Interested in trying out a cool media center for use with your Apple TV? Cult of Mac readers are invited to receive expedited applications for testing the alpha release of Boxee, a music, video and picture management solution to let your Apple TV play practically any DRM-free multimedia file. Follow this link to receive your alpha testing invitation.
Boxee for (Intel based) Mac works on OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and 10.5 (Leopard). Boxee for Linux is supported on Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) or 8.04 (Hardy Heron) x86 (not x86_64) operating systems. The Boxee patch works with the 2.2 update to Apple TV, but remember to install the update before you install the Boxee patch.
Detailed instructions for installing the Boxee patch after the jump.
Boxee integrates with your Apple TV via a flash drive that, if not configured as “bootable” out of the box, at least must be able to be made so. You don’t have to do that yourself, the Boxee patch creator will handle it. Keep in mind these notes from the people at boxee.tv: no need to format the flash drive, the creator takes care of that. A 1gb thumb drive is more than enough. smaller will work too (even a 256mb should work). The unit MUST support being made bootable. The creator will take care of enabling the flag, but there are some units that might not work. To quote Scott Davilla (the creator creator) on this, “even same brand units may not have the same capabilities, geometry, etc. If the stick does not work, get a another one.”
Step 1
Download the ATVUSB-Creator.
Step 2
Insert a “bootable” USB drive into your Mac.
Step 3
Run the ATVUSB-Creator and select your Apple TV version number (e.g., 2.1) and Boxee for Mac.
Step 4
Remove the USB drive and plug it into your Apple TV.
Step 5
Power on your AppleTV. The patchstick will run the ATV bootloader.
Step 6
After the bootloader finishes, remove the thumb drive from your AppleTV.
Step 7
Restart your AppleTV
Step 8
Click Boxee on the main menu. Then select update (this will download Boxee from the Internet).
Step 10
Once Boxee is done installing, restart your AppleTV.
Step 11
Click Boxee, and then select Boxee in the sub-menu to start the interface.
Written by Lonnie Lazar on October 6th, 2008 with no comments.
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Everybody say: “Ohhhhh.”
It’s tiny. It runs Leopard 10.5.2. 80GB. 1GB. 1.6GHz Atom. Niiiiice.
This little MacBook Mini is just what many, many people have been hoping for (myself included).
Shame it’s not real.
In fact it’s an MSI Wind hacked to run OS X, and given the additional flourish of a realistic backlit Apple logo in the lid. It was created by user Spanky over at the German MSI Wind web forum (translation to English).
In recent weeks I’ve begun to see the appeal of a MacBook Air - the lightweight feel combined with a full size keyboard is certainly an attractive option. But for the time being, it’s just too expensive. Until prices come down (which I’m certain they will), hackbooks like this will continue to get me drooling.
(Via Team Teabag)
Written by Giles Turnbull on October 3rd, 2008 with no comments.
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This guy was photographed by Flickr user Rodrigo Galindez in a Berlin coffee shop.
On close inspection, it looks like he’s glued some kind of laminate on to the lid of his MacBook Pro, and made a good job of neatening the edges and the corners. He gets extra points for marrying the wood effect with the sleek metal of the computer and the horizontal stripes of the classic Apple logo, and with a purple jacket. Fantastic.
Mysterious Berlin Mac user: who are you? Do you have any other decorated computers?
(Photo used under Creative Commons license. Thanks to Rodrigo.)
Written by Giles Turnbull on October 2nd, 2008 with no comments.
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Apple has filed a patent application detailing a method of “pairing a sensor and an authorised garment”, such as “running shoes, shirts or slacks” in hopes of deterring what the company has determined is a disturbing trend toward people “[taking] it upon themselves to remove the sensor from the special pocket of the [iPod-linked] Nike+ shoe and place it at inappropriate locations (shoelaces, for example) or place it on non-Nike+ model shoes.”
Apple sells the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit as a tool for storing data about your workout on your iPod, allowing you to track and analyze your progress toward fitness perfection. As one commenter on Slashdot said about the $30 sensor, “you can also share your workout stats with others, help build community, etc - sort of the antithesis of the “isolated runner with headphones on” kind of thing. Very Web 2.0.”
Under the patent Apple has applied for, companies like Nike could authorise their garments by burying an RFID chip inside it, requiring that chip to activate the sensor. No longer would you be able to use the sensor you paid for with any shoe of your choosing.
Via Slashdot
Written by Lonnie Lazar on September 15th, 2008 with no comments.
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Writer Scott Gilbertson has a very cool Mac netbook that cost him only $550.
It’s got a slick black case, weighs nothing, gets hours of battery life and runs Leopard, the latest version of Mac OS X. It’s not a MacBook Air.
It’s a hacked EeePC — a tiny liliputer , as they’re now called, fresh from Asus, a Tawainese manufacturer best known for PC motherboards.
Gilbertson’s netbook is the device Mac fans have wanted for years: A low-cost cousin to the beautiful but pricey MacBook Air.
It runs like a champ but has a couple of quirks (one big one) and may not be strictly legal, though Apple’s never going to prosecute unless these machines are sold commercially. Hit the jump for details.
(more…)
Written by Leander Kahney on September 6th, 2008 with no comments.
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