Katie Marsal
Having already earned a small reputation as a homebrew enthusiast's device, Apple TV received a large but unofficial makeover on Wednesday with Boxee, a complete project that aims to fill in the gaps in community, video formats and Internet streams left open by Apple.
It runs on the same basic foundations as XBMC, a project originally designed to turn the Xbox into a media hub, but has been modernized both for later computer-borne versions as well as Apple's set-top box. At a minimum, users can play audio, photo and video formats that are normally off-limits in the officially sanctioned firmware, such as AVI and Matroska (MKV) files, Ogg Vorbis music and ISO images.
For Apple TV, Boxee has a new interface tailor-made just for its widescreen HDTV audience and puts a link to the app within the main Apple TV menu so that users can keep to the default interface if they prefer.
The developers are counting on Boxee's Internet component to be the real catalyst, however. Direct hooks are built-in to stream audio and video from several large free services, such as BBC and CNN for news, CNET, Revision3's podcasts and Last.fm music. Access to the Fox/NBC movie and TV website Hulu is also promised by the end of 2008.
Boxee's home screen with recommendations and friend activity.
Browsing movies on Boxee.
Owners also won't have to sit in isolation as they do with Apple's default hardware, the creators note: a friend system not only gives friends a quick look at content they've played but the ability to recommend that content to others. Exports are also available to send recent playback history to FriendFeed, Tumblr, or Twitter.
And while Apple has never actively discouraged users from modifying Apple TV code outside of usual warranty disclaimers — the company itself describes Apple TV as a "hobby" — Boxee is explicitly billed as an open-source project that allows anyone to roll in new format support or features where Apple's official software would be locked down.
The team for the community hack says it's eager to receive more testers and will try to approve as many AppleInsider readers as it can, "as quickly as possible;" those who successfully land an invitation are also encouraged to send invites to friends. A demonstration of Boxee in action is available below (click the image to play).
William Gallagher
Sponsored Content
Malcolm Owen
Mike Wuerthele and Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
Wesley Hilliard
31 Comments
What I want to know is, will it still allow you to use the rest of the AppleTV functions the same? Like renting movies from iTS?
This is a great addition and the product seems interesting, but you guys are being seriously irresponsible in the way you are presenting it. Not everyone is a technician or computer geek.
Apart from the one word "unofficial" in the first statement, you have put nothing in this article to really give the average user a clear idea that this is an un-sanctioned hardware hack. I know to a person familiar with all the tech news this might not seem like a big deal, but seriously... by far the majority of your readers are NOT computer experts.
You should clearly state what things are. This is a hack. it probably violates the consumer warranty to use it. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but that's what it is and you should say so.
This is a hack. it probably violates the consumer warranty to use it. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but that's what it is and you should say so.
Why don't you find out before going off on some tirade like a b*tch?
Do you really think people who come here don't know that this software isn't sanctioned by Apple?
"Seriously irresponsible"?
This is a great addition and the product seems interesting, but you guys are being seriously irresponsible in the way you are presenting it. Not everyone is a technician or computer geek.
Apart from the one word "unofficial" in the first statement, you have put nothing in this article to really give the average user a clear idea that this is an un-sanctioned hardware hack. I know to a person familiar with all the tech news this might not seem like a big deal, but seriously... by far the majority of your readers are NOT computer experts.
You should clearly state what things are. This is a hack. it probably violates the consumer warranty to use it. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but that's what it is and you should say so.
Did you even read Aidan's article? Or did you just glance at the title and come here to blow off steam?
K
The team for the community hack says it's eager to receive more testers and will try to approve as many AppleInsider readers as it can, "as quickly as possible;" those who successfully land an invitation are also encouraged to send invites to friends.
How do I get on this AppleInsider list ? I signed up on the site after reading this article and it said 'you may have to wait several weeks to be approved'. I would install it tonight on my appletv.