Chances are, you are aware of FireCore and their work with a product known as aTV Flash. As everyone scrambles to get the jailbreak set for the Apple TV 3, the FireCore team is still hard at work getting the Apple TV 2 software to the best it can possibly be. For those of you who have not yet jumped on board with FireCore, aTV Flash (black), recently updated to version 1.6, offers some great features and extras that you should know about.

Included Software

For me, the real magic offered with aTV Flash (black) is the software that is bundled and installable via their tools they add to your Apple TV Menu. This collection of software takes a (potentially) pointless little black box and turns into a powerhouse of entertainment! Some of the software included in version 1.6:

• Couch Surfer Pro

A Powerful Browser that enables you to surf the web and stream content from an endless supply of websites. For those who do not utilize the XBMC feature, this is your best chance to stream random video content from the web.

• Last.fm

This is a great iteration of the Last.fm system. Once installed you can simply log in and listen to your stations. As an added bonus, you are given the option to view scrolling photos related to the artists you are listening to. This gives the feel of a digital jukebox on your television.

• Maintenance

This is the location where you can install any, and all, of the extra software that is available in the aTV Flash software. With an easy interface you can navigate to each item and choose to install or uninstall. For those of you who have installed these items before, using SSH… you will see that they have really streamlined this process greatly.

• Media Player

The latest iteration of their Media Player is easily the best yet. With an endless list of formats for your audio and video you are able to stream anything and everything from your hard drive network drive to your ATV2. Seriously, if you own content that this system cannot play you need to throw it in the garbage and update your stuff! Current formats that are supported:

The Media Player is designed to work with your Network Media Services. If you have a NAS, another Apple TV that is sharing a library, or even a laptop with movies on it you can get them streaming to your ATV with little to no effort. Simply open the player and it will scan automatically for shared sources. As soon as they are found you can test the connection and then save it.

To make a good experience better, the team over at FireCore has taken a page for the XBMC playbook and given some great new view options for displaying your content. This makes the browsing experience that much more enjoyable! Truly a sit back, relax, and browse kind of setup.

• RSS Feeds

Simple and effective! I am not one to utilize RSS Feeds on my ATV, but if you are… you will like what you get. It is clean, and simple to understand.

• Weather

Weather is another simple little add-on, but it is very polished. The graphics and the interface as a whole are both fantastically pleasant on the eyes.

• nitoTV

This option holds a lot of extras that you can put into your Apple TV. There are to many great extras to get into them here… but if you have an Apple TV, you should have nitoTV installed.

• PLEX Client

And the goodies just keep on rolling! Yes folks, this is a PLEX Client. Now you can stream everything from your PLEX setup directly to the Apple TV. Making things even better… you have some great options on how to display the content.

Note: Plex client does work on Apple TV 5.0 (iOS 5.1) but it’s unreliable. Check out Plex forum for more details.

• Remote HD

Have you ever wanted to use your iPhone or iPsd to control your ATV2? Ever wanted to mirror your ATV2 to your phone or iPad wirelessly? Congratulations, Remote HD is a great feature that enables a host of new features and abilities between your iOS device. I will warn you though… once you get this feature set up, you may never go back.

Note: Remote HD doesn’t work on Apple TV 5.0. Remote HD has been updated for Apple TV 5.0.x compatibility.

• XBMC

The installation process of XBMC could not be made any easier. Simply click, install, and enjoy. I can get long winded regarding XBMC and its features so I would encourage you to check our other articles for more info regarding XBMC.

There is one new feature that FireCore has made a real point to share as a stand out feature of this release. With that in mind, I will let them tell you all about it:

Integrated Subtitle Downloads

By popular request we’ve added one-click subtitle downloads, courtesy of OpenSubtitles.org. Now instead of spending hours searching for the right subtitles they can be easily downloaded right from your Apple TV in a matter of seconds.

The Bad?

The title of this section is a bit misleading. In the end, I found nothing bad with this release. However, I had two “hick-ups” that I would be remiss to exclude them. In a total of two hours of use, I had the following issues:

• Repeated “Disconnected” error on my HDTV. This only happened after some time was spent in Couch Surfer. This eventually went away.

• Couch Surfer, though it is a fantastic piece of software, falls victim to the same issues I find in the PS3, and Boxee browsers. They all fall victim to the infamous POP UPS. Anytime I visited a streaming site that used POP UPS it would take over the browser and I could not find anyway to close those windows specifically.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you own an Apple TV 2 and you are not one who likes to mess with SSH, terminal Commands, or anything else that techy… THIS IS FOR YOU! This software makes it amazingly easy to install all of the tools you need to get the most out of your little black back!

IMPORTANT: Once the Apple TV 3 jailbreak is available your aTV Flash (black) license will cover both Apple TV 2 and Apple TV 3.

We will be running a giveaway of aTV Flash (black) soon. Stay tuned! We are giving away 10 free copies of aTV Flash (black). Get it now!

Installation Process

FireCore could not have made the process of installing this software any easier! Once you have downloaded the aTV Flash 1.6 you will have two simple requirements:

1) Ensure that the Apple TV 2 is Jailbroken.

2) Ensure that the Apple TV 2 is plugged in.

Simply open the software package, once it is installed on your system, and locate your Apple TV form the drop down menu on the right. If you have multiple Apple TVs in your home, the devices will be listed with their IP address:

Once you have selected your device simply click continue. That is it. You will soon see a Completion Screen followed by your Apple TV rebooting. Once done you will want to start installing software.

umOuch (Andrew Brasher)

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Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!

aTV Flash (black) for the second generation Apple TV has just received its first update in 2012. Version 1.2 of aTV Flash (black) features a number of new things including: video zoom options, grid view watched icons, quick access to recently visited pages, improved support for subtitles, and a truckload of other improvements and bug fixes.

Main new features include:

• New zoom options: three new zoom options (Normal, Crop, and Stretch) allow you choose how videos are displayed. You can keep videos in their native format (widescreen or pillar box) or crop/stretch them to fill the entire screen.

• Grid View Watched Indicators: watched indicator icons allow you to quickly see which content is new (these can be disabled through the Media –> Settings).

• Recently Visited Pages: Couch Surfer now displays thumbnail images in the ‘top shelf’ area of the main menu, which allows you to quickly get back to recently viewed pages.

Here is the complete list of changes:
• Added video zoom options (available through Playback Menu)
• Added watched indicators to grid view
• Added ‘Recently Visited’ section to Browser top shelf
• Added support for MicroDVD .SUB files
• Added screensaver during pause
• Added file delete option
• Added activity indicator for metadata clearing
• Added ‘tune’ icon placeholder for audio files without metadata
• Added episode number to the fetched name the list view
• Added Reload Metadata’ option in contextual menu for folders
• Added ‘no items’ message to the ‘Unwatched’ filter of the list view
• Added gray ticket image caching
• Added loading screen when opening Manage Extras menu
• Improved scrubber bar logic
• Improved audio feedback for watched and pre-playback screens
• Improved poster loading for large folders
• Improved support for DVDs without menus
• Improved subtitle support for right-to-left languages (e.g. Hebrew)
• Improved installer device detection
• Resolved minor memory management issues
• Resolved issues with subtitles settings while playing a playlist
• Resolved issues with yellow subtitles displayed for movies converted with Handbrake
• Resolved conflicts with default audio player
• Resolved issues with passwords that contain @ symbols
• Resolved issues with metadata loading for files that contain ‘/’ in folder or file name
• Resolved buffer overflow in libafpclient observed when navigating folders with long names
• Resolved issues with installer Bonjour detection
• Resolved rare crashes during web browsing
• Changed metadata format to S.# / Ep.# for TV Shows
• Disabled metadata processing during movie playback
• Corrected audio feedback when pressing Menu while in grid view
• Minor UI improvements
• Other miscellaneous bug fixes

If you’re already running a version of aTV Flash (black) the new 1.2 version can be installed through the Maintenance –> Manage Extras menu. Links for the new version can also be found in your FireCore account under the Downloads tab.

If you’re not yet using aTV Flash (black) you can get started here.

You may also want to read:
AppleTVHacks Best of 2011
How to Watch Hulu on Apple TV 2
FireCore releases aTV Flash (black) 1.0 to supercharge the Apple TV 2

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Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!

FireCore has just released an Apple TV supercharger – aTV Flash (black) 1.0, which features a new Media Player, Couch Surfer Pro web browser, Last.fm radio, Weather, RSS feeds and gives you fast access to plugins like nitoTV, Remote HD, XBMC and Plex client. Here is a detailed tutorial on how to install the new version of aTV Flash on both Mac and Windows.

How to install aTV Flash (black) on Apple TV 2:

Pre-install checklist

1. Jailbreak your Apple TV 2 running software version 5.0.1 (untethered)
2. Connect the Apple TV your TV like normal (power, HDMI and wifi/ethernet). An active network connection will be required (the ‘In Theaters’ option under ‘Movies’ should be visible).
3. Enable Home Sharing and AirPlay (Settings -> AirPlay)

Run the installer – Mac

Step 1: Download the latest version of aTV Flash (black) from your account.
Step 2: Open the DMG and double-click the installer.

Step 3: The installer will copy a few small files to your computer (these will then be transferred to the Apple TV).

Step 4: You will then be prompted to select your Apple TV from a drop-down list.

Step 5: The files will be transferred to the Apple TV.

Step 6: When complete, the Apple TV will restart automatically for the changes to take effect.

Step 8: After installation all apps and updates can be installed directly on the Apple TV through the Maintenance –> Manage Extras menu.

Run the installer – Windows

Step 1: Download the latest version of aTV Flash (black) from your account.
Step 2: Open the exe and choose a location to save the application (desktop is recommended).
Step 3: Run the aTV Flash (black) program.

Step 4: Select your Apple TV from the drop-down menu.

Step 5: The files will be transferred to the Apple TV automatically.

Step 6: When complete, the Apple TV will restart automatically for the changes to take effect.

Step 7: After installation all apps and updates can be installed directly on the Apple TV through the Maintenance –> Manage Extras menu.

You may also want to read:
How to Jailbreak Apple TV 2 on iOS 5 (Apple TV 4.4) Using Seas0nPass – Tethered
How to Jailbreak Apple TV 2 on iOS 4.3 with Seas0nPass (untethered)
How to Watch Hulu on Apple TV 2
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!

aTV Flash (black) for Apple TV 2 is no longer in beta: FireCore has finally released version 1.0 of its flagship product – a suite of applications to enhance the 2nd generation Apple TV. aTV Flash (black) features 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. All new features are installed alongside the normal Apple TV features, so things like movie rentals, Netflix, and AirPlay will remain unchanged.

Media Player
The new Media Player included with aTV Flash (black) can access files directly from a Mac, PC or NAS drive without having to use iTunes. It downloads and organizes metadata and covert art automatically and will present media in your choice of a list or grid view. Supported file formats include AVI, FLAC, ISO, M2TS, MKV, MP3, MP4, MPEG, VOB, WAV and many others. Support for AC3/DTS sound, subtitles, DVD menus, playlists and photo slideshows are also included.

Native web browser
Also included is Couch Surfer Pro; a fully featured web browser that includes support for HTML5 streaming music and video as well as easy to use bookmarks and history. The browser can be controlled using the standard Apple TV remote, or the free iPhone/iPad Remote app.

Last.fm
Rounding out the offering is an interactive Last.fm feature that provides access to Last.fm streaming radio. While streaming Last.fm radio (or playing your own music) you’ll have access to artist bios, and a seemingly endless amount of artist photos.

Weather, RSS feeds
RSS news feed and iIntuitive weather forecast options are also included. Your current weather location will be detected automatically, and other locations can be easily added as well.

aTV Flash (black)1.0 is available now for $29.95, which includes updates for one year. You can download it from here.

Those who pre-ordered the beta can download the new 1.0 version through the Downloads tab in their account. Note: Those wishing to update from an early version will need to run the 1.0 installer from a Mac or PC.

aTV Flash (black) 1.0 can be installed on AppleTV 4.2 and later. Before installing, the AppleTV will need to be jailbroken. Read How to Jailbreak Apple TV 2 on iOS 5 (Apple TV 4.4) Using Seas0nPass – Tethered or How to Jailbreak Apple TV 2 on iOS 4.3 with Seas0nPass (untethered).

MacUpdate has aTV Flash (black) 1.0 for the sale price of $19.99 today only.

You may also want to read:
Apple TV 2 price drops suggest Apple TV 3 is coming soon
aTV Flash 4.4 for original Apple TV now available
How to Watch Hulu on Apple TV 2
Apple TV 4.4 Software Released

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!

Up for review we have four AirPlay enabled apps, designed with your Apple TV 2 in mind.

First we have Camera for Apple TV. Obviously, it’s an app that displays the live view of your iPhone’s camera on the big screen, though there is a bit of delay. I have trouble seeing what this $2 app can do for the average user, besides providing young children with entertainment. Sure you could display something for others to look at, but couldn’t you also show them the item? They are, after all, probably in the same room as you.

Next we have Web Browser for Apple TV. This basic web browser will show up on your Apple TV2, but you will have to look past some small quirks. The app, like the previous one, has some delay. Your atv will not display smooth scrolling or fullscreen web browsing. Your phone’s screen, when in portrait mode, appears only in the center of your TV screen, with each side being a huge, black bar. You can flip your phone into landscape mode, but then the edges of the browser become slightly cutoff and the text then becomes pixelated. The app ends up feeling more like a screenshot of a browser beamed to your TV than a full Apple TV web browser. Also, if you go to the mobile YouTube site and watch a video, the video will not show up on your TV! It will play on your phone and give you the option to stream audio, not video, to your Apple TV 2, but the actual video won’t show up on your television.

Third is an app called Videos for Apple TV. Here I thought you would load your personal videos to your iPhone and then stream them, but I realized that this is achievable with the iPod app. So what does this app do? It comes with four videos (fireplace, fish tank, lava lamp, and waterfall) that you can stream to create an ambiance in your house. The videos, which are each several hours long and contain sound, are high quality and definitely worth 50¢ apiece if you are one who enjoys the ambiance offered by tranquil videos.

These three apps, all made by TapMedia Publishing and sold for $2 each, are nice. However, due to AirPlay, the apps may not work as well as the developer wishes they did. The creator should include universal app support as all of these apps could be supported by the iPad, with the exception of Camera for Apple TV on the original iPad. Also, it would be nice if the developer offered a deluxe app for perhaps $5 and combined many of their AirPlay capable apps into one suite.

This deluxe suite I imagine is a little like the app TVOut Genie!, by JwalSoft Inc. This $3 app includes several “widgets,” each of which can be viewed through AirPlay or through Apple’s $40 adapter. Widgets available include documents, web browser, maps, text editor, photo browser, Facebook, and camera. Documents are importable through iTunes, Mail, Mobile Safari, and some other third-party apps. You can then put your documents on display. There is also a Maps widget, which recently received satellite and hybrid view options. The text editor is a bit plain, but it gets the job done. Facebook photos can also be streamed to your Apple TV. All of these widgets, plus ones like the previously-mentioned ones, are available. For only $3, this app is a bargain and it offers a lot to love.

Some of these are niche apps, but they’re pretty inexpensive and worth a try. Again, these don’t all work flawlessly, but if you’re bored with your Apple TV and don’t want to jailbreak or don’t know how to (well, you obviously know where to find out how to), try these apps out.

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!

TapMedia Publishing, the creators of Fire for Apple TV and Videos for Apple TV, an AirPlay-enabled apps you probably wouldn’t spend a whole 4 bucks on ($1.99 for each), has released two new, far more useful apps that bring great new functionality to the Apple TV 2.

Camera for Apple TV ($1.99) turns your iOS device into a real-time video camera for your atv2. The app streams your iPhone/iPad or iPod touch camera to your tiny black box via AirPlay. The frame rate is pretty low (it’s actually a series of static images), but it’s still pretty impressive and we hope to seeing the update coming soon with the improved frame rate.

Then comes Web Browser for Apple TV ($1.99) that brings a web browser to your Apple TV 2. It’s also AirPlay-based and it streams the web pages from the browser running on your iOS device to big screen via atv2. This basic browser has built-in search bar and lets you mail links, bookmark your favorite web pages, and view multiple online documents including .pdf, .doc.

Update: We have some promo codes for Camera for Apple TV, Web Browser for Apple TV and Videos for Apple TV to give away. Retweet the contest message and comment on this Facebook post for your chance to win. The winners will be announced on Friday, May 27^th.

You may also want to read:
SHOUTcast Radio App Updated to Support AirPlay
AirPlay Implementation on the Old Apple TV is Now Complete
AirPlay-Enabled Apps: Air Video (review)

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!