HD For Indies

I threw a few comments about capturing content via analog from living room to studio (HD-DVD and digital cable) on my AppleTV Hacker blog. In short - the analog hole is alive and well, but does imply a quality loss.

And takes a looooooong time to encode/process. Many many times realtime.

Labels: acquisition, AppleTV, AppleTVHacker, consumer, DRM, Final Cut, hardware, HD-DVD, HDTV, home theater, how done

Hey all - with NAB fast approaching and the press releases flying in at a mad rate the same week taxes are due, sometimes ya gotsta punt - thus the entity I call a blogwad - a buncha news all piled into one post. I've at least broken it down by category for you this time - here's the one on AppleTV related news:

APPLETV NEWS
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In case you missed it, I've been doing most of my AppleTV related commentary and blogging over on my new other site, AppleTVhacker.com - all the below and MUCH much more over there.

HungryFlix - Download Movies for your iPod, PSP, Apple TV and More! - these folks are selling content specifically formatted to fit your AppleTV, starting with a $2 movie (24 hour sale) called Wages of Sin which...doesn't look all that impressive even from just the cover art. But it is a start...

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AppleInsider | Surprise ad for Apple TV begins airing on networks: "Launching almost without fanfare, a spot for Apple's new media hub has begun making the rounds of TV networks. - Apple, Inc. on Monday launched a surprise new commercial for its Apple TV device, emphasizing the simplicity and echoing Steve Jobs' observations that the company was entering the living room after coming into cars, dens, and pockets."

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Apple - Apple TV - Ads Here's the ad in high res.

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How-To: play DivX and Xvid on your Apple TV - Engadget

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Apple TV hacked for RSS and emulation, plus bounty for USB drive support - Engadget

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Audio and Video Podcasts from washingtonpost.com

HD podcasts that are AppleTV compatible via iTunes! Schweet.

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MacNN | Sling to stream Apple TV to cellphones?: "Sling Media is developing support for its Slingbox streaming hubs that would let them support the Apple TV, the company said late on Monday. A future update should give cellphones with SlingPlayer Mobile the ability not only to view an Apple TV's content streamed over the Internet but to control it as well by sending IR codes."

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Apple - iTunes - iTunes Store - Podcasts - Technical Specification Formatting specs for iPod & AppleTV in terms of sizes, bitrates, etc. - HANDY!

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More homebrew plugins, but where are those from Apple? |
Apple TV Hacks: "Erica Sadun over O%u2019Reily had written a plugin for the Apple TV that allows you to execute any Perl scripts you have uploaded. Given that Perl can run also call shell scripts and any Unix command, this will allow a whole host of cool scripts to be written.
It also opens the doors for programmers and scripters with no knowledge of Cocoa programming to develop their own additions to BackRow."

Read on for more info, analysis, and conjecture on the subject of plugins for AppleTV.

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AppleInsider | MGM flicks arrive on Apple's iTunes Store (still no HD)

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Motionbox offers personal video downloads for Apple TV | MacMinute News

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Apple TV and HD quality: It's not the hardware - Engadget HD: "We quickly realized that the Apple TV wasn't going to be a HD powerhouse and our tests have indicated as much -- we have also discovered that the problem is not the hardware."

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Macworld: Secrets: Convert video for Apple TV

Nice list of conversion options, although the DVD ripping tutorial seems eerily familiar, as I got a call from someone over there asking about what works well....

: )

Also covers converting files on drives, etc.

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........and that ought to hold you for a bit while I'm off to NAB. I'd been too busy to post any of that recently, so this is all really just catching up.

-mike

Labels: Apple, AppleTV, AppleTVHacker

Hey all -

I've been busy over on the new blog - AppleTVHacker.com - nearly 7000 unique visitors since I set it up last night (26 hours ago). I've got about 20 articles up over there already, a list of official AppleTV articles, an online store, etc.

It is fun and I'm learning all kinds of interesting things and writing about them, so check it out.

I need to get an Amazon Affiliate Store set up for HD for Indies STAT!

Goal for weekend.

-mike

Labels: AppleTVHacker

Status of several things:

1.) My Dad is out of the hospital and home, thank goodness, after 11 days in there. He should fully recover from his twice collapsed lung after the surgery, which was one of those non-invasive, probes & scope deals. Thanks very much for all the kind notes & emails, MUCH appreciated to know folks out there notice and care. After my Mom, sister and I took turns keeping one of us up there 24/7 for 11 days, we're all glad to get a chance for our lives to start getting back to normal.

2.) Donations - I hadn't yet said thanks to everyone for all their donations to keep HD for Indies up and going - or more accurately, to keep me up and going to have time to keep HD for Indies going. It isn't enough to drop my other work, but I heartily appreciate all those who took the time to kick in to the till. Nobody pays me (otherwise) for any content that gets written here, I cover my own expenses almost always to attend festivals, conferences, etc. unless I'm working for somebody else. If you haven't contributed I'd sincerely appreciate it if you did so using the "Make a donation" link at the top right of every page under the glaring red type. Here was my original pitch asking for donations, read on if you're wondering why you might want to.

3.) AppleTV - FedEx missed me whilst I was at the hospital this morning, so I drove way out yonder to the FedEx depot and got my AppleTV. I'll be posting about what I learn shortly at my new blog, AppleTVHacker. Unboxing pics, vids, etc.

4.) And yeah, if you didn't notice it, I've got a new, more consumer tech blog I started last night, AppleTVHacker. Add it to your daily read or RSS feed if you wish.

-mike

Labels: AppleTV, AppleTVHacker

Hey all -

as if I didn't have enough to do, I felt like starting a new blog just for kicks - AppleTV Hacker*

The URL is appletvhacker.blogspot.com until I can get it switched over to appletvhacker.com

On that site, I'll be sharing my latest reports and doodles and discoveries about what can be done with, and more importantly, TO an AppleTV. I'm not looking to figure out how to do illicit things, just clever things.

I've kicked it off with a round-up of AppleTV news today (pics, analysis, deconstruction hardware pron, etc.) since many AppleTVs are arriving today (Thursday), but mine isn't one of them. DAMMIT.

The joys of the interwebs - I got the site up and running in about an hour, with click trackers and AdSense and all. Blogs are quick and easy to set up. It is the writing and whatnot that chews enormous amounts of time!

I'll continue to cover AppleTV related stuff over there, and will post links on hdforindies.com for pertinent AppleTV things.

So check it out, or if you're a fancy type, read or subscribe to the RSS feed!

As an added bonus, I expect to get my own AppleTV tomorrow, and will be running it through my own heavy user paces - I have well over 120 GB of pictures, movies, and audio content - so how do I pick and choose what goes in?

I want to find out things, like:
-exactly what OS is it running?
-how is it, REALLY, to use, esp. with large media libaries?
-can you attach an external USB drive for expanded storage and have it be recognized in any way shape or form?
-can you attach an external DVD drive and play DVDs from it?
-and most importantly, can you swap out the hard drive and have a bigger hard drive be recognized and use all the additional space on it?

My guesses: a modified stripped down OS X (we kinda knew that already), cumbersome with the itty remote, no (not without software upgrade, but I betcha it's possible, even though Apple claims it is for service only - if it connects to mobo, why not?), no again (same reason), and perhaps, perhaps, perhaps....

I'll document the hell out of it and post some nitty gritty hands on feedback and analysis over the weekend.

And for all you other fellow geeks whose propeller beanies spin at similar frequencies, I'd LOVE to have your reports as well to run on or link from the site - so send them in! Or also links to good AppleTV stuff, too please!

As always but not said often enough, if you've done something you think hdforindies.com worthy, I'm ALWAYS interested in reader submissions of hands on reports on gear, theory, etc. Please do send in, credit & link luv always given.

Why? Because I geek that way....and if you thought I got flippant and occasionally unprofessionally silly on this site...

-mike

PS - and don't forget to check out the lyrics to the theme song...how can you have a blog without a theme song?

Labels: AppleTV, AppleTVHacker