have yet to figure out that "Quicktime and save as to self contained MOV". I know there have been other threads have talked about this, but nothing has worked. I have ended up converting with VisualHub and even on Macpro it can take 90min. BUT the quality is outstanding, and streams to all my AppleTV all over the home without a glitch. So the conversion for those "keeper" movies is worth the conversion (overnight) but I wish there was something easier. I personally dont think AppleTV has or will ever have the capability to run those HD MKV files.
 
klittle32 said:
Would this make it possible to stream netflix movies on demand to apple tv?
Click to expand...

I'll go out on a limb and say no. Netflix streaming doesn't even work on a Mac yet, so getting it to work on an ATV (modified version of 10.4) is probably right out the door.

Now Hulu.com on the other hand should be technically possible AND extremely awesome. But, along with you as soon as they get Netflix Instant Watch or whatever they call it running on Macs (they keep saying it's just a few months away) I'll be all over any mod that gets it working on the ATV.
 
Every now and then my friends give me some divx files, so this would help me watch them on my AppleTV. This makes Boxee a "nice to have", but I don't receive divx files very often, so it is not that big a deal. However, enabling streaming from Hulu, ABC or Netflix would be a major improvement.

Appleinsider says Hulu is coming to Boxee by the end of the year. Netflix published its APIs and supposedly will have Mac compatible streaming service by the end of year as well. I am not sure about ABC.com. Maybe we will have all of these options by next summer. That would be really cool. AppleTV is much cheaper, smaller and quieter than media center PCs.
 
Can somebody who has installed Boxee and/or XBMC on an :apple:TV please tell me if there is a way of setting 4:3 aspect ratio? A standard :apple:TV always assumes a widescreen tv, whereas XBMC on the XBOX has a specific setting for 4:3 aspect ratio (I forget what menu it is in right now).
 
I wish they also supported PS3. Medialink and other current solutions are embarrassingly inferior to the looks and capability of Boxee. :eek:
 
Just watched the demo. It looks like an interesting interface, but it certainly doesn't look that useful. I guess my question for people planning on installing this is, what is the point, other than just adding another feature? AppleTV already plays my movies (iTunes and non-iTunes), it also plays my music, I can looking at internet photos. I'm not trying to sound like I'm against it, I think I'm just missing the point.

There is a concern of gumming up my ATV for a few additional features that I probably won't use unless I have terabytes of uncompressed, full featured ripped DVDs sitting on a server.

Has anybody installed it an uninstalled it?
 
I think most people that would take advantage of a media center like xbmc/boxee probably wouldn't have bought an atv in the first place.

If your atv does all you require then you don't need to change anything? :)
Irrelevant of any features it might bring to you, the main advantage that appeals from switching software is to remove the media limitations.
 
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