It would seem that Apple is looking to EPIX in hopes of creating a content partnership allowing Apple to stream movies on both their set top boxes, and the up and coming Apple television. EPIX, for those of you hiding under a rock, is a streaming content provider created by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, MGM, and Viacom’s Paramount Pictures. According to the folks over at REUTERS:

Apple Inc began talks earlier this year to stream films owned by EPIX [...] on devices including a long-anticipated TV, according to two people with knowledge of the negotiations. One of the sources told Reuters that any discussions would apply to its set-top box and also to upcoming devices that stream content. Talks with EPIX are in the preliminary stages and no agreement is considered near, the source said.

If you are a regular visitor here at Apple TV Hacks, it is no surprise to hear that Apple is making moves towards its Apple Television Development. It is interesting, however, to note that they are going after EPIX. According to REUTERS, EPIX is in the final stages of an agreement set with Netflix back in 2010. The arrangement leaves Netflix paying an estimated $200 million per year for exclusive rights to stream EPIX’s content to the U.S. market. If Apple follows through, successfully, this agreement would bolster the Apple TV into a an ever growing market of streaming content devices.

But wait, I have some magic to share! Are you finding yourself not wanting to wait for this to go through, or fail? Well, fear not… umOuch has a tip for you! Famed XBMC developer bluecop has a great add-on that is available today that allows access to EPIX on your Apple TV. OH the magic of XBMC.

Download bluecop XBMC repo
http://code.google.com/p/bluecop-xbmc-repo/
And here is how to install it on your Apple TV 2: How to install XBMC add-ons and plugins on Apple TV

Enjoy!

umOuch (Andrew Brasher)

You may also want to read:
Analyst: Apple-branded television to be released this fall
Giveaway: Win a copy of AirServer – AirPlay receiver for Mac and iOS
FireCore: Work is underway on Apple TV 3 jailbreak and Apple TV 2 5.0 untethered jailbreak

Visit What's on iPhone for the best iPad and iPhone app reviews!
Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!

Our polls for the “Apple TV Hacks Best of 2011 Award” closed on the 15th of February. The participation was amazing: we have received over 3000 entries. Surprisingly, the competition wasn’t stiff. It looks like it was pretty easy for you to decide who should have won as aTV Flash (black) has been clearly leading the competition from the very start to the end. As a result, FireCore’s flagship product won with 40 percent of the vote. XBMC for Apple TV 2 took the second place with 21 percent and the third place went to Seas0nPass with 9 percent of the vote.

Other strong candidates were IceFilms, Remote HD and nitoTV.

1^st place – aTV Flash (black)

In 2011, FireCore’s aTV Flash (black) for Apple TV 2 has finally left beta. Version 1.0 came with all-new Media Player, WebKit based browser, Last.fm radio, Weather, RSS feeds and gives you fast access to plugins like nitoTV, Remote HD, XBMC and Plex client.

Read: FireCore releases aTV Flash (black) 1.0 to supercharge the Apple TV 2

2^nd place – XBMC for Apple TV 2

XBMC for Apple TV 2 supports a very complete spectrum of audio and video multimedia file formats and codecs right out-of-the-box. The 2011’s release also features full hardware decode for 720p/1080p movies as well as network files sharing. Add-ons like Icefilms, Bluecop and Navi-X make XBMC on Apple TV a must-have.

Read: XBMC for Apple TV 2 now available

3^rd place – Seas0nPass

Seas0nPass, a jailbreak tool designed by FireCore specifically and exclusively for the Apple TV 2, has been consequently updated during the whole year to jailbreak the newer and newer versions of Apple TV firmware. Both Mac and Windows, it also includes a simple tethered boot option when an untethered jailbreak is not yet available.

Read: How to jailbreak Apple TV 4.4.4 using Seas0nPass – untethered (tutorial)

We’ve told you we had some cool prizes for those who voted and here are the winners:

iPod nano 16 GB (6^th generation) – Destery Hildenbrand

Apple TV 2 (newest version) – Miquel Valentijn

Kymera Magic Wand Remote Control (for Apple TV) – Ann F

Oregon Scientific RM901A Rainbow Clock – Harold Dufrene

Skin Sticker for Apple TV 2 – Eric Malenfant

Congratulations!

Thank you all for voting for you favorites and we hope there will be even more cool Apple TV hacks, jailbreaks, plugins and software to choose from for “Apple TV Hacks Best of 2012”.

You may also want to read:
AirPlay Mirroring coming to Mountain Lion, next version of Mac OS X
aTV Flash (black) 1.3 for Apple TV 2 released
Rogers and Bell already have the Apple iTV in their labs, controlled with Siri and hand gestures

Visit What's on iPhone for the best iPad and iPhone app reviews!
Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!

UPDATE: Winner of “Apple TV Hacks Best of 2011 Award” Announced

2011 was a good year for Apple TV. Although it seems that everyone is already waiting for Apple TV set (are you?), some hackers and developers have worked really hard through the whole 2011 on jailbreaks and software that supercharged our silver and black boxes. Various hacks, jailbreaks, plugins and add-ons convinced us the Apple TV is more than just a simple hobby device that only lets you buy movies on iTunes and listen to some odd radio stations.

It’s time to select the best of the best, to choose “AppleTVHacks Best of 2011”!

We are asking for your votes for the best Apple TV (both 1^st and 2^nd generation) hack/jailbreak/plugin/add-on/software of 2011.  We chose the nominees; the award is people’s choice. The winner will receive “AppleTVHacks Best of 2011 Award” and will be featured on our site.

Cast your vote for a chance to win the following fantastic prizes:

iPod nano 16 GB (6^th generation)

Apple TV 2 (newest version)

Kymera Magic Wand Remote Control (for Apple TV)

Oregon Scientific RM901A Rainbow Clock

Skin Sticker for Apple TV 2

Here are the nominees (in alphabetical order):

• AirPlay for Windows

AirPlay for Windows Media Center, Thomas Pleasance’s free addin, enables AirPlay streaming (video and pictures; music is not supported yet) to your Windows PC running Windows Media Player. Simple to install and use, works seamlessly.

• aTV Flash (black)

In 2011, FireCore’s aTV Flash (black) for Apple TV 2 has finally left beta. Version 1.0 came with all-new Media Player, WebKit based browser, Last.fm radio, Weather, RSS feeds and gives you fast access to plugins like nitoTV, Remote HD, XBMC and Plex client. The only drawback – it’s not free ($29.95).

Read: FireCore releases aTV Flash (black) 1.0 to supercharge the Apple TV 2

• aTV Flash (for original Apple TV)

Luckily for the owners of the original Apple TV, in 2011, FireCore continued to develop the software for the old shiny Apple TV boxes. Released in November, version 4.4 of aTV Flash brought support for the new Remote HD features (iOS 5 AirPlay streaming, support for playing DRM protected media, support for doubleTwist + AirTwist add-on), as well as the support for Mac OS X Lion and NFS file streaming.

Read: aTV Flash 4.4 for original Apple TV now available

• Bluecop repository (Hulu on Apple TV)

Bluecop, a repository of XBMC video plug-ins, brings Hulu to Apple TV after fast and easy installation. It also features Amazon Prime, ESPN3, Free Cable, Cartoon Network, CBS, MTV, South Park Studios and The Daily Show plug-in addons.

Read: How to Watch Hulu on Apple TV 2

• greenpois0n rc6

Developed by Chronic Dev Team (with a contribution from nitoTV), greenpois0n RC6 allowed us to perform an untethered jailbreak on Apple TV 2 running iOS 4.2.1. The development has not been continued for further Apple TV software updates.

Read: How to jailbreak Apple TV 2 with greenpois0n rc6

• IceFilms

The most popular XBMC plugin gives you an instant access to the library of dozens of thousands movies and TV shows that can be streamed directly to your Apple TV.

• nitoTV

@nitotv, one of the first Apple TV developers, not only contributes to FireCore’s Seas0nPass but also continues his great work on developing his own plugin – nitoTV (recently updated to version 0.8.1-3). NitoTV features Weather and RSS functionality and lets you install other add-ons and software, like XBMC, RemoteHD, Overflow, openSSH, BT Stack, Rowmote Helper and more. NitoTV is also available for the original Apple TV.

• PwnageTool 4.3

PwnageTool 4.3, a custom IPSW creator and jailbreaking tool created by iPhone-Dev Team, supported untethered jailbreak on Apple TV 4.2.1 and Apple TV 4.3. The tool has not been updated to support Apple TV 4.4 firmware.

Read: Untethered iOS 4.3.1 Jailbreak for Apple TV 2 Released (updated)

• Remote HD

Remote HD, an Apple TV plugin that works with a dedicated iOS app, gives you complete access to your Apple TV. It works like an Apple Remote, but it can do a lot more – one of the greatest features is Remote View that brings your Apple TV’s display to your iPhone/iPad or iPod touch. In 2011, Remote HD added support for Apple TV 2 and brought AirPlay functionality as well as iOS 5 and iTunes DRM-encrypted video support to the first generation Apple TV.

Read: Remote HD now supports Apple TV 2
Remote HD 5.0 plugin keeps old Apple TV kicking with iOS 5 support

• Seas0nPass

Seas0nPass, a jailbreak tool designed by FireCore specifically and exclusively for the AppleTV 2, has been consequently updated during the whole year to jailbreak the newer and newer versions of Apple TV firmware. Both Mac and Windows, it also includes a simple tethered boot option when an untethered jailbreak is not yet available.

Read: How to jailbreak Apple TV 4.4.4 using Seas0nPass – untethered (tutorial)

• Sn0wbreeze 2.5.1

Considered as the unofficial PwnageTool for Windows, sn0wbreeze works with Windows XP, Vista and 7. Version 2.5.1 supported untethered jailbreak for Apple TV 4.2.1. Further Apple TV software versions are not supported.

Read: How to Jailbreak Apple TV 2 on iOS 4.3 with sn0wbreeze (untethered)

• XBMC for Apple TV 2

In 2011, XBMC has finally been released for the Apple TV 2. XBMC supports a very complete spectrum of audio and video multimedia file formats and codecs right out-of-the-box. The 2011’s release also features full hardware decode for 720p/1080p movies as well as network files sharing. Add-ons like Icefilms, Bluecop and Navi-X make XBMC on Apple TV a must-have.

Read: XBMC for Apple TV 2 now available

Let the voting begin!

Here is how to participate:


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Visit What's on iPhone for the best iPad and iPhone app reviews!
Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!

Update (10-Jan-2012): Still working!

Although the developer of Bluecop said that Hulu is not working with his XBMC add-on anymore, I decided to write this tutorial because many users report they are still able to get Hulu on Apple TV 2 via this plugin. The developer claims it won’t last but you can check it out by yourselves and try your luck. We’ll be updating this post to provide you with the latest on this topic.

So how to watch Hulu on atv2? Here is the step-by-step guide.

Note: it requires you to have your Apple TV 2 already jailbroken with nitoTV, XBMC and openSSH installed.

1. Download Bluecop repository (zip file)
2. SFTP into your Apple TV  (username “root”, pass “alpine” if you haven’t changed it already; find your atv IP address in Settings ->General -> Network)
3. Copy zip file to /private/var/mobile/Media folder
4. In XBMC on your atv go to System -> Add-ons -> “Install from zip file”
5. Browse to var/mobile/media, find “repository.bluecop.xbmc-plugins.zip” and press OK (Bluecop is already enabled)
6. Go to System -> Add-ons -> get add-ons, find “bluecop Add-on Repository” click OK, choose video add-ons, find Hulu and install it
7. Head to Videos -> Video add-ons, find Hulu and enjoy (should work with both regular Hulu and Hulu Plus).

Tell us in comments if it works for you. Don’t worry if not, Bluecop offers a few other add-ons you may want to check out (Cartoon Network, CBS, MTV, South Park Studios, The Daily Show and more).

You may also want to read:
How to Jailbreak Apple TV 2 on iOS 4.2.1 Untethered with Seas0nPass
How to jailbreak Apple TV 2 with greenpois0n rc6
How to install XBMC on Apple TV 2

Visit What's on iPhone for the best iPad and iPhone app reviews!
Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!