Improving Apple TV

MacWorld has a review of aTV Flash, a software enhancement for the Apple TV which - for $50 - adds some really useful features to the Apple TV:
  • Support for more file formats
  • Play DVD files
  • Use external USB Disk Drives
  • Surf the Web
I'd pay money for the first three....wait a minute, I guess I have to..

File formats supported include:
  • .avi, .dvix, flv, .m4v, .mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .mpg, .ogg, .ogm, .rm, .rmvb, .wmv, .xvid
  • .mkv format supported up to 480p resolution (hardware limited)
  • DVD files (VIDEO_TS/VOB)
  • Audio support for: AAC, AC3 Audio, H.264, MPEG4, and VBR MP3
  • Subtitle support for SSA and SRT
I really wish that Apple would add these kind of features to the Apple TV; it would make it a much more useful device. But in the mean time, aTV Flash looks like the thing to get.

Note that, as MacWorld says, it's a hack; installing it means you won't be able to get software updates from Apple, but I think the pluses out-weigh that minus. It's not like Apple has been updating the Apple TV software frequently.

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