New AppleTV - 10/13 Progress Update

It's been only two weeks since the last progress update, but a lot of exciting things have transpired during that time. There have been some big leaps forward in understanding how the new device works, and preparing new and existing aTV Flash apps to be compatible. Additionally we're kicking the door for 3rd party development wide open with a full SDK for the new, iOS based AppleTV. Without too many nitty gritty details, a snapshot of the current state of affairs is below.

New AppleTV - Early Progress Update

We're excited to announce that development for the new (black) AppleTV is underway! Things were able to get going a bit earlier than expected as the software for the new AppleTVs was released before the devices actually shipped.  

Most who pre-ordered, including us, received they're AppleTV shipments yesterday.  The long and short is the new AppleTVs have an A4 processor, 8GB of storage, 256MB of RAM, and built-in Bluetooth. There's even been some encouraging discoveries that may allow for full 1080p playback on the new models. iFixit has a very comprehensive teardown article that outlines many hardware features, and includes many hi-res photos - the article can be seen here.

Last.fm Comes to AppleTV

Last.fmWe're proud to announce the release of Last.fm for AppleTV.  Last.fm for AppleTV is a new, rich, visually engaging way to experience your favorite music like never before.  It provides access to Last.fm radio, artist bios, artist slideshows and allows you to 'scrobble' plays (including plays from the built-in music player) back to your Last.fm account.

New AppleTV Coming Within 4 Weeks

The new 2nd generation AppleTV has been announced, but will not be shipping for another 4 weeks.  We’re committed to developing for the AppleTV platform, and will continue to do so once these new models are available.

That said, the current version of aTV Flash will continue to work as expected on the 1st generation (silver) AppleTV devices.  We’re planning to roll out some great new features for these devices while we wait for the new models to arrive.

aTV Flash 4.1.5 - Improvements All-Around

A few notable improvements included in this version are outlined below.

Dharma on AppleTV – Bleeding edge users rejoice, the latest and greatest nightly builds (Dharma) are now available for one-click downloading.

Harmony remote support – Use your Harmony remote as it was intended…to make your life easier. Full support for this remote during DVD playback is now supported.

aTV Flash 4.1.3

After a brief update hiatus aTV Flash 4.1.3 has been released.  This versions adds a handful of new features as well as many stability/bug fix improvements.  This update is recommended for all users, and can be easily installed through the Maintenance –> Manage Plugins menu directly on the AppleTV.

A non-exhaustive list of some key additions is outlined below.

aTV Flash 4.1.2

aTV Flash version 4.1.2 was released yesterday.  While the version does not have any flashy new features, it does include many stability and performance improvements.

DVD playback has been improved to provide better compatibility for DVDs with special menu types. This includes DVDs such as The Lord of the Rings series and many Disney DVDs.