Apple has today released new support documentation for the newly implemented Apple TV setup feature that was introduced last week in the Apple TV 6.0 software update.

Owners of the third generation Apple TV running the new 6.0 firmware can use an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch running iOS 7 to automatically transfer network settings, Apple ID information, and language preferences to the Apple TV.

The information exchange is done via Bluetooth by simply touching the iOS device to the Apple TV, which takes advantage of the Bluetooth LE built into all Apple devices after the iPhone 4.

Apple’s recently published support article offers further detailed instructions of the process:

1. Connect your Apple TV to your television and power and wait until your Apple TV displays the setup screen.

2. Unlock your iOS 7 device and ensure that Bluetooth is enabled. Also ensure that you are connected to the Wi-Fi network you want to use with Apple TV.

3. Touch your iOS device to your Apple TV and wait for the prompts to appear on your iOS device and Apple TV.

4. Enter your Apple ID and password on your iOS device.

5. Choose if you want Apple TV to remember your Apple ID password, and if you want Apple TV to send data to Apple.

Note: This does not change your iOS device preferences.

6. Your Apple TV will start the configuration process, including connecting to your Wi-Fi network, activating Apple TV, and setting up your iTunes Store account.

Setting up an Apple TV has also been a tedious task, using the infrared remote to slowly input your WiFi password and Apple ID account. Now, the setup procedure in Apple TV 6.0 is quick and easy.

The touch setup feature requires an iPhone 4S or later, a iPad 3rd Generation or later, an iPad Mini, or iPod Touch 5th Generation.

Let us know in the comments below if you’ve had a chance to try it out.

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

The post How to: set up your Apple TV using an iOS 7 device [‘Touch Setup’ feature] appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

Editing photos on your iPad, iPhone, iPod, and yes, even your Apple TV! It is no secret that we all love to take photos with our mobile devices leaving the only question to be: “How can I edit, and share, my pictures?” Well, Air Show HD hopes to be an answer to this question. And a few others. It is true that Apple has offered the ability to share and edit your photos since the release of iOS 5. That said, there is one thing that Apple has never addressed and that is in regard to the photos you may not want to share publically.

As of today, if you decide to set up a slideshow with your iOS device, on your Apple TV, you have little-to-no control over what photos you will be showing. The only power you are given is the ability to select what folder you will be viewing within the default photo gallery. Well, if you are anything like me, you may not want to show every photo within that location to others.

This is where Air Show steps in.

Air Show HD by Splitmo – Straight From The Source

• Show off your best pictures on your big screen TV using Air Show and an Apple TV. Zoom in, crop and caption your best pictures while Air Show automatically builds a slide show for you.
• Air Show allows you to search through your photos, adding them directly to the TV or the generated slide show. Air Show shows only the photos YOU want without your friends seeing potentially embarrassing pictures by accident.
• If you want to save more than 3 slide shows, Air Show provides unlimited slide shows as a one time in-app purchase.
• Full Retina support for the iPhone 4, 4s, 5 and the new iPad.

The GOOD:

1)  This application works AS ADEVERTISED. With every press of a button you are given clear directions on what you need to do, and how you need to do it. This enables all users, at every skill level, to be able to use this application. Air Show keeps it simple.

2)  The UI of Air Show makes navigation quite easy. The ability to drag and drop photos gives the feel of a more advanced program, like Photoshop, running on your iOS device. Though the functionality could be considered “advanced” the use of these features does not leave you feeling as if the app were overly complicated.

3)  The AirPlay function is insanely responsive. Though most of the credit for this feature may go to Apple, iOS, and the software development behind the two, Air Show HD has done a great job taking advantage of these features. You are given the ability to zoom in, and out, while the slideshow is streaming to the Apple TV. This is a feature that the default iOS gallery does not have functioning fully.

The BAD:

1)  At first glance, this application feels lacking. When I first launched it and started using it to stream slideshows, I felt it was missing some basic functions that iOS does very well by default, such as multiple transition animations. That said, the longer I played with Air Show, on my iPad 2, the more I began to see it for the benefits it offers. Not to mention, updates are prevalent in all apps. Surely there will be more to come from this app.

The UGLY TRUTH.

In the end, Air Show HD stands on its own against the latest features, and options, of the default iOS gallery and its’ ability to stream slideshows to your Apple TV. As of today it is missing quite a few features that I would want to see in order for this application to become a full time app that I would use on a regular basis. Again, that said, there are two things that make Air Show stand out as an application worth downloading to your device today:

• The Price Is Right!

Air Show is absolutely free, right now! The fact is that we all love finding free apps and taking them for a test-drive. So, I would encourage you to head over to iTunes and give Air Show a shot.

• Privacy Control

The simple fact that I can select photos from different locations and easily create a customized slide show, is a powerful feature in-and-of itself. If you have “private” photos mixed in with your collection,  this app is absolutely  worth trying. I was able to create a slide show of select wedding pictures, vacation shots, and some graphic art I had made, all the while forgoing some “more embarrassing” shots.

Grab a copy today.

Also read:

Air Show updated with music playlists and color captions support

The post Air Show HD – Review appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

The team over at XBMC HUB, including myself, work tirelessly to develop addons, build tools, offer support, and provide guidance for all XBMC users at every technical level. That said, we saw that there was a growing number of individuals who wanted to experience XBMC to the fullest, but felt overwhelmed when trying to get addons installed, repositories set up, or fixes implemented from month-to-month.

It was this realization, and the desire to help simplify the process for the all users including those mainstream individuals, that the folks over at XBMC HUB sought out to build the XBMC HUB Wizard. This tool simply supercharge your current XBMC installation.

Requirements

• Jailbroken Apple TV (or any iDevice) with XBMC already installed (fresh jailbreak and XBMC installation is recommended):

1. How to jailbreak your Apple TV using Seas0nPass
2. How to install XMBC on jailbroken Apple TV

• XBMC HUB Wizard Application (downloadable).

PRE-INSTALLED IN XBMC WIZARD:

Layout Changes

• Custom XBMC HUB App Icon
• Custom Wizard Edition Splash Screen
• Custom XBMC HUB Backgrounds
• XBMC HUB RSS Feeds
• Pre-Configured Addon Shortcuts
• Preset Thumbnail View (where desirable)

System Tweaks

• Live Streaming Fix (libRTMP Updated)
• Joystick Remote Tweak (ATV only)
• Veetle Streaming Fix
• Advanced XML Tweaks (ATV & iOS only)
• Audio Output Setting Change
• Fusion Installer Pre-Configured
• Parental Control Options
• Pre Set Weather for Major US Cities

Pre-Installed Repositories

1. anarchintosh addons
2. bluecop Add-on Repository
3. Bstrdsmkr’s Repository
4. divingmule’s Unofficial Repository
5. Eldorado’s XBMC Addons
6. MaxMustermann’s add-ons
7. Mikey1234′s Addons
8. mortstar’s repo
9. mscreation’s XBMC Addons
10. nixa addons
11. Passion-XBMC.org Add-ons
12. t0mm0′s XBMC Addons
13. XBMC-Adult Addons
14. XBMC.org Add-ons

Pre-enabled Addons

Step 1: Download and Extract the xbmchubWizard.zip file to your Desktop.

Step 2: Launch the “xbmchubWizard.app” application, be sure to confirm you want to “Open” the downloaded application before using it first time, if prompted.

Step 3: On the left side of the application, click on the “Choose Apple TV” dropdown and select your Apple TV device. The computer running this application must be on the same network.

Note: Make sure “Choose Apple TV” is checked initially, then choose your Apple TV, that way it’ll keep up to date with IP Address changes.

Step 4: If you have more than one Apple TV on your network, verify that the IP Address in the lower left corner corresponds with your box. You can find the IP Address of your Apple TV by going into the “Settings” -> “General” -> “About” page on your device.

Step 5: Press the “Configure AppleTV 2″ button and wait a few minutes for the process to complete. Please make sure you’ve launched XBMC on your Apple TV at least once before beginning.

Step 6: You’ll see a green check mark and your Apple TV will reboot once finished, you can now begin enjoying your reborn XBMC experience.

Congratulations! Your Apple TV is now supercharged with everything pre-configured.

The post Supercharge your current XBMC installation with XBMC Hub Wizard appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

During today’s conference at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco, along with a brand new iPhone 5, Apple introduced a fifth generation iPod touch that now supports AirPlay Mirroring that lets you wirelessly stream what’s on your iPod touch to your HDTV and speakers via Apple TV. This makes a new generation iPod touch a fifth Apple’s device that supports AirPlay Mirrorng: up until now the feature has been available on iPhone 4S, iPad 2 and iPad 3. It will also be supported on the iPhone 5.

The new iPod touch is the thinnest iPod touch ever and features a 4-inch Retina display; a 5 megapixel iSight camera with 1080p HD video recording; Apple’s A5 chip; Siri and iOS 6. The fifth generation iPod touch will be available in October for a suggested price of $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399 for the 64GB model.

To use AirPlay Mirroring, tap the AirPlay icon from the app you’re in — such as Photos, Music, Videos, or Safari — and everything on your small screen plays on your big screen. You can also stream music to any AirPlay-enabled speakers or AirPort Express-connected speakers.

The post AirPlay Mirroring supported on the fifth generation iPod touch appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

The default remote control for your Apple TV is small, slick, and smooth. To many users, of Apple‘s “hobby” device, it is also thought to be too small and somewhat limited in features. For those of you have found the Apple TV to be limited only by its remote… you have likely found the iOS remote to be a decent alternative to Apples’ hardware offering. Though this iOS remote can help fill the void, eventually you will want to control your Apple TV while using your iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod) device for something else.

For years now Apple TV’s have had a simple, yet amazing, ability to use a remote that came with your TV, cable box, or DVD player to also control Apple TV (both 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd generation). Here is how to do this (official instructions from Apple):

Note: If you have an Apple TV (1st generation), update to Apple TV software 2.3 or later.

1. Using the Apple Remote included with Apple TV, choose Settings > General > Remotes.
2. Choose Learn Remote.
3. Set your remote to a device setting that doesn’t control any other devices in the area or identify other buttons that do not already control a function on your TV or other device. Many third-party remotes have an option to control different devices such as a VCR or DVD player, or have an auxiliary (AUX) option for an unspecified device.
4. Start.
5. Apple TV will display icons that represent the six buttons on the Apple Remote with the “Up” or “+” button highlighted first.
6. Using your third-party remote, press and hold the button you would like to use to control the “up” function until the blue progress bar is full, as shown below.

7. Apple TV will then select the next button function. Repeat step 6 and 7 using a different button
8. After you have programmed all six button functions, you can now use your third-party remote to control Apple TV.

Optionally, you can set up specific playback buttons for fast-forward, rewind, next chapter, and more.

You can program additional remotes to control Apple TV by repeating steps 1 through 8. At anytime you can rename, delete or revise your button choices for a selected third-party remote by choosing Settings > General > Remotes and selecting a third-party remote that Apple TV has already learned.

I, personally, encourage you to take the time and give it a go… and post your results below. This little trick can help breathe new life into your little magic box!

umOuch (Andrew Brasher)

You may also want to read:
FireCore: Work is underway on Apple TV 3 jailbreak and Apple TV 2 5.0 untethered jailbreak
aTV Flash (black) 1.5 for Apple TV 2 is live
How to install IceFilms on your jailbroken Apple TV

The post How to control your Apple TV with any third-party remote control appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

It wasn’t too long ago when we heard from Steve that he had NO IDEA on how to succeed in the television market. Any chance it has just changed? Apple’s special event is set for September 1^st and what the world expects to be unveiled in San Francisco that day is an updated, upgraded, renamed, rebuilt, rethought, revamped, refreshed or completely new, long-romored, long-awaited, magic, revolutionary, shiny — Ladies and Gentleman — the new Apple TV. Well, maybe not the whole world, there are those skeptics who ask if Apple is really going to announce a TV gadget at an event with a guitar on the invitation. Pessimists aside, now, when everyone on this planet seems to have its own opinion on what is going to happen on Wednesday and when every little website in the cyberspace has its own rumor on the next Apple’s TV device, let’s sum up the most important ones. Here is a comprehensive list of what has been lately said about the new Apple TV.

General

• Engadget: new Apple TV called iTV: $99, A4 CPU, iOS, 16GB of flash storage, cloud-based storage, new iTunes streaming services, AppStore, no 1080p, quite small device with a scarce amount of ports (only the power socket and video out), “an iPhone without a screen”
• DigiTimes: “Apple is set to launch a new Apple TV using AMD’s Fusion solution and will not include a hard drive. The new device will adopt a user interface similar to the iPhone with support for social networking websites, network multimedia and the App Store.
• Kevin Rose: “From what I hear we should expect to see the iTV launch in September”
• Jason D. O’Grady on ZDNet: “iTV would no longer be a hard drive based setop box, but rather a live streaming device. Think of it as a combo iPad docking station and Airport Express with an HDMI port out the back.”
• AppleInsider via Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros.: “The biggest potential change to the forthcoming Apple TV refresh is the move to an ARM architecture processor running the same iOS software that powers the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. (…) The new Apple TV will have access to the App Store.”
• Gene Munster: Apple could offer an $1,800 to $2,000 “all-in-one Apple television solution that would replace the current amalgam of set-top boxes, Blu-ray players, PVRs, cables, game consoles and TVs in a typical home.
• Bloomberg: “Steve Jobs will rather focus on the ability for customers to watch TV shows and movies on their iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touches, says a person familiar with the plan. The company will announce that customers can rent many TV shows for 99 cents.”

Name

• Engadget: Apple will be officially changing the name of the device to iTV (that was the name of the Apple TV when it was originally announced by the company)
• AllNewsMac: Lawyers looking into Apple TV name change as ‘iTV’ is already taken

Hardware

• Engadget: A4 CPU, no hard drive, 16GB of flash storage, only 720p support, only the power socket and video out ports
• DigiTimes: AMD’s Fusion CPU, no hard drive

Storage

• Engadget: cloud-based storage, Time Capsule as an external storage component
• Rose: picture and video sharing feature powered by MobileMe

OS

• Engadget: iOS
• Business Insider: How will Apple’s touch based operating system work on a TV screen that will not be touch based?

Content

• Engadget: new iTunes streaming services
• Engadget: iTunes streaming video service coming soon? (“A new Apple iTunes customer survey lists “Titles are available to watch instantly” as a reason you might totally love watching video on the iPad. This could be a big hint that instant streaming is coming quite soon.”)
• Bloomberg: Apple Said to Prepare 99-Cent TV Shows (“Apple is in advanced talks with News Corp. to let iTunes users rent TV shows for 99 cents. Viewers would be able to rent programs from Fox for 48 hours. CBS, NBC and Walt Disney also are in talks about joining the effort.”)
• Rose: Expect to see an iPhone/Pad like marketplace for television applications. Video sharing/streaming/recording apps, interactive news apps, and of course games.
• Rose: a la carte (app) stations “With Apple’s iAds, content producers (eg. ABC/NBC/etc.) can directly monetize and distribute their content. This will eventually destroy the television side of the cable and satellite industry.”
• David Gewirtz on ZDNet: FaceTime could be Apple’s iTV killer app (“You no longer just have little tiny screens talking to little tiny screens — you can have grandma on the couch, talking to Baby Biff in his crib.”)
• Hardmac: Apple working on a new video format (“The ultimate goal for Apple would be to promote this new format to support 4 K video – up to 4096×2160.”)
• Macworld: Apple could let third-parties deliver the video content to the ATV (“So the next Apple TV becomes another iOS device that uses third-party apps. If Netflix or Hulu or ABC or NPR or whoever wants to get its content on the device, it simply makes a compatible app for it.”)
• new media age: Cloud-based iTunes “Apple purchased cloud-based music service Lala last year only to close it, prompting speculation that it will incorporate the online music streaming service into iTunes.”
• Apple Insider: Apple’s potential Web-based iTunes will be ‘social, not streaming’ (“Apple may reveal a “big overhaul” of its iTunes Music Store next week, likely to be a lightweight Web version, but the service will not be updated to allow users to stream their content from the cloud.”)

Controller

• Rose: The iPad will turn into one big badass remote control (“Imagine watching monday night football on the TV while viewing/exploring other camera angles on the iPad.”)
• Jason D. O’Grady on ZDNet: 7-inch iPad like touch device (iTV Pad)
• Venomous Porridge: An iPhone without the screen (“It’s the love child of an iPod touch and a Magic Trackpad. It has the same inertial and gyroscopic motion sensors as the iPhone 4, and the same multitouch surface we’re familiar with. A home button. Bluetooth. No screen.”)
• The Russians Used a Pencil: “Apple would never require a user to have an iPhone / iPad in order to use their Apple TV.” Other options: 1) Apple Remote, 2) Bluetooth Keyboard and Trackpad, 3) Game Controller

Games

• Bloomberg via Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros.: “Apple TV could be a popular, low-cost game console for people who don’t care about running the most cutting-edge, graphics intensive games.
• Macworld: an iOS Apple TV could take a chunk out of the huge game-console market (“I know more than a few people who’d be happy to spend $200 or so on a system that doesn’t require you to spend $30 to $50 a pop for “family” games that are matched, both in visuals and gameplay, by $1 to $5 games for iOS.”)
• Macworld: “Provide an Apple TV that can play high-resolution games—with surround sound, an HDMI connection, and hardware controllers, yet—and you’ve got a fairly formidable hunk of hardware sitting next to your TV.”

Price

• Engadget: $99
• Jason D. O’Grady on ZDNet: By integrating the existing engineering from the Airport Express and scaling down the iPad technology (no need for Retina display, nor do you need 10 hours of battery life, or even 64 GB of storage) Apple could easily deliver a TV solution for $249.
• Mark Sigal on his blog: The $99 price tag implies one of three paths for Apple TV: 1) Limited Storage, cloud dependency path, 2) getting to $99 via Subsidy, as is the case with iPhone, 3) running on top of the Mac Mini as a $99 software add-on, with the user being able to choose between a $69 Magic Trackpad, a $200 iPod touch, a $99 iPhone or $500 iPad as the controller

Release date

• Rose: September
• Bloomberg: September 1st
• MacDailyNews: “Multiple” sources say that Apple’s busy prepping telesales employees for a new product that will be “huge” or “very big” and coming in “October”
• DigiTimes: Mass production of the device will start in December.”

Other interesting thoughts on Apple TV and IPTV

NYT: In the Living Room, Hooked on Pay TV
CNET: Content kings control the future of IPTV
Associated Press: Apple’s 99-cent TV show idea is no game changer
ZDNet: Apple, Google TV: Does Pay as You Go Make Dollars and Sense?
LA Times: Murdoch may be key to Apple’s plan to offer 99-cent digital rentals of TV shows
Game Theory: How App TV Disrupts the Console Industry

Apple TV Hacks will be providing all the latest news on the new Apple TV/iTV. If it’s coming… Stay tuned!

[images: ZDNet.com, venomousporridge.com, blog.monty.de]

The post All you want to know about the new Apple TV appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.