

XBMC now works on Apple TV, iPad and iPhone - thomas
http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/xbmc-now-works-on-apple-tv-ipad-and-iphone-20110121/

======
sudonim
Plex <http://plexapp.com> is based on an earlier version of XBMC. They have it
running on iPhone, iPad and someone hacked it onto the Apple TV and did a
similar video a few months ago: <http://www.vimeo.com/16479085>

I'd put my money on plex as an easier way to manage content and stream it from
a box elsewhere in the house.

(I have plex running on a 2009 Mac Mini and it works really well)

~~~
dusing
Plex is incredibly awesome. My whole house runs on it. Unfortunately it
transcodes all video on ATV2 from another computer running the server. This
XMBC app decodes the videos on the ATV2 itself - which is awesome, and I hope
the Plex crew gets that up and running as well.

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AndrewDucker
I've been running XBMC as my media centre for years now, first on a hacked
XBox (original) and then on a hacked Apple TV (first gen).

It's a great piece of software, happily streaming from my NAS box, playing
music, etc. Not found anything it doesn't play yet.

And there are remote control apps for iPhone and Android too!

~~~
empire29
What apps have you found for the iPhone that work will to control XBMC? I've
tried a a few for iPad and iPhone and they've been pretty terrible -- I've
been using my Logitech Harmony One and AirMouse (iPhone/iPad) but would like a
slick iphone/ipad app that would let me use the library features, etc.

I've been running XBMC on a 1st gen Xbox as well (those were the days), then
moved to a fullsize HTPC, and now down to a Dell Zino.

If you've got a HTPC setup, you should absolutely give XBMC a try.

~~~
AndrewDucker
Aaah, I've got Android myself, so I use an app on my Desire. I haven't tried
the iPhone ones, so I don't know what the quality is like.

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Sutto
All in all, I've found the Apple TV port to be pretty awesome - If you're
willing to live with 720p output (It can decode 1080p, but it downscales to
720p - and it supposedly has minor lag at some points) and minor issues with
seeking (which are bearable) and the current tethered jailbreak, it's a
fantastic $130 XBMC device.

One thing to note is the default skin for XBMC felt laggy, but once I set it
all up and switched to something else (in my case, Rapier tweaked to work on
XBMC 10), it felt a lot faster and worked pretty well.

Better yet, using seas0npass and nitoTV (It's my own blog post, but
[http://blog.ninjahideout.com/posts/apple-tv-2g-and-xbmc-
setu...](http://blog.ninjahideout.com/posts/apple-tv-2g-and-xbmc-setup-bliss)
details the process) it's relatively simple to set up - the caveat being it's
tethered still on Firmware v4.1.1. Here's hoping the new release of
GreenPois0n which will supposedly be untethered comes soon.

------
sielskr
This promises to remove the only obstacle to my spending $99 on an Apple TV
box, namely, my fear of being locked into Apple's content distribution system.

Will someone unaffiliated with the project please describe their experiences
with using this software to watch mp4s of movies? Any restrictions or gotchas?

~~~
ZeroGravitas
I saw an independant report stating that 1080p had minor stutters. Don't know
if that's fixable. This is an early release but on the other hand they're
pushing beyond the boundaries of what the hardware is designed for.

I'm also not sure what profiles it supports. Apple's software specs says Main
Profile only, but they sometimes software restrict their hardware to keep
support homogeneous across their lines (this appears to be the case for the
1080 support, they're just calling Apple's code).

~~~
illumin8
If you wait about 6 months, Apple will most likely release rev. 2 of the ARM
based AppleTV, which is rumored to contain the A5 processor, which is based on
ARM's dual-core design A9 architecture, and is supposed to be fully capable of
hardware accelerated 1080p playback.

The newer hardware should be much more future-proof. It remains to be seen
whether it will be easily jailbroken, or whether Apple will get tougher with
security.

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res0nat0r
I've been using an ASRock Ion with XBMC as my media center for over a year now
and I love it. Plays anything I throw at it without any jitter. 1080p content?
No problem thanks to the onboard NVidia chip.

<http://www.asrock.com/nettop/spec/ion%20330.asp>

Combined with the Aeon skin it is a beautiful thing.

<http://xbmc.org/skins/aeon/>

------
yardie
I just wish the tetherless JB would be released already.

~~~
Xuzz
Maybe they aren't evil and keeping it from you (not "releasing" it), instead,
don't have a working version they could just press a button and release?

~~~
yardie
I didn't mean to imply they are evil. It's just my only option is OFW or
tethered. The tethered part doesn't bother me as much as the fact that I don't
have a laptop anymore so ,short of dragging the entire desk across the flat, I
can't jailbreak. And I really want to because there is a lot of great stuff
that's being released.

I'm sure I'm not the only person in this predicament.

------
jroes
But why? Handbrake can convert most video formats to something Apple TV-
compatible and play them on the Apple TV through iTunes.

~~~
vetinari
The XBMC library mode is much better than iTunes. XBMC is living-room ready,
wife-approved media player (one of the best on the market, in fact).

As a bonus, you don't have to convert anything.

~~~
rb2k_
> As a bonus, you don't have to convert anything.

And that's the biggest bonus imho. Most people will watch pirated content on
XBMC (torrented TV shows etc) and transcoding everything is pretty annoying.

~~~
aw3c2
Bought content is usually an even bigger pain in the arse to transcode. I am
currently trying to rip some DVDs of mine and it is an incredibly frustrating
experience.e

~~~
patrickk
Here's a solution:

[http://lifehacker.com/355281/dvd-rip-automates-one+click-
dvd...](http://lifehacker.com/355281/dvd-rip-automates-one+click-dvd-ripping)

~~~
jokermatt999
Aside: although Lifehacker's day to day quality seems to have declined, I've
found searching their archives for common tech problems like this to be
extremely good at returning results. How To Geek (frequently linked from LH)
also has a lot of similar solutions. Any other recommendations?

~~~
patrickk
Here's one possible solution (appropriately enough from LH itself):

[http://lifehacker.com/344188/get-only-the-posts-you-want-
fro...](http://lifehacker.com/344188/get-only-the-posts-you-want-from-
lifehackers-site-feeds)

I would suggest subscribing to the type of posts you like the most by tag.

My recommendations for tags would be:

#hivefive/ #hivefivefollowup

#feature

#downloads (you can specify which OS, see link above)

#featuredworkspace (I like them, you may not)

#featureddesktop (again, I like them)

#howto

#diy

There are more I can't think of right now. I definitely agree that the overall
quality of LH has declined, however HN and LH are still my number one and
number two sources of tech information on the web and I typically check both
multiple times a day. Some of the best tips and software I use comes from LH -
Dropbox tweaks, XBMC, CCleaner, BitTorrent tips, Launchy and many, many more.
Check out their recommended bundles of apps also available for Windows, Mac
and Linux, e.g:

[http://lifehacker.com/5562864/lifehacker-pack-for-mac-our-
es...](http://lifehacker.com/5562864/lifehacker-pack-for-mac-our-essential-
list-of-the-best-free-mac-downloads)

[http://lifehacker.com/5713510/most-popular-free-mac-
download...](http://lifehacker.com/5713510/most-popular-free-mac-downloads-
of-2010)

------
jbeluch
One of my favorite things about XBMC is the plugins. The plugins are basically
web scrapers that present content within the interface. If there isn't one you
want for a particular website, build your own! They're written in python and
could make a fun weekend project. Once your done, commit it to the official
repository.

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chedigitz
If xbmc can run on appleTV 2, then a boxee port should be around the corner.
Let's hope, as I love boxe's simplicity, in its ability to auto organize the
entire library.

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barranger
Since it's XBMC based, does this mean we'll see Boxxee soon?

------
hop
Can this play from a NAS or folders outside iTunes? And I'm pretty sure it
will, but does it play a range of other filetypes - mkv, etc?

~~~
ZenzerNet
XBMC plays anything you throw at it. From anywhere :)

~~~
Sutto
Except (unless I've completely missed it) stuff over AFP.

------
patrickgzill
Does the AppleTV do full 1080p?

~~~
vibragiel
Not out-of-the-box. XBMC on the AppleTV(2) does, though.

~~~
ZeroGravitas
To be precise the hardware is outputting 720p, but XBMC can decode 1080p files
and scale them down. I'm not sure if the output can be hacked or not, but the
developers claim it's "not a priority" at the moment.

~~~
vibragiel
Ungh, didn't know about that caveat. I guess I'm back to my initial idea of
getting a WD TV Live. Any better option?

~~~
vetinari
In my opinion, some ION2 nettop with minimal Ubuntu and XBMC would be better
option than WDTV. More expensive, yes, but not that much[1] and definitely
provides better experience.

[1] Note that I'm in EU-land, where AppleTV is 120 EUR, which is 160 USD.
Acer/Asus/Zotac/other nettop vendors do not have the same problem with
currency conversion that Apple does.

~~~
ZeroGravitas
I've got XBMC on an Acer Revo nettop, and having a little always-on Ubuntu
server has various other uses for me.

Apt-getting installs/updates to XBMC rather than jumping through whatever
hoops you need to for this is a blessing too.

One downside, you'd need to buy a 3rd party remote and USB-IR receiver and get
it working with Ubuntu/XBMC. (At least I did, I think the newer version has
one built in).

~~~
vetinari
I'd like to get rid of IR remote with non-standard receiver and replace it
with Bluetooth one (Sony PS3 Blu-Ray remote). Anyone has experience, how long
the batteries last in this thing?

