http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/Mar 30th 2007 3:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/
Silly company!]]>Mar 30th 2007 3:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/Mar 30th 2007 3:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/Mar 30th 2007 3:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/
The movies in my iTunes are in the 320x240 and 480x480 range - although my later additions are 720x368 (cropped DVD). But they are compressed for the iPod. Why would I want to stream this to a HD/Widescreen TV? I saw the demo movies and videos on display at the Appe Store, and they were HORRIBLE! The compression artifacts were obvious from a distance, and seemed like a total waste for the widescreen TVs these AppleTVs require. You would be better off buying the DVD.

What am I missing here?]]>Mar 30th 2007 3:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/Mar 30th 2007 4:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/
I, for example, haven't been paying anything for TV for a while (the cheapest digital cable here is $70+ a month) and i really only watch about 4 shows.

So instead of paying someone 60 - 80 a month for the very few shows i'm interested in, i just buy those seasons from the iTunes store (which costs less than 2 months of cable) and watch them on my TV. Up until a week ago (when i got my Apple TV) i had to plug in my (girlfriend's) laptop to the TV.

Now i can just turn the TV on, grab my apple remote and watch my shows. :) much less of a chore. (this sounds lazy, but it really was a bit of a chore to grab the ibook and power adapter and my iPod to use as an external disk with the current episode on it, and plug in the miniVGA adapter blah blah blah.)

And i'll tell you, at least in my area, the "highly compressed" iTunes version, played through the AppleTV connected through component video at 720P (instead of through a single RCA from the iBook) looks leaps and bounds better than the crap OTA broadcast quality around here.

Sure, it's no HD (not even DVD quality) but on my 52" HDTV it's totally watchable, and much better than crap-quality SD broadcast TV.

to sum up: it's convenient, it works, and looks fine.
I even fancy myself as an AV snob, and have some high end AV equipment, but i'm not going to cover my eyes and plug my ears just because something isn't high def.
(However - when the HD Apple TV is released, i'll be all over it.)]]>Mar 30th 2007 5:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/Mar 30th 2007 4:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/Mar 30th 2007 5:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/Mar 30th 2007 4:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/
Having to tape and glue crap to this thing to make it good isn't a feature, it's a sign of total failure on the part of Apple.]]>Mar 30th 2007 4:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/Mar 31st 2007 5:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/Mar 30th 2007 5:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/
My mother in law missed this week's 24, so I told her to buy it on iTunes. She did, but then said "but I have to watch it on my computer..." If I gave her the Apple TV for her LCD tv, it would work nicely. Enough said. People who don't care what's in it or how it works, and just want to watch their downloaded shows from iTunes, will buy it, and it won't effect any of you.]]>Mar 30th 2007 4:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/
so many Apple haters here - i don't get it. ...and they're so angry!

I'll be getting another one of these for my father's birthday. It'll be perfect for him. (He's not the kind of guy who'd ever need to ask "why wont my AppleTV play my crappy wmv/avi pirated shows?")]]>Mar 30th 2007 5:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/Mar 30th 2007 5:18PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/Mar 30th 2007 5:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/
I really dont want to re-rip and convert all the music videos from my DirectorFile DVDs. they already look good and are small files in Xvid. (and i just dont want to do the work again - and the iTunes store doesn;t sell most of 'em.)]]>Mar 30th 2007 5:18PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/
Yeah, having it play whatever you want to see in multiple formats and resolutions, that's just crazy, CRAZY!]]>Mar 31st 2007 6:39AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/
2) Apple did have to appease it's iTunes Store content providers a bit here by not making it even more accessible than it already is. After all, does the AppleTV really need a "service port"? Of course not. How many of your other media appliances have service ports?

3) Give it no more than a couple of months. The iTunes store will be carrying 720p content once the content providers see how well the AppleTV is selling. I'm sure it has outsold the Zune by now, but that ain't sayin' much.

4) Since we know the USB port is in fact enabled by default and that Apple's "service team" can access the AppleTV via the service port, I'm waiting for the hack that will allow me access to the AppleTV OS without tearing it apart first. Maybe it's as simple as holding the Apple Remote's menu and play buttons down for 15 seconds while you have a USB cable connected between your Mac and PC or maybe it's more complex situation that requires command line authentication. Either way, I expect it to be found within the next two weeks.
]]>Mar 30th 2007 5:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/Mar 30th 2007 5:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/
XBOX1 + Some kind of mod = The best media center ever ^^
You can stream media from your computer or put in dvd or get a bigger harddrive and put it in there.... and It costs like... 200 dollars less]]>Mar 30th 2007 7:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/
Using A/V Cable from my Sony Camcorder.....$0

Watching Video and listening to music through my hometheatre...piceless ;-)]]>Mar 30th 2007 9:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/Mar 31st 2007 1:36AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/Mar 31st 2007 1:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/
What am I missing here?"

You are not missing here, you're just asking the wrong question. You're asking, "What's the least inferior content I can put on my HDTV?' And your answers are correct. But this isn't the relevant question. The relevant question is, 'What's the best way possible to watch my inferior content?'

I can see the artifacts on my compressed files no matter where I watch them. Why would I want to intentionally avoid watching them on my HDTV? To keep it "pure"? This seems like cutting off my nose to spite my face.

People have lots of compressed content and they're collections are growing everyday. If they didn't want to watch them, they wouldn't be collecting them. So your point is moot.]]>Mar 31st 2007 2:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/
In general, I think that a lot of people are missing the simple purpose of this device, and are not familiar with the flood of TV/video now becoming available via iTunes. I've just recently started purchasing more new shows and I LOVE it - NO COMMERCIALS!! Watch it when you want, as many times as you want, you don't have to remember to program anything in advance to record a show. The 640x480 MPEG4 isn't HD, but it isn't terrible either.

I love how Apple is trying an end-run around some of the largest corporations in the country with the iTunes / AppleTV combo: Cable and Satellite TV, DVD manufacturers, WalMart DVD sales, local TV stations. Will be very amusing to see if they can pull it off, as over time they release more powerful versions of the hardware, and start offering HD downloads.]]>Mar 31st 2007 2:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/Mar 31st 2007 2:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/
And by the way, dvd-burners are for wankers.]]>Mar 31st 2007 5:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/30/apple-tv-hacked-to-enable-usb/Apr 11th 2007 7:16PM