Apple TV = hacked
Summary: The first day after Apple TV began shipping a bunch of sharp-as-a-tack coder types hacked Apple's new set top box to shreds.
The first day after Apple TV began shipping a bunch of sharp-as-a-tack coder types hacked Apple's new set top box to shreds:
Non-Apple TV owners can enjoy the out of box experience by viewing the opening video which one crafty person ripped from the hard drive and posted in all of it's 720p glory. You can also download the Quartz Composer Screen Saver and the Now Playing Screen. And if you're truly hard-core you can download the entire Apple TV OS, and (conceivably) install it on another Mac.
But this is just scratching the Apple TV surface.
True hackers will want to immediately take it apart (photos) and upgrade the wimpy 40GB HDD to 80 or 120GB - it's a standard 2.5-inch notebook mechanism (another HDD upgrade tutorial is here).
If you really want to hack it to the next level you can play Xvid movies on Apple TV, but it ain't pretty and involves removing the HDD (covered above) and un-breaking SSH (using Perian and DropBear) so you can access the Apple TV remotely.
If that's too much hassle for you there's a solution to automatically convert Xvid, Divx, WMV files to Apple TV format, and then import them into iTunes with a convenient Automator workflow.
You can even turn a Mac mini into an Apple TV or an Apple TV into a Web server (by installing Apache).
Keep up with even more Apple TV hacks at AppleTVHacks.net.
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Talkback
Cool!
The more the merrier - the more people extend this thing, the better. Though some
of the hacks are a bit hard-core for an average home user.
Apple TV is a waste of Time
It is a proprietory software - centric direction that complicates peoples lives by encouraging the need for converting software and the time to run it. Why pay for a device that requires me to convert media to its format.
It does not support HD or 5.1 Surround. This is OK if the year was 1985, but it is a piece of garbage that will require replacing sooner rather than later.
Why would I buy something I need to take apart and replace a hard drive or hack in order for it to function (still in an inferior fashion).
I am waiting for someone to simplify my life by tieing all functions and formats together in a neat, uncomplicated fashion. When an High Definition PVR (that supports various satelitte providers) is built that can either play and record DVD's and music CD's or connect to an external Hard Drive/DVD burner through a USB connection (and can play music and movies in all formats) I will be interested in buying something else. This Apple TV machine is falling far short of that...
Your title is wrong. Should be "Apple TV = Improved"!
shame on your George
I don't think the fine folks over at lifehacker.com would appreciate your attitude!
Don't be naive!
"Hacked" only has bad connotations because people who don't know any better continue to perpetuate said connotations.
Take it in context. When I read "Apple TV hacked!" I interpret that as "improved." When I read "blahblah.com hacked!" I interpret that as "compromised" -- acknowledging the common misuse of the word.
Heaven Forbid...
now it has been used up. Well done Jason for stealing his thunder. George SO wanted
to run "OSX Hacked" and stick it to the Mac community. He is so short sighted he
seems to have forgotten the original meaning of the word.
Hack is what you make of it...
However, hacker only has bad connotations to those that dislike what they do. I find it amusing watching hackers take down technology all around us. We need more challenges to our society, criminal or not. We're too damned complacent, and unfitted for survival in anything but an artifically-maintained technological world. It's just not good for us.
i'm proud to say I hack
I agree should be Apple TV = modded
Your title is wrong. Should be "Apple TV = Improved"!
you only need to click submit my reply once.
Product in search of a market... and missing it
Not to argue with your premise.
However to reinforce your argument, any device sold today as a "DVD player for the Internet age" that doesn't include at least 5.1 surround sound is quite frankly a joke.
For that reason alone I'm not purchasing one, and I really wanted one of these.
If I am correct...
in selling a 5.1 piece of hardware? Like the iPod, the first incarnation was not
perfect, but got better over time.
Nor are they Hi-Def
What I don't understand is why NOT to include 5.1. Charge me $350 and give me 5.1 and I'd buy it.
So to get down to the real point. The AppleTV is a Hi-Def device than can play Hi-Def video. Part of the Hi-Def standard is 5.1 surround. It's like a Ferrari F50 that you can't hear due to excessive muffling. What's the point?
Same with satellite
Improvement = more functions less work
The PVR that comes with my Satellite Television scans shows as you watch them allowing you to;
Re-watch a portion of a live show that you missed
Record movies in HD (or not if the maximum quality is less?)
Record radio programs
Play in 5.1 Dolby surround (directly to my audio system)
My DVD Recorder can make a DVD of programs on PVR if I want to transport them to another TV or disk player.
My DVD player also plays MP3 disks. I can burn and play anything onto data DVD disks and listen to them no matter what the age of my stereo.
There are no new functions or conveniences offered by this thing. I have to watch all its content in low resolution and listen to it in low quality audio. In order to make it do anything useful I have to hack it.
I would like someone to take the well developed PVR (mine is a Bell HD model) and add the ability to connect external hard drives and DVD players via the USB connection. If this PVR could play all audio and video formats it would succeed in being a multi-purpose entertainment machine. The PVR handles satellite signals as well by definition.
The public wants something that reduces hardware pieces and expands what they can do, with little or no effort on their part. The i-phone looks at first glance like a device that accomplishes that. This Apple TV thing does not. It is a dog.
More ways
Nice
"A$$HoleFactor"=dword:00000010
"CreditabilityThreshold"=dword:00000000
Nope 2 different devices
Think of this as the Mac Nano. Even slimmer and more streamlined than the regular Mac Mini with just the features needed for the bulk of it's market.
People like you and I will stick to our Mac Minis with EyeTVs and data projectors as a big screen etc, but that doesn't negate the 100 million iTunes users out there who will be very tempted to go for the AppleTV.
Horses for courses.
-Mart