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Jailbreaking of New Apple TV Eased by iTunes Restore Capabilities
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Yep -- I'm perplexed with why we can't have a Front-Row like interface to our NAS drives as well as our itunes libraries.
i'm going to laugh when Apple remotely disables access through the USB port to leave jailbreakers with essentially a new hockey puck 
I already have an upscaling DVD player. Why would I use a box that can't play DVDs to play DVDs?
If it had apps for iPlayer, 4od, ITV Player and the others, then it would be genuinely useful. iPlayer is on Wii and PS3, they're all on Virgin Media Cable, so having them on Apple TV is a no-brainer.
i'm going to laugh when Apple remotely disables access through the USB port to leave jailbreakers with essentially a new hockey puck
Well, they've been pretty good at turning a blind eye to the entire iPod/iPhone/iPad jailbreak scene so far....
As it is right now, I don't have much interest in Apple TV.
But if JBing actually adds some good functionality to this thing, I'll buy one.
But if JBing actually adds some good functionality to this thing, I'll buy one.
The biggest problem with hacking the old ATV was that it was too underpowered to play high quality video in any format other than h.264 -- because of hardware decoding. This box is not any more powerful than the old ATV and is based on an ARM processor. So, it will be more difficult to hack. And when they do hack it, it won't be any better than the old ATV.
Too bad. Everyone should just build a Boxee Box until apple gets it's plans for TV out of the stone ages.
Too bad. Everyone should just build a Boxee Box until apple gets it's plans for TV out of the stone ages.
A true lieutenant of Jobs, aren't you?i'm going to laugh when Apple remotely disables access through the USB port to leave jailbreakers with essentially a new hockey puck
You clearly don't know what you're talking about. This Apple TV is much more powerful than the old one. Every review for it so far has talked about how smooth both the interface is, and the playback of 720P video, all issues on the old device.
Why would it having a ARM processor make it any harder to hack? Hacking is related to the OS, and this new baby runs the same iOS that is widely hacked.
Never let the facts get in the way of your opinion.....
A $99 apple computer...all you need is a bluetooth keyboard and mouse and a monitor...oh wait we have a HDTV for that one.
Agreed. Apple (or the jailbreakers...) have until the Boxee Box launch to figure it out. I'd happily pay half as much for an Apple TV.
Couldn't have said it better myself - I'm sitting on a gen 1 ATV which is more functional than this (lovely) little device, but open the App store and I'll dump my old one for the new one in a flash.
yeah the first gen apple tv is pretty hackable. But we already know the new appleTV is gonna be way more. Plus it is cheaper and faster.
I was really hoping iTunes 10 would have been launched for iOS devices to allow media "management" from them, so essentially, you setup up all your shares on your computer and clone the setup to the ATV, so it can act as the iTunes host and serve out media wirelessly from a NAS both to itself and wirelessly to other iOS devices. Would instantly kill the need for a computer to be on other than to update the library.
- Extremely low-cost Apple computer: check
- So low-cost that it's even less than a license for Windows: check
- So low-cost that it's even less than a dirt-cheap low-end computer running Linux: check
- Runs iOS4, which will allow a huge number of applications, including Safari, Mail and possibly even FaceTime (via the mini USB port?): check
But to do that Apple would need to have a Bluetooth keyboa... oh wait they already sell one. But using a mouse in your sofa isn't practical, they'd need to sell some kind of Bluetooth trackpa... oh wait they also already sell that.
If that happens, then I'm sure Apple will release a new compact Bluetooth keyboard with built-in Magic Trackpad. And since there is room for another flash chip in the new AppleTV, I guess they'll come out with a 16GB version too, for those who want to store more apps/emails/etc.
So given the original ATV is essentially a small computer, what really is the difference between an ATV on all the time (and yes, I know you can sleep it but you can sleep a computer too), and a mac mini on all the time? I am genuinely curious.
I liked my original ATV but 160 gb was too small and I didnt want to pay for someone else to put a larger HD in or hack it to use the USB port. I do admit nothing was easier than the original ATV for buying new material.
don't you also need a blue tooth transmitter/receiver built in to the ATV2 or did I miss something in the tear down? Or are we thinking someone will hack it, and add one through the usb maintenance port?
I think you're right - and when it's proven to be hackable such that I can play my (mostly) DivX files, I'm buying one!
My current (hacked) ATV is the most used device in my house - it allowed me to get rid of cable over 2 years ago. I love it, and can't wait to upgrade!
Page 2 of the iFixIt teardown: "Broadcom BCM4329XKUBG 802.11n Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM chip"
Living room Apple computer for 100$? Sign me up, I know a lot of people who would probably use that instead of their current Windows computer.