Jailbreak Only: aTV Flash Beta Now Available
by Tim Chaten
December 2, 2010
Fire Core has released the first beta of aTV Flash for the second generation Apple TV. The beta is available for a discounted prerelease price of $19.95. ATV Flash enhances your Apple TV by installing new plugins and codec support.
Currently, the Mac only application allows you to add a web browser (controlled through an iPad or iPhone app), a weather plugin, a Plex plugin, a last.fm plugin and an RSS plugin to your second generation Apple TV. All of the original features stay intact and new features can now be added through the Apple TV interface.
The developers are working on adding additional codec and DVD support (Video TS folder playback).
The developers are also working on enabling network attached storage playback. This means you will no longer need a Mac running all day, but could instead have a Drobo FS or Time Capsule running, to stream content anywhere in your house. The update will support AFP, SMB, and NFS protocols.
To install aTV Flash you will need to jailbreak your Apple TV running the original 4.0 software. Many users have had problems getting the Apple TV jailbroken, but if you are successful, installing aTV is quick and easy. The Mac only app will install all the plugins and features over Wi-Fi onto your Apple TV. A future jailbreak will make it possible to run aTV Flash on the latest update.
The product looks great, but will be a bit tougher to install from the original Apple TV Flash. What features are you hoping to see added to aTV Flash? Let us know in the comments below!
