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aTV Flash (black), Firecore’s flagship product for the 2nd generation Apple TV, has been updated to Beta6. According to Firecore, Beta6 includes “huge improvements” in playback performance that come by way of a brand brand-new, lightweight player that has been built from the ground up specifically for iOS. This new player is said to empower Apple TV 2 to play a wide variety of media formats “without having to sacrifice the simplicity of the native Apple TV interface.”

What’s new in Beta6?

General

  • Added show/hide options for standard Apple TV menus
  • Added option to manually install if no Apple TVs are detected
  • Improved auto-update disabling
  • Improved installation error handling
  • Minor UI adjustments

Media Player

  • Added new lightweight player
  • Added recently played items to ‘Top Shelf’ in main menu
  • Added Favorites to main menu
  • Added option to manually mark files as watched/unwatched
  • Added ‘Test Connection’ option for AFP/SMB shares
  • Added support for DVD subtitles
  • Added support for multiple DVD audio tracks
  • Added basic support for MT2S files
  • Improved overall video playback (especially HD video files)
  • Improved thumbnail generation when cover art is not available
  • Improved FF/RW controls
  • Improved DVD menu and video playback
  • Improved DVD playback progress reporting
  • Improved memory management
  • Improved AFP/SMB streaming
  • Improved error handling for invalid files
  • Resolved most video stuttering issues
  • Resolved energy saver mode issue
  • Resolved issue that resulted in some DVDs being displayed in (squished) 4×3 mode
  • Resolved numerous DVD playback issues
  • Resolved flickering when navigating through certain menus
  • Resolved additional conflicts with XBMC
  • Reduced number of network connections used
  • Minor UI and other miscellaneous fixes

Beta5 is available through the Downloads tab in your account. If you’re already running aTV Flash (black) on your AppleTV all the new features can be installed through the Maintenance –> Manage Extras menu.

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