The year 2010 will be the third year of the launch date of the Apple TV. I got mine 6 month after its release date, and love every moment of using it. Take 2 of Apple TV, which came one year later, has improved the device by a huge amount compared to the first version. Version 3.0 was released in November 2009, more than 16 month after version 2.0. This last version have an interface that is more appealing to the users, and add only a few functionality, such as the iTunes LPs and iTunes Extra.
While I welcome the new software upgrade for my Apple TV, I think Apple could do much better than that. From the beginning I knew that the Apple TV was hacked but I was never really tempted to do it. Let’s say that the first hacking procedures forced the user to remove the hard drive from the hardware and do manipulations that were not really tempting, even for a very technical person like me.
Last week I realized that there is now some procedures that uses a USB dongle to do the task without opening the hardware. The free atvusb-creator is the one I tried. It still requires a few manual steps using the command line, but it is easier for many users to do. This permit eventually to install the Boxee.tv software and NitoTV.
Basically, my understanding so far, is that NitoTV is something that can facilitate the installation of some software, such as a Flash plug-in and a web browser for example. Boxee, on the other hand, is more like an Apple TV within an Apple TV. It is a software that permit to stream many web contents that are, for most, not available in Apple basic software. I say most, because some are available via iTunes as podcast or video podcast.
After a few days playing with Boxee on my Apple TV, I can say that it is not really an Apple experience. It is not bad, but the interface is more complex to play with than the standard Apple TV software. Another thing I do not like about Boxee is that it is not a add-on in the Apple TV interface. It is a software that replace the Apple TV interface completely. When you want to return to the Apple TV menu, you need to quit Boxee as if it was a software on your Mac. In fact, it is.
I tried streaming some content from Boxee, some were working just perfectly and got me an image immediately. Some other make me wait forever before playing anything. When I say forever, I mean, two minutes in front of a black screen, nothing moving, it is forever to me. There is nothing I hate more than waiting for something to happen in front of a black screen.
So, if I have to conclude something about this experiment, it is that hacking the Apple TV is not something that was very impressive to me. I really don’t like the experience, not at all. It feels like running Windows in Parallel. It is working, but it is not like running Windows in BootCamp, say. But in this last case, at least, the experience is better, as I do not feel the need to install BootCamp.
