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Question of the Day: Which legendary musicians or bands have you seen live?
If you jailbreak the appletv you can essentially do that. XBMC or Plex come to mind.
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW-TO:Install_XBMC_on_Apple_TV_2
http://wiki.plexapp.com/index.php/Apple_TV_Plex_Client_Install
By the way, check out plex as an alternative to boxee.http://www.plexapp.com/
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![[)roi(]](/forum/data/avatars/m/8/8711.jpg?1563828683){kind=avatar}
I have exactly the same setup at home (you don't get Airplay mirror), overall it's a far superior experience to Apple TV.
Btw what product do you use to avoid the need for a keyboard / mouse? i.e. make it wife / girlfriend friendly?
FYI As I stream most of my content I created some custom applescripts apps to simplify the app startup (e.g. VPN) & I control this with an Apple Remote using an application called Remote Buddy. (I current use this to watch/listen to iTunes content, Hulu, Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Boxee, Pandora, etc...)
However for the lower price point i.e. not having to buy a computer for the TV; the choice is typically between Apple TV and Boxee box.
Do I need it? All of my content is on the mini.[)roi(];7176227 said:
I use Splashtop but all she needs is Rowmote which I've installed on our iPads and the old iPhone 3g. All she ever uses it for is to watch shows anyway.[)roi(];7176227 said:
You're always going to limited with an Apple TV i.e. only able to do what Apple TV support, or what the JB community has ported, and ultimately the hardware / software will make it difficult / if not prevent a few things.
The Mac mini is perfect re is full fledged OSX (able to run pretty much everything) and has a built in HDMI and IR for remote control. Using a product like Remote Buddy you can control you tv via your iPad, iPhone, Apple remote, wii-mote, etc...
... and yes you can run Boxee, Plex, XBMC, .. or any other app that meets your needs.
Note: Dell has started to make a mini pc (similar to the mac mini) with an HDMI port -- the only thing missing the last time I checked was IR.
GreGorGy
BULLSFAN
Not quite:
10.4 April 05
10.5 October 07 (30 months)
10.6 August 09 (22 months)
10.7 July 11 (23 months)
10.8 is rumored to be in very early stages. Not even sniffed in the wild yet. Insider expects a mid 2013 release.
Of course you don't need an Apple TV (airplay mirror does only one thing; mirrors your idevice on your tv i.e. bigger screen for those games)-- you have something better; a powerful Mac connected to your TV.
Re splashtop; I tried that and a few other products like it initially, but it was all just to technical for the girlfriend -- hence I simplified with Remote Buddy and Applescripts -- She can now start stop everything with the Apple remote and a simple menu; nothing simpler... (and no mouse control required)
.
For example the Applescripts (bundle into a new app icon) do the following for me:
1. Disconnect any manually connected VPN connections.
2. Identify fastest US VPN host at that point in time; and connect to it.
3. Launch Hulu
4. Continually ensure VPN is active (service event monitoring).
5. On exit of Hulu, disconnect VPN.
Rowmote looks good, hadn't seen that before -- in my case it wouldn't work; she's a blackberry... :wtf:
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[)roi(];7176279 said:
Yeah the mac mini is the best bet, but its far far from the cheapest. The apple tv would be incredible if apple just allowed the installing of apps. Perhaps they are holding back for the real apple tv.
I had the first generation Apple TV; to be honest it ended up being a pain in the butt re limited to Jailbreak solutions, and the processor was significantly underpowered, for example you couldn't even run flash at that time i.e. no Hulu, no youtube, no streaming boxee, etc...
The new AppleTV is a little better re processor, but is still significantly inferior a mac mini; but for the lay person, its basic functionality is simple and easy to use.
The real apple TV if it comes out is imo going to be iOS based i.e. limited without a JB. + if they went the route of tying to the existing media channels (fox, abc, comcast, ...) then it would almost have no relevance in SA or other countries, where those providers don't exist.
The only way an Apple TV service could work imo is for Apple to become an equivalent to one of the cable media companies -- but of course on an international basis. i.e Instead of a monthly fee for DSTV, you pay a monthly fee for AppleTV???
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Do you really think it'll be a 10.8 product? I think it's either going to be a 10.7.x or 11 re Lion was the final cat?
GreGorGy
BULLSFAN
Nice! Confirms 10.8 but not really a wild sighting: when it hits the dev prev stage, I'll get excited.
[)roi(];7176377 said:
See above link:
I doubt that they will go for lynx though, seeing as how it is a Linux browser.
Don't you think that they'll go for a more significant change re Windows 8; by more significant I mean launching Mac OS11? As the article states; this could easily be stats tampering, or just the internal number -- and not an indicator of the end release?
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The current apple tv2(or perhaps the 3 with an A6 processor) would be perfect for most people if we could just install a youtube app, plex or boxes app, hulu app, netflix app, 10 foot iOS game apps, etc. They just need to open the platform up to apps so app devs can do their thing.[)roi(];7176357 said:
The only real issue would be the controller. Perhaps an iPhone sized and shaped wireless touchpad would do the trick.
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NetDude
Expert Member
Thanks for useful links, etc
I agree opening the device to apps I think would solve most problems with it. The problem with Hulu is that only Hulu + is available via the app i.e. impossible to get without a US debit/credit card. Netflix's streaming over a Mac/PC is challenging re silverlight; the app version is worse unfortunately... The game potential is untapped, always confused as to why they hadn't release this with ATV2?
@[)roi(] Thanks for all the help. Yeah I am in the process of of converting all the movies to be compatible with iTunes. So if I understand correctly, the Apple TV won't be able to stream normal .avi's to my flatscreen if its not converted?
[)roi(];7174999 said:
Elimentals
Honorary Master
Personally I use handbrake to convert my media for use on my tablets. I dont know if you want to look at that.
I loooove the batch process. Simple add all your media and let it do its own thing, also find its multithreaded conversion faster than iTunes with better options for fine-tuning.
Yeah I have downloaded Handbrake and will be using that. The only problem I have is I have over 450gigs of movies and series and keep updating all the time, especially series - so would I have to convert them all the time I add a new one and how does it work if I plug the harddrive that they are saved on into another mac or pc or media player, will they be able to play?
Elimentals
Honorary Master
Most media players can handle the format with a dream, like I said I use my movies on both Android and iOS, works with default Windows media player and VLC. My media PC loaded with XBMC on Linux also has no issues.
Note I use AAC and not CoreAudio AAC(OSX support only) for the audio and H.264 for video. I had to update the firmware on my Samsung TV but it now also supports playing the mkv files strait off a USB stick.
What I did to convert my media is to have a second drive, well I actually moved them to the NAS once converted. Will have to get larger drives soon as I almost filled my 2 TB of space.