New Apple TV - Jailbroken: now with a Flash browser, Last.fm, and Plex

[sclitheroe]

If anyone here has used both the old one and the new one, i’d be interested in hearing if the performance is better on the new ones. It’s not uncommon for lag to creep into the interface on the old one (eg. delayed getting out of a movie and back to the menu’s, etc)

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by Bob

Just picked up a new AppleTV at the Chinook Apple Store. They're not on display, but I asked the girl at the counter and she pulled one out for me. At first I thought she misheard me and pulled out an Airport Express, since the box is super tiny.

And people are still lining up for iPhones. Crazy.

Good stuff!

Does Netflix Canada work on it?

[Bob]

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

Good stuff!

Does Netflix Canada work on it?

Haven't tried it yet, but I was going to sign up for the free trial.

[Bob]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

If anyone here has used both the old one and the new one, i’d be interested in hearing if the performance is better on the new ones. It’s not uncommon for lag to creep into the interface on the old one (eg. delayed getting out of a movie and back to the menu’s, etc)

I had no issues with menu slowdown at all, and the thing is very fast when seeking forward through a movie. Also, it auto-wakes my Mac Mini from sleep mode when the AppleTV powers on, which is super cool, though it doesn't sleep it when it's finished.

It also played all my high-quality x264 encodes without issue, which the previous AppleTV would simply choke on. I'm doing a "High Profile" Handbrake encode of The Matrix right now (from Blu-Ray), so I'll see how that goes (should be equivalent to what I tested before). I also found out it doesn't output multi-channel AAC audio as multi-channel PCM over HDMI, meaning you must use AC3 if you want surround sound.

Edit: Also, apparently the iPhone app works a treat with it, though I've yet to give that a go.

[Bob]

Netflix works as you'd expect: sign in with your email/password and it more or less just works, with an interface roughly equivalent to the iTunes store. I'm watching an episode of Hoarders right now. The data rate while streaming is maybe 200 kB/sec, though I saw a peak of about 1 MB/sec. I did also try watching a movie (500 Days of Summer) and it was very obviously stretched vertically, and I couldn't see a way to fix it. Also, no AC3 audio that I could see, though I'm not sure if what I'm streaming is "HD".

Okay, now watching an episode of Mad Men, which is very obviously HD. Still no AC3 audio, but the video quality is subjectively about the level of an HD broadcast. Macroblocking is evident in areas with similar colors, but the detail is pretty good. It's on par with what you'd expect from similar services, I'd guess.

Edit: Seeking with Netflix videos is a bit weird. You're presented with a low quality snapshot of the video every few seconds letting you know where you are, then when you hit "play" it resumes from there after a few seconds. Pretty good, considering what's going on behind the scenes.

Also, power consumption and heat are a non-issue. The thing tops out at 6 Watts and thankfully does *not* require a power brick (how I hate those things).

Incidentally, the new Xbox 360 dashboard update due out very soon will also provide Netflix support.

[teamchachi]

FYI, I was just at the Chinook Apple store and the new Apple TVs are in stock. Over on the wall by the software, mice, etc.

[Bob]

The colours are a bit wonky due to my camera, but this is an example of an HD Netflix stream.



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[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Bob

Also, power consumption and heat are a non-issue. The thing tops out at 6 Watts and thankfully does *not* require a power brick (how I hate those things).

It doesn't heat up like the old Apple TV? That is good. You could fry an egg on the old one.

[Rathji]

Been thinking about grabbing one of these to handle our lobby slide show.

Anyone know of any wall mounted security cage or lock that would work with this so it doesn't grow legs and walk away?

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Been thinking about grabbing one of these to handle our lobby slide show.

Anyone know of any wall mounted security cage or lock that would work with this so it doesn't grow legs and walk away?

You're still working on that? Hopefully you get paid hourly.

[Russic]

It arrived ... and it plays a few blu ray rips that the old one couldn't. I put something in my iTunes library and it showed up immediately. No syncing makes me a bloody happy camper. Much easier to set up via home sharing now too ... No more codes to type in.

I am noticing some buffering issues, but that could be related to it trying to pull down my photo library. I'll post if the issue persists.

Very very small. Hard to explain without seeing one.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Barnes

You're still working on that? Hopefully you get paid hourly.

Haha, I wish!

It was put on the back burner for a server migration. The lady in Media and Communications kept harassing me about it and I kept deciding that email and other network issues were more important.

Lucky for her, we have a lull before the next server gets ordered so I get to do her stuff for a bit.

[silentsim]

AppleTV=Officially jailbroken by the iPhone dev team (team that does the iPhone/iPad jb's etc).

Because of that, I just ordered one. Doesn't deliver till Oct 23rd
Custom codecs here we come!(And Plex if my dream comes true :P)

No stores in Halifax have this in stock =(

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by silentsim

AppleTV=Officially jailbroken by the iPhone dev team (team that does the iPhone/iPad jb's etc).

Because of that, I just ordered one. Doesn't deliver till Oct 23rd
Custom codecs here we come!(And Plex if my dream comes true :P)

No stores in Halifax have this in stock =(

Love to be able to run Plex on one of these.

Biggest thing for me is not having to reencode my entire video library...

[silentsim]

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

Love to be able to run Plex on one of these.

Biggest thing for me is not having to reencode my entire video library...

Same. That is why I was waiting for the news if it could be jailbroken. On my old aTV I used Boxee and XBMC. Now that this is jailbroken, more codecs are inevitable, so i was safe to place my order. Just wish it wouldn't take so long, since Apple may update the software.

[MickMcGeough]

Picked one up at Market Mall yesterday (Chinook was out). Super impressed with the Netflix implementation. iTunes movies start playing almost immediately.

One thing though - ane maybe this was obvious and I completely missed it - but are TV shows not available through the AppleTV in Canada? The "TV Shows" menu item is just not there. I can watch my purchased iTunes shows through Home Sharing but I can't seem to browse the shows available for purchase/rent through the AppleTV.

ETA: Yeah, no TV show rentals in Canada means no TV Shows on AppleTV. For some reason I figured you could purchase shows through the AppleTV but of course it doesn't store them so that doesn't happen. Boo.

[MacFlame]

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

Picked one up at Market Mall yesterday (Chinook was out). Super impressed with the Netflix implementation. iTunes movies start playing almost immediately.

One thing though - ane maybe this was obvious and I completely missed it - but are TV shows not available through the AppleTV in Canada? The "TV Shows" menu item is just not there. I can watch my purchased iTunes shows through Home Sharing but I can't seem to browse the shows available for purchase/rent through the AppleTV.

ETA: Yeah, no TV show rentals in Canada means no TV Shows on AppleTV. For some reason I figured you could purchase shows through the AppleTV but of course it doesn't store them so that doesn't happen. Boo.

No, but, after the software update in November, you will be able to buy the shows from your iphone/ipad/ipodtouch and stream the content.

Something that really hasnt been discussed much is the apparent/ rumored ability of any video that can be accessed from an iOS device to be streamed directly to the apple Tv, not just iTunes content.

Meaning, that if you have, for instance, the CityTv app ( which is pretty good by the way) you may be able to stream CityTV content to the AppleTV.....for FREE!

Obviously, the amount of content on the CityTV app is rather small, but hopefully others will follow...hello CTV?....

But, as stated, we really dont know that this will actually be the case until the iOS update in November.

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by MacFlame

No, but, after the software update in November, you will be able to buy the shows from your iphone/ipad/ipodtouch and stream the content.

Something that really hasnt been discussed much is the apparent/ rumored ability of any video that can be accessed from an iOS device to be streamed directly to the apple Tv, not just iTunes content.

Meaning, that if you have, for instance, the CityTv app ( which is pretty good by the way) you may be able to stream CityTV content to the AppleTV.....for FREE!

Obviously, the amount of content on the CityTV app is rather small, but hopefully others will follow...hello CTV?....

But, as stated, we really dont know that this will actually be the case until the iOS update in November.

That will be pretty cool, but one of the big selling points for me was TV on demand. Netflix's TV library doesn't really cut it.

[MacFlame]

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

That will be pretty cool, but one of the big selling points for me was TV on demand. Netflix's TV library doesn't really cut it.

If NHL gamecentre gets an iPad app, I'm in video heaven.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

ETA: Yeah, no TV show rentals in Canada means no TV Shows on AppleTV. For some reason I figured you could purchase shows through the AppleTV but of course it doesn't store them so that doesn't happen. Boo.

You can of course buy them on your PC and they will stream to your Apple TV. I do that with the majority of my content anyways.