Apple TV 3rd Gen

Anyone using this ? I have an iPhone and wanna buy one so i can basically stream HD media from my PC in basically any format without using iTunes. Is it possible ?

I want this over other solutions basically cause if i understand correctly i ll be able to use my iPhone as a remote control, is that right ?

To stream from your PC you would need to use iTunes and files in format supported by iTunes. Only way to get around that is to jailbreak and use XBMC, which you can't do on Apple TV 3. Apple TV 2 would be your best bet.

get a wdtv live.

Brownstone said:

Anyone using this ? I have an iPhone and wanna buy one so i can basically stream HD media from my PC in basically any format without using iTunes. Is it possible ?

I want this over other solutions basically cause if i understand correctly i ll be able to use my iPhone as a remote control, is that right ?

Click to expand...

Not necessarily possible.

As the poster above said, they need to be in a format that iTunes/AppleTV can use. As long as you can convert them, I 'think' you can do it... but something tells me that it might have to been purchased in iTunes. Don't quote me on that.

With that said, if you jailbreak, you can install XBMC or PLEX on the ATV to stream content from your PC. (which works amazingly well) There are a lot of other benefits to it as well.

Unfortunately though, the ATV3 hasn't been jailbroken and it's unlikely that it ever will be jailbroken (atleast not anytime soon). It's very different than other iOS devices in that it doesn't have as many areas to try and exploit as other devices.

If not for GeoHots limera1n bootrom exploit on the A4 processors, we'd likely never see one for the ATV2 either. So if you want to JB, you're better off with an ATV2. The only real downside is it's limited to 720P (but 1080 is possible with XBMC)

oh and yes, you can use your iOS devices as a remote for it which is really slick. Airplay is also amazing... works really well.

I also like that you can use photostream from your iPhone as a screensaver on the ATV. It's a neat feature.

dr.stevil said:

The only real downside is it's limited to 720P (but 1080 is possible with XBMC)

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1080 PLAYBACK but no 1080 OUTPUT.

Not that big a deal really, 720p files are smaller and still look great.

I have ATV2 and use it all the time to watch 720p mkv files streamed over the network, works great. Ever since "Eden" for XBMC came out, it really works flawlessly. The new version got rid of a lot of lag, its a really great setup IMO

kilik64 said:

1080 PLAYBACK but no 1080 OUTPUT.

Not that big a deal really, 720p files are smaller and still look great.

I have ATV2 and use it all the time to watch 720p mkv files streamed over the network, works great. Ever since "Eden" for XBMC came out, it really works flawlessly. The new version got rid of a lot of lag, its a really great setup IMO

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oh okay, that's good to know. I thought it allowed 1080 output on the ATV itself somehow (I'm only using it on a 720P tv, so haven't used it personally)

I got one a few weeks ago and can play videos from my PC to my Apple TV no problem without jailbreaking.

Download the app called Air Video ($3.00) or try the free version first which limits you to two folders or something. The free version gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect in the full version.

Download the client and drag/drop the folders you want to access. Use your iPhone/iPad to access the folders, and airplay it. The client will stream on the fly (you can adjust the settings) or you can have it pre-render for you. There isn't a file type it won't stream, from avi-mkv or whatever. This is definitely one of the best app purchases I've made in combination with my ATV3.

I originally thought I'd have to jailbreak my ATV at some point, but this solution works fine for everything. Couple that with Netflix and the odd rental from the iTunes store or whatever and I'm really beginning to see no real need for my cable tv service.

Alternatively, you could use VLC streamer and its client, but I believe that one requires you to pre-render everything on your drive and then it streams it.

ATV 2 is kinda hard where i live sadly, will try tho

I do have airvideo, but i get no HD currently streaming to my iPhone connected with a vga cable... any idea why ? (streaming pc is a 5200 c2d 2.5ghz over wifi N)

Jailbreak Apple TV2 is pretty amazing

Put Plex on it and play every kind of media with an UI that's awesome.

I'm pretty sure it outputs 1080P. I know for sure on sets that only support 1080i, that playback will be in 720, as the AppleTV doesn't support output of 1080i.

From the Wiki.
H.264 up to 720p at 30 frames per second (1st & 2nd generation)
H.264 up to 1080p at 30 frames per second (3rd generation)
MPEG-4 up to 720×432 (432p) or 640×480 pixels at 30 frame/s
Motion JPEG up to 720p at 30 frame/s

Its awesome and no jailbreaking needed. There are 2 less than $5 applications that you can have running on your PC called Air Video and Air Media server that can transcode from many different files types. Air Media even does Windows Media center recordings. I have a home NAS server in which I store all media files. I can access them anywhere in the house via iphone and ipad, then airplay to apple tv. If you don't have a NAS you can just leave itunes open on your desktop.

Also, files just need to be in a format that iTunes can read, and you will be able to stream it to the ATV.

carch or whoever knows, i ve air video for my iPhone, its what i now use
But i dont get HD, like i said... could it be that my server cpu sucks ? its a c2d 5200 2.5ghz and 2 gb of ram... even if my movie is in HD i get crappy visuals

Brownstone said:

carch or whoever knows, i ve air video for my iPhone, its what i now use
But i dont get HD, like i said... could it be that my server cpu sucks ? its a c2d 5200 2.5ghz and 2 gb of ram... even if my movie is in HD i get crappy visuals

Click to expand...

sounds like a network issue (possibly)

will the talk of this New Ipad (aka ipad3) JB have any effect on ATV3 being able to get jailbroken?

Id prolly never mess with upgrading to one (not really worth the hassle just for 1080p), but would be good for future dev of XBMC on ATV2, I would think...

kilik64 said:

will the talk of this New Ipad (aka ipad3) JB have any effect on ATV3 being able to get jailbroken?

Id prolly never mess with upgrading to one (not really worth the hassle just for 1080p), but would be good for future dev of XBMC on ATV2, I would think...

Click to expand...

nope... unfortunately

Due to the lack of a bootrom exploit and having substantially less software infrastructure (no appstore and 'vanilla apps' et.al) than other iOS devices to find vulnerabilities in, it's unlikely that we'll see one anytime soon

Cool thanks for the info.

Looks like im sticking with the ATV2 for a while.

MrCrispy said:

Put Plex on it and play every kind of media with an UI that's awesome.

Click to expand...

This.

I have an Apple TV 3, Boxee Box and a WDTV live. My media is stored on an unRAID box that I have (which also has Plex on it).

The WDTVL plays almost anything but the interface is terrible - seriously bad. I may put some custom firmware on it but - ugh. Also, since I got it before the Plus version it doesn't have netflix.

The Apple TV 3 I just got last Friday as a birthday present from the wife. I love how small it is and the remote. The interface is a little.. kludgy? Not Apple-like. That said it does stuff like netflix and the built in sites fine. I am an iTunes match user and I love that it just grabs my music off the net. I have a 100Mbit internet connection so music downloads quick. The fact that the ATV3 *can't* currently connect to my NAS blows. However I bought AirVideo a year or two ago so I may look at doing that.

The Boxee Box plays pretty much anything I can throw at it and has a great interface. My only grief with it has been the remote (lack of tactile feedback and the shape means I'll hold it upside down sometimes). Occasionally it seems like it doesn't want to wake up. Despite all that it is the primary box for the household. The interface is easy to use so my kids and the wife can use it. It connects to my NAS, it does Netflix, it does Airplay..etc. I wish it had iTunes match but, whatever.

The thing about the Apple TV and where Apple is going in general is that they want you to get the content through them, not yourself. Because of this I'll still recommend a Boxee box to most people that want to be able to access their own shows.

I am building an XBMC box for my son using a laptop with a broken screen hooked to his TV since I love the look of that (it's what made me want the boxee).

I just picked up an ATV3 today with confidence that if anything substantial requiring new hardware is announced at WWDC that I will be able to return it and get a new one. However, there are rumors of a newly revamped interface for the ATV coming at WWDC, along with "apps," so I'm excited. I got it mainly because I'm sick of plugging in a cable to display stuff from my laptop on the TV, and airplay mirroring works great with a little app called "AirParrot," although it should have native support once they release Mountain Lion. I didn't buy it so much as a media player, although it will see much use as that, but rather as a wireless receiver for my MBP, iPad, and iPhone.

I also ordered a refurbished iPad white 16g today as well. I decided instead of a new MBP, since I just got a new logic board for my current MBP (with a slight bump in processor speed, 2.2-2.4 ), that I will buy myself an iPad, and Apple TV, as well as a nice stylus to draw on the iPad. I found a cool app called Air Display that turns the iPad into a wireless second display for my Mac, AND supports touchscreen inputs, allowing me to use it to draw in photoshop. So I treated myself to this nice little setup, considering the iPad has so many uses, I'm sure I'll be happy

I love the remote app and using it with the ATV. Airplay is great, and netflix works awesome. The only thing I'm missing is Hulu support but there are rumors of a "much more feature rich" version of the ATV interface coming at WWDC, so I'm hopeful.

MrCrispy said:

Put Plex on it and play every kind of media with an UI that's awesome.

Click to expand...

no, there are still hardware limitations. most of my media would not play on it, most of my media is very high bitrate HD content, 10-40Gb per file.....but I am trying to watch HD content on a 55" HDTV, so I want the best I can get within reason. The AppleTV hardware couldn't hack it.

for everyday typical content the ATV with XBMC or Plex is nice but for my use I just picked up a Foxconn NT3500A nettop router sized pc and 4Gb of DDR3 ram for $180, dropped an old laptop hard drive in it, installed windows 7 and XBMC and never looked back. It will truly play anything I want.

Just picked up a 2nd AppleTV 3 for my parents, and got a steal on an iPad 2 today. They seem to really enjoy it, my dad is killing it with Netflix, and my mom loves that she can watch her Korean dramas via airplay.

Will be interested in seeing what new developments are around the corner with WWDC.

What finally convinced me to grab an ATV3 was the realization that there aren't many limitations on what it can play, even without the ability to jailbreak, through the use of AirPlay.

AirParrot ($10, $30 / 5 license) is a Mac app that allows you to mirror your mac on the ATV, or extend your desktop to use it as a second monitor. This makes the atv a great way to wirelessly setup a TV as a second monitor for your Mac. I'm sure there are windows equivalents as well. Mountain Lion will include mirroring as part of the OS. This + netflix alone convinced me that the ATV3 was worth $100, instead of paying a premium ($50-$100 more) for the ATV2 to gain jailbreakability. While the ATV3 can't be jailbroken, there are plenty of other ways to get content up there via AirPlay.

Beamer ($7) is another great Mac app that allows you to drag almost any video file (including MKV and a few other files that aren't supported via iTunes) onto the app window and instantly stream it to your AppleTV via airplay. Worked great, converts files that are not compatible on the fly, so a fairly quick PC is needed. My 2.4 C2D MBP had no problems as long as I didn't do other processor intensive things.

And then of course Home Sharing works with iTunes open, giving me access to my iTunes library from the AppleTV. My only real gripe is that when you pick the "music" app on the AppleTV, that requires iTunes Match, but when you pick "Computers" you can select music there to play. I wish it would automatically detect Home Sharing networks and add that content under the music app rather than relying solely on iTunes Match.

The only thing I was really afraid I wouldn't be able to get working with the ATV was hulu plus, but I found out that the hulu plus app on the iPad (mine hasn't shipped yet ) is compatible with AirPlay and formats it properly for the screen, as well as allowing you to browse hulu while playing something on your TV.

So I basically bought the AppleTV3 to act as a wireless adapter for playing content from my other devices. I'm hoping they will expand the functionality with an OS update at WWDC, as some of the methods of playing content aren't as straightforward as others. For example, there is a netflix app which lets your browse, search, and watch netflix with just the ATV, but there is no hulu app. For hulu you need to use the hulu plus app on your iPhone or iPad and AirPlay to send it to your screen. Another example, there is a "radio" app, with a bunch of internet streams to browse and play, but to use Pandora or Spotify, you need to use the app on your iphone or ipad, and use airplay to send the audio to the ATV. So the ATV is actually VERY capable of displaying most content on your TV, but most of the functionality comes through the use of another device to "send" that content there.

aphex187 said:

The WDTVL plays almost anything but the interface is terrible - seriously bad. I may put some custom firmware on it but - ugh. Also, since I got it before the Plus version it doesn't have netflix..

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It constantly amazes me how many people feel this need for a pretty UI. You're watching a movie or tv show, who gives a damn about the UI? It's stupid.
I keep my stuff in a simple list format. It plays the hell out of everything I throw at it.

Q1DM6 said:

It constantly amazes me how many people feel this need for a pretty UI. You're watching a movie or tv show, who gives a damn about the UI? It's stupid.
I keep my stuff in a simple list format. It plays the hell out of everything I throw at it.

Click to expand...

Would you rather drive a clunker that can get you from a to b, or drive a luxury car that can get you from a to b?
Both do the same thing in the end, but they go about it differently.

The luxury car is comfortable to use throughout, because it is designed well. The clunker will work, and do what you want, but it just lacks refinement, ease of use, or comfort.

The Hulu app works perfectly fine on my moms roku on a SDTV, but I can barely read the text on it, nevermind her. The better designed Netflix app on the roku is easily read. They both play videos fine, but the netflix App is more convenient to use. Just a small example of the difference better design makes.

Absentee said:

Would you rather drive a clunker that can get you from a to b, or drive a luxury car that can get you from a to b?
Both do the same thing in the end, but they go about it differently.

The luxury car is comfortable to use throughout, because it is designed well. The clunker will work, and do what you want, but it just lacks refinement, ease of use, or comfort.

The Hulu app works perfectly fine on my moms roku on a SDTV, but I can barely read the text on it, nevermind her. The better designed Netflix app on the roku is easily read. They both play videos fine, but the netflix App is more convenient to use. Just a small example of the difference better design makes.

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With the WDTV Live in list the text is perfectly readable. Quite frankly I don't give a shit what the UI looks like as long as it's highly functional. I don't have to tend a simple text list as it scrounges for movie art, etc. Just one more thing removed from me having to mess with in my life. That in itself is far more important.

Q1DM6 said:

It constantly amazes me how many people feel this need for a pretty UI. You're watching a movie or tv show, who gives a damn about the UI? It's stupid.
I keep my stuff in a simple list format. It plays the hell out of everything I throw at it.

Click to expand...

If I was the only person using it I wouldn't care. But for the layperson it's complete crap. My wife and kids want to be able to pick up a remote and go. They don't want to have to pick a network share and navigate the sub folders. The WDtv is a good product but it's as intuitive as a DOS prompt.

Q1DM6 said:

With the WDTV Live in list the text is perfectly readable. Quite frankly I don't give a shit what the UI looks like as long as it's highly functional. I don't have to tend a simple text list as it scrounges for movie art, etc. Just one more thing removed from me having to mess with in my life. That in itself is far more important.

Click to expand...

I don't see or read of anyone forcing any UI on you. Use what you like and let others do the same. I much prefer a UI to manage over 700 titles and loads of content that I have.

aphex187 said:

If I was the only person using it I wouldn't care. But for the layperson it's complete crap. My wife and kids want to be able to pick up a remote and go. They don't want to have to pick a network share and navigate the sub folders. The WDtv is a good product but it's as intuitive as a DOS prompt.

Click to expand...

that's right, i feel ya, my wife was much happier when I stopped trying all these units, like the WDTV and AppleTV and just bought a small pc and put XBMC on it and installed their official remote app for Android....it's as intuitive as the cable box GUI is, which was the key