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March 26th, 2007

Apple TV = hacked

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 12:01 am

Categories: Apple TV, Hack, Hard drive, Hardware, Software

Tags:

Apple TV = hackedThe first day after Apple TV began shipping a bunch of sharp-as-a-tack coder types hacked Apple's new set top box to shreds:

Non-Apple TV owners can enjoy the out of box experience by viewing the opening video which one crafty person ripped from the hard drive and posted in all of it's 720p glory. You can also download the Quartz Composer Screen Saver and the Now Playing Screen. And if you're truly hard-core you can download the entire Apple TV OS, and (conceivably) install it on another Mac.

But this is just scratching the Apple TV surface.

True hackers will want to immediately take it apart (photos) and upgrade the wimpy 40GB HDD to 80 or 120GB - it's a standard 2.5-inch notebook mechanism (another HDD upgrade tutorial is here).

If you really want to hack it to the next level you can play Xvid movies on Apple TV, but it ain't pretty and involves removing the HDD (covered above) and un-breaking SSH (using Perian and DropBear) so you can access the Apple TV remotely.

If that's too much hassle for you there's a solution to automatically convert Xvid, Divx, WMV files to Apple TV format, and then import them into iTunes with a convenient Automator workflow.

You can even turn a Mac mini into an Apple TV or an Apple TV into a Web server (by installing Apache).

Keep up with even more Apple TV hacks at AppleTVHacks.net. 

Jason D. O'GradyJason D. O'Grady is the editor of PowerPage.org, which has been publishing daily mobile technology news since December 1995. For disclosures on Jason's industry affiliations, click here or to view Jason's full profile click here.

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  • Talkback
  • Most Recent of 90 Talkback(s)
Apple TV User
Hi, Jason,

My name is Viktoriya, I work at a marketing research company in Toronto, Canada. We are looking for a person who is a knowledgeable and experienced Apple TV user to conduct a telepho... (Read the rest)
Posted by: grace78 Posted on: 04/17/07 You are currently: a Guest | | Terms of Use
Cool!  Fred Fredrickson | 03/26/07
Apple TV is a waste of Time  Information_z | 03/28/07
Your title is wrong. Should be "Apple TV = Improved"!  georgeou | 03/26/07
shame on your George  shraven | 03/26/07
Don't be naive!  rinaldok@... | 03/26/07
Heaven Forbid...  john@... | 03/26/07
Hack is what you make of it...  JohnBoyTheGreat | 03/26/07
i'm proud to say I hack  nix_hed | 03/26/07
I agree should be Apple TV = modded  TonyMcS | 03/27/07
Your title is wrong. Should be "Apple TV = Improved"!  georgeou | 03/26/07
you only need to click submit my reply once.  nix_hed | 03/26/07
Product in search of a market... and missing it  Jim888 | 03/26/07
Not to argue with your premise.  People | 03/26/07
If I am correct...  cashaww | 03/26/07
Nor are they Hi-Def  People | 03/26/07
Same with satellite  Spoon Jabber | 03/26/07
Improvement = more functions less work  Information_z | 03/28/07
More ways  Mectron | 03/26/07
Nice  People | 03/26/07
Nope 2 different devices  marthill | 03/26/07
I see your point...  Jim888 | 03/27/07
Not Apple??  mustangj36@... | 03/27/07
Apple TV is the perfect example of how...  Cayble | 03/26/07
Except that it isn't the perfect example.  People | 03/26/07
I'd like three sharp-as-a-tack coders, please.  tocuin | 03/26/07
can we stick to replying to article content, please??  tubr0 | 03/26/07
No  Spoon Jabber | 03/26/07
Absolutely Not  Scubajrr | 03/26/07
Shame!  alfred321 | 03/26/07
... the heckt ... a Unix machine ...  trial.manager@... | 03/26/07
Oooh yeah  marthill | 03/26/07
Wow, someone HAD to bring in  John Zern | 03/26/07
... maybe ...  trial.manager@... | 03/26/07
LOL  KuteKoala | 03/26/07
LOL^2  tikigawd | 03/27/07
Apple's laughing, too...  buddhistMonkey | 03/29/07
LOL  Linux User 147560 | 03/26/07
Why should he?  shraven | 03/26/07
Umm...  RocketEater | 03/26/07
modded, not hacked  brian@... | 03/26/07
Why he should be...  Wolfie2K3 | 03/26/07
upgrades  buddhistMonkey | 03/29/07
What planet are you from?  tikigawd | 03/27/07
I've used and purchased Apple products for decades now  Laff | 03/27/07
I wonder...  cashaww | 03/26/07
Pretty cool!  xxn1927 | 03/26/07
Is Apple going to make new TV advertisments now (PC and Mac)  zzz1234567890 | 03/26/07
go back to school  brian@... | 03/26/07
hmm  Badgered | 03/27/07
AC-3  bell0q | 03/26/07
Clearly a Marketing Move by Apple.  xuniL_z | 03/26/07
Hacked = Avg. consumer becomes leary  THEE WOLF | 03/26/07
Maybe leery,  People | 03/26/07
Maybe not.....  pecosbill | 03/26/07
Appliance online already happened  TonyMcS | 03/27/07
Apple no longer full proof  RIAAsucks | 03/26/07
Uhm...  UbiquitousGeek | 03/26/07
Don't you sound fullish  Etch44 | 03/26/07
I was going to point out  John Zern | 03/26/07
Pull your head out  brian@... | 03/26/07
apple hackers  uppy | 03/26/07
So?  UbiquitousGeek | 03/26/07
O'Grady = Fool  UbiquitousGeek | 03/26/07
It depends on what your definition of hacking is  Sabz5150 | 03/26/07
That's not my point...  UbiquitousGeek | 03/26/07
That it may be  Sabz5150 | 03/26/07
To the masses...  UbiquitousGeek | 03/26/07
A bit incongruent eh  WarmasterHorus | 03/26/07
Hey I "hacked" my iPod!  An_Axe_to_Grind | 03/26/07
You're an idiot.  Etch44 | 03/26/07
it is hacking....  JoeMama_z | 03/26/07
hahahahahahahahaha  An_Axe_to_Grind | 03/26/07
Only the first step  Sabz5150 | 03/26/07
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA  JohnBoyTheGreat | 03/26/07
Was it designed to run a coffee maker?  John Zern | 03/26/07
Take a breath.  joe6pack_z | 03/26/07
This is a feature, not a problem  Swift48 | 03/26/07
The only thing that was missing  valinus_degor@... | 03/26/07
re: Apple TV=hacked. And your point is?  bbuc@... | 03/26/07
The point? That's an easy one  John Zern | 03/26/07
Hack or not Apple Products are Cool  Accell | 03/26/07
which?  neverhadachoice | 04/01/07
hacked.  ubaz2 | 03/26/07
Page not found  thejet@... | 03/27/07
Oops! Page not found.  CassidyJames | 03/27/07
Just sell the OS  srobtjones@... | 03/27/07
phishing for clicks  dlmeyer@... | 03/27/07
That's the Apple I remember!  jattas@... | 03/28/07
awesome  neverhadachoice | 04/01/07
Apple TV User  grace78 | 04/17/07

What do you think?

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