XBMC on AppleTV 2

[Aikouka]

http://xbmc.org/

So, I went to get the XBMC 10.0 release on my HTPC earlier and I noticed an interesting news post. Apparently, they've ported XBMC over to the AppleTV 2 as well as the other iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, etc). $99 for what may prove to be a decent (and small) media playback device? Doesn't sound too shabby.

Thoughts?

 

[simonizor]

Sounds very promising. All of the functionality of XBMC on a device that is cheap and has full HD playback capabilities. Better hurry and snatch an Apple TV and install XBMC on it myself before Apple tries to kill it..

 

[Aikouka]

Sounds very promising. All of the functionality of XBMC on a device that is cheap and has full HD playback capabilities. Better hurry and snatch an Apple TV and install XBMC on it myself before Apple tries to kill it..

I wouldn't mind hearing some of your testimonials if you do try it . But heck, for $99, I could swing by the Apple store (it's practically on the way home from work... what an excuse!) tomorrow and pick one up .

 

[ViviTheMage]

So can you stream live TV over it? Could this replace my xbox 360's I have to just view live/recorded TV?

 

[Modelworks]

I used XBMC on ARM chips (beagleboard) and it worked okay but the problem has always been all the easily obtained ARM chips with video output were not powerful enough for full 1080P and unfortunately that is true with the appletv product as well. It can accept 1080P but when playing it back anything approaching bluray bitrates causes it to drop frames. That is why apple marketed it as 720P output, not because they were holding out on people, but because 1080P on it is less than ideal.

It is a shame that all the ARM cpu with good decoders are so expensive. You either have to find a device that has the hardware and crack it or buy a development board that cost about $400 for one that can decode 1080P. It is like all these bluray players out now . The majority of them could easily run XBMC but the manufacturers have their heads up the MPAA ass so far that nobody is given access to the development kits to use the hardware.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Isn't there still the limitation that it can only output 1080p?

 

[Aikouka]

I used XBMC on ARM chips (beagleboard) and it worked okay but the problem has always been all the easily obtained ARM chips with video output were not powerful enough for full 1080P and unfortunately that is true with the appletv product as well. It can accept 1080P but when playing it back anything approaching bluray bitrates causes it to drop frames. That is why apple marketed it as 720P output, not because they were holding out on people, but because 1080P on it is less than ideal.

That's a bit of a bummer. Although, the majority of my content is 720p and I could use it on my 720p DLP. I do have some 1080p content, but they aren't Blu-ray ISOs, so I doubt I'll reach the bitrates that you're referring to.

 

[QueBert]

Also on iPad & iPhone 4, SHEIEIEIEIEIT I wish I had an iPad, XBMC is my favorite program ever. A full blown version running on an iPad would be epic.