iHeartMedia, creator of iHeartRadio – the all-in-one streaming music and live digital radio service — has announced that it will soon support the Apple TV 4. The all new app for Apple TV will allow users to access all of the core elements of the iHeartRadio including access to thousands of live stations, custom stations (based on a song or artist search) and podcasts.

Both registered and unregistered users of iHeartRadio will be able to play live and custom radio, view For You recommendations, save favorite stations and access iHeartRadio’s newest feature – My Favorites Radio – which combines a user’s favorite stations and artists into one station.

The new interface also features “sleek design elements optimized for the Apple TV viewing experience.”

With 245 million monthly listeners in the U.S., 87 million monthly digital uniques, over 75 million social followers and 196 million monthly consumers of its Total Traffic and Weather Network, iHeartMedia has the largest reach of any radio or television outlet in America.

It serves over 150 markets through 858 owned radio stations, and the company’s radio stations and content can be heard on AM/FM, HD digital radio, satellite radio, on the internet at iHeartRadio.com and on the company’s radio station websites, on the iHeartRadio mobile app, in enhanced auto dashes, on tablets and smartphones, and on gaming consoles.

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

The post iHeartRadio is coming to Apple TV 4 appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

Besides rolling out the Apple TV 6.1 firmware, Apple also updated their Remote app for iOS aiming for better and easier use with Apple TV. The highlight features of Remote 4.2 are:

• Now, you can browse the catalogue of purchased movies and songs on the app and play it via Apple TV. So no more searching iTunes on TV or using that pesky remote with the on-screen keyboard.
• Access iTunes Radio within the Remote app and play directly on your Apple TV – no need for AirPlay anymore.
• Also, the remote works great with the new “easy hide” feature of Apple TV 6.1, as you can use the Options button to bring up the juggle mode and tap Play/Pause button to bring up the hide option.

The features added, though few, are really handy for Apple TV users and make so sense that we wonder why Apple haven’t came up with them earlier. Now we have a solid reason to use the Remote app over the physical remote. The Apple TV experience is evidently getting more and more attention from Apple.

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

The post Remote app for iOS now shows purchased items and iTunes Radio for better Apple TV experience appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

SHOUTcast offers wide range of stations with genres ranging from Rock, Alternative, Jazz, Electronica, Bollywood, Latin to Zouk across a broad set of languages including Spanish, French, German, Swahili and Portuguese. They even have public radio (NPR), talk and police scanners available in a wide variety of cities worldwide.

Apart from AirPlay support, 1.3.1 update also brings multitasking background audio support and updated, faster SHOUTcast Directory with 15,000 new stations.

The post SHOUTcast Radio App Updated to Support AirPlay appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

Well…, as we all already know, new Apple TV software release didn’t bring anything really interesting to our shiny boxes, so let me not focus on the new features and start with a short article our friend wrote for HDTV Biz-News.com. More details about this poor update to come later.

***

After months of speculations whether Apple will release completely new Apple TV device making it a high-end media center for our living rooms or rather leave it, more or less, as it is (means without all the latest true HD capibilities, IP streaming, Blu-ray, live TV ability, HD recorder, 1080p support, etc.)… we still don’t know the answer.

The company introduced new Apple TV 3.0 software that gives us not more than a redesigned main menu – which is said to give a faster access to the content, possibility to watch iTunes Extras and enjoy iTunes LP in fullscreen and listen to the internet radio (including stations in high-quality HE-ACC formats).

Adding only cosmetic changes to a device with such a huge potential doesn’t mean Apple gave up developing Apple TV and converting it to a set-top box with all the capabilities offered by the HD market, but it gives a next signal that the company will do nothing that would pull people away from iTunes.

On-demand HD movie rentals and purchases, HD TV shows, music and podcasts from the iTunes Store give Apple a millions. According to the company, Apple TV gives direct access to a catalog of over 8,000 films on iTunes including over 2,000 in HD video available for rent or purchase. Users can also choose from a selection of 11 million songs, 10,000 music videos and over 50,000 TV episodes. Renting a movie in iTuens runs from $3 to $5, buying will costs us $14,99. And there are 65 million users of iTunes out there.

“HD movies and HD TV shows from iTunes have been a huge hit with Apple TV,” confirmed Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services.

Adding anything that would take Apple from iTunes revenue (like additional drive –  Blu-ray or, at least DVD, IP streaming or live TV) wouldn’t have any sense from the economical point of view. The only thing can happen is that Apple will add to the Apple TV an access to App Store to maximize revenues from the application market.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicts that Apple will sell 6.6 million AppleTV units this year.

***

The new Apple TV software is available immediately free of charge to existing Apple TV owners. Apple TV with 160GB capacity is available for $229.

Apple TV requires an 802.11b/g/n wireless network or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking, a broadband Internet connection and a high definition widescreen TV.

Apple has also released iTunes 9.0.2, adding support for Apple TV 3.0.

Originally appeared on HDTV.biz-news.com

The post Apple TV 3.0 Update appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.