I had a problem. I liked watching movies, but I had little time to fool around with obtaining them. I was tired of sitting in front of the TV mindlessly watching through commercials or else wasting my time surfing with the remote to find a decent movie, only to join in a movie after it had already commenced.

Blockbuster got old. Searching for the exact movie I wanted always took way too much time. Sometimes I would hunt an aisle and just couldn’t find the title I wanted. And then waiting in line to request help from an employee, who would then look up the title in his computer, and then escort me back to the same aisle for the movie, but oftentimes never finding it himself, neither. Oh, and I guess I still hold a grudge for all those late fees.

Never got into NetFlix. I’m too impatient, and when I’m finished with a movie, I want to watch another one right away.

Forget about going to the theater where I live. There’s one theater nearby, but the floor’s always sticky and the screen looks like someone tossed a cup of coke on it. There’s another theater that I like, but it’s too far of a drive. Takes up my entire evening. And at a theater, when I need that restroom break or a popcorn fix, I wish for the amount of money I’m paying to see the movie that I could just hit the pause button on a virtual movie theater remote, so as to not miss anything. Besides, going out to a movie is going out. It always ends up becoming a big affair with having to go out to dinner. And it’s never practical to watch two movies back to back at a theater. Me, I prefer to curl up on the couch or snuggle in my bed, pause the movie when I need to visit the kitchen and get some munchies, and watch a few movies in a row on a lazy Sunday.

Yes, I had a problem. But the Apple TV fixed it.



I like getting on board with the future. In the morning before I head off to work, I fire up iTunes, select the movies I want to watch that evening, hit “rent”, and then let them download while I’m at work. When I return, I have all these great movies to watch on my HD TV, and there’s no waiting around, no dressing up, no driving, no searching down aisles, no one kicking my seat from behind. Now this is the way to watch movies.

If only the movie moguls would just beef up the iTunes movie rental catalogue, I’d be in Hollywood heaven.

Time again to recap my favorite hacks for the Apple TV. These hacks give more functionality to the device. I will always advise you if anything you do runs the risk of voiding your warranty. But I think you’ll agree the extra capabilities that you enable are well worth it.

One of the safest hacks that gives a lot of functionality to your Apple TV is installing a full version of OS X on your device. While the full operating system is overkill for the Apple TV (Apple TV runs a considerably trimmed down version of OS X), since you cannot, for example, hook up a printer to the device, there is still a lot of OS X features that you will appreciate exploring on your HD television.



A more popular and much more useful hack for the Apple TV is installing Hulu for streaming movies and TV shows, though they will contain ads.



Similarly, here is a hack for installing Boxee on your Apple TV to stream internet TV networks.



Just be aware that some hacks may not work with new operating system software upgrades to the Apple TV.

This is not actually an Apple TV hack but it’s a workaround to hook up a Mac to your HD TV and get most of the same Apple TV functionality.



It’s not as elegant as having your laptop sitting in front of your TV, displaying the same image on its screen. It also doesn’t run Apple TV’s exact software but rather runs the Mac’s Front Row, though, which is very similar. You can still play media from your other computers on your wireless network.

However, there is one feature you gain that you don’t have with a normal Apple TV. Web access. Since now you are running a full Mac OS X on your HD TV, you can fire up your web browser and the video shows you how you can access all kinds of additional TV content that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to with a non-hacked Apple TV.

Apple Insider gives an in-depth review of Apple TV:

"That's a significant population of users who make up the target market for Apple TV. It's no surprise why Apple's new device caters to iTunes users and works a lot like the iPod, rather than trying to mimic the struggling fortunes of Sony and Microsoft hardware in the gamer market. Apple's previous efforts with the iPod have delivered stunning growth and profits, while both Sony and Microsoft have lost billions on their next generation gaming gamble, only to be shown up by Nintendo's simpler and more popular Wii console. Part of that is no doubt related to the Wii's low price, which at $250 is close to $300 Apple TV. Both the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 are $500-600 when equipped with a hard drive and HD disc, making them significantly more expensive and effectively pricing them in a different category all together."

Apple Insider goes on to compare the Apple TV with earlier Apple products:

"This is Apple's first complete attempt to offer a set top box. Over a decade ago, the company ran limited testing of a stripped down Mac Quadra 605 customized for use as an interactive TV device, but abandoned the project before ever turning it into a commercial product. What's different this time around is that Apple isn't just providing a Mac interface for a cable set top box."

"Apple TV isn't a conventional set top box at all, but rather an extension of Apple's iTunes, which serves as both the media library behind the iPod and the client to Apple's online iTunes Store. That makes Apple TV a dual purpose device: a way to play users' own content, and a way to buy and download content from Apple's online store. As with the iPod, it can be expected that a lot of the appeal of Apple TV will come from users wanting to play their existing content. "

Later in the article, Apple Insider looks at Apple TV's open potential:

"Apple TV's simplicity complements its wide open potential as an adaptable platform. Unlike other devices hardwired to do a set of specific tasks, Apple TV's features are as upgradable as a Mac, because it is a Mac. It's the lowest cost PC Apple has ever shipped, but it runs the same Mac OS X system as other Macs, and uses the same QuickTime software to present media files."

"Being built on the Mac platform means that Apple can easily add support for new file types, new compression codec technology, and other new features simply by distributing a software update through iTunes. Because the device works like every other Mac and runs an open operating system based on Unix, it's even easy for other third party developers to extend upon the features of the device. Hackers playing with the unit discovered within several hours how to install software to support videos using DivX, for example, and are busy writing plugins to enable new modules of functionality in the interface."

In summary, Apple Insider looks at the future of Apple TV's software upgrades:

"Apple TV also begs for more interactive features. Why isn't there an equivalent to iQuiz, the 99 cent iPod game Apple recently released which challenges the user's knowledge of their music library? How about letting users rate songs and even photos in the manner of the iPod, and sync the ratings back to iTunes? Apple TV actually offers a lot of potential as a platform for interactive video and games, but as yet its software only lightly scratches the surface of what its hardware can do."

"Fortunately, it will be easy for Apple to both update the existing software and deliver new features using software updates right from within iTunes. The company has already established a reputation for delivering regular new feature updates for the Mac and iPod, so it would be very disappointing if the Apple TV software languished in its current state very long."

"A month ago, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer stated in his conference call with financial analysts, "we plan to periodically provide new software features and enhancements, at no charge, to our Apple TV customers.”

In Wired.com's article The TV Is Dead. Long Live the TV, John Borland writes, "Today, once again, TV is evolving into something new and hardly recognizable to generations raised on its earlier incarnations. The structured world of analog over-the-air programming that brought American families together in the living room has been shattered. In its place has emerged a new form of unbounded digital video, endlessly permeable and reprogrammable."

"On the 80th anniversary of the first long-distance TV broadcast, the industry that evolved out of it is under siege. Old rules -- defining who, where and what to watch -- are collapsing, making room for new ideas and talent on air and online. In other words, television has never been stronger."

The article continues with an excellent history and technical discussion about how TV developed over the years.

Borland then writes, "TV has evolved in the past, but the current digital revolution shock is unprecedented. And, just as in earlier periods of fecundity, TV production, distribution and consumption all are being redefined and refreshed by outsiders, from Apple's Steve Jobs to the new amateur producers peopling YouTube or Blip.tv."

"'We have more choice now, and more creative outlets,' says Jeff Jarvis, a former critic for TV Guide and creator of Entertainment Weekly magazine, who now writes the influential new media blog Buzz Machine. 'That yields better TV.'"

"Disney-owed ABC first agreed to sell episodes on Apple's iTunes two years ago. Today, NBC and ABC both stream full, free episodes online."

The article ends with the "Biggest Moments in TV History", a horizontal scroll bar that takes you through major events from 1862 to today. In 2005, Borland lists, "Apple Computer introduces digital sales of TV shows through its iTunes store. Video iPod released." And the very final entry of the Biggest Moments in TV History is in 2007 listed as, "Apple TV released."

Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg has a nice video review of the Apple TV. Go to this page and scroll down the list to find the video entitled "Apple TV is 'Fun to Use'".

The new Apple TV ad that aired last night on television is now online as a high-quality video on Apple's site.

http://www.apple.com/appletv/ads/index.html

MacDailyNews reports, "washingtonpost.com, the award-winning news and information Web site, today announced high-definition (HD) podcasts, designed to be viewed on HD television and computer screens, are now available on iTunes. In a first for a news organization, the award-winning documentary videos created by the washingtonpost.com multimedia team also conform to the highest specifications for the new Apple TV, making it easier than ever to view extremely quality news content anywhere, any time users want it."

MacDailyNews continues, "Examples of documentaries included in the series:

• National Journalism Award-winning introduction to the "Being a black man" series by Emmy award-winning videojournalist Ben De La Cruz. This series was also recently honored with the prestigious Peabody Award, a first for washingtonpost.com
• Critically-acclaimed series on Darfur refugees in Chad by Emmy Award-winning video journalist Travis Fox
• "Justin's Got Game" by Pierre Kattar, recently recognized with an award from Pictures of the Year International.
• Ongoing coverage of the presidential campaign trail by John Poole, a White House News Photographers Association's Editor of the Year."

The high-definition HD videos for the Apple TV can be downloaded from http://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts.

Laptop publishes a review today for the Apple TV giving it a near 5 out of 5 stars. Steward Wolpin writes, "...as long as you're content living and playing in an iTunes world, Apple TV more than lives up to its hype. It's the most elegant digital media adapter yet, and one that we assume will only get better with age."

Of course, all of our Apple TV movies here at appletvmoviesdownload.com are completely compatible with iTunes and the Apple TV.

In related news, though DivX (and its variant, Xvid) encoded videos have not been playable in QuickTime in the past, Apple has added Divx and Xvid to its supported codecs on its QuickTime components page, even though an OS X version of the codec is not listed on the Xvid downloads page. Could it be that Apple is incorporating Xvid into QuickTime in order that the Apple TV can play the vast number of privately encoded Xvid videos existing on users' computers?

According to Gizmodo, the Apple TV "Buy Me" page shows a "Select Your Apple TV" option. Although it is not selectable currently, this is normally a button to select additional options.

While this could be a mistake on the web page, it seems more likely that the page is being prepped for additional options to upgrade the Apple TV. The question is, at this point, what are the options going to be?

It is interesting to read the User Comments on Gizmodo's page. Here are some of the suggestions:

Upgraded hard drive
Web access
A slot loading internal DVD drive (eliminating a component off the user's shelf)
A DVD-R
A TV tuner
A version in black

Of course, one user pointed out that all of Apple's product pages have the same header.

In the Wall Street Journal, Walter S. Mossberg and Katherine Boehret write for subscribers only, "Apple TV is tiny, just about eight inches square and an inch high, far smaller than a typical DVD player or cable or satellite box, even though it packs in a 40-gigabyte hard disk, an Intel processor and a modified version of the Mac operating system. And it has a carefully limited set of functions."

"Yet, in our tests, it worked great, and we can easily recommend it for people who are yearning for a simple way to show on their big TVs all that stuff trapped on their computers. We tried it with various combinations of Windows and Mac computers, with movies, photos, TV shows, video clips and music. And we didn't even use the fastest wireless network it can handle. It performed flawlessly. "

Mossberg and Boehret continue, "Apple TV isn't for that small slice of techies who buy a full-blown computer and plug it directly into a TV, or for gamers who prefer to do it all through a game console. And it's not for people who are content to watch downloaded TV shows and movies directly on a computer screen. Instead, it's for the much larger group of people who want to keep their home computers where they are and yet enjoy their downloaded media on their widescreen TVs."

Regarding their tests over a basic wireless network with multiple computers, they write, "In our tests, Apple TV performed perfectly in Walt's house over a standard Wi-Fi wireless network with a Pioneer plasma TV and six different computers -- three Windows machines from Hewlett-Packard and Dell, and three Apple Macs. Setup was a breeze, the user interface was clean and handsome, and video and audio quality were quite good for anyone but picky audiophiles and videophiles. We never suffered any stuttering, buffering or hesitation while playing audio and video from distant computers."

Mossberg and Boehret summarize the Apple TV writing, "We've been testing Apple TV for the past 10 days or so, and our verdict is that it's a beautifully designed, easy-to-use product that should be very attractive to people with widescreen TV sets and lots of music, videos, and photos stored on computers. It has some notable limitations, but we really liked it. It is classic Apple: simple and elegant."

All in all a great review from the Wall Street Journal of the Apple TV. Note the limitations have to do with playing back video encoded by codecs -- largely used for encoding pirated films -- that don't adhere to legal video standards and that are difficult for Apple to support due to licensing issues as well as not following certain video standards. More about this issue in much more depth in this somewhat technical but excellent reading article Apple TV: Using DVDs and other Video Sources.

The other limitations have to do not with the Apple TV but with the limited offerings right now on the iTunes Store regarding high-definition movies and 5.1 surround audio. This will surely change soon, but note that the Apple TV does play high definition movies and 5.1 surround audio. Read much more on this in Myth #1 which takes up the entire first part of the two-part article Ten Myths of the Apple TV: 5.1 Audio.

As Edward N. Albro states in his PC World article Review: Apple TV Just Plain Works, the Apple TV is "the first media streaming device I could imagine recommending to a non-geek. And I wouldn't be surprised if it evolves into something even more powerful."

Don't be surprised at all. It will be more powerful. And it will change the way we use our TVs.