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Teardown Shows Apple TV, iPad Share Similar DNA

Apple’s cheap, puny Apple TV set-top box shares many of the same internals as the iPad, according to a teardown of the device.

The nimble engineers at iFixit cracked open the Apple TV earlier this afternoon and found the same type of Samsung flash chip that’s also inside the iPad, holding 8 GB of capacity. iFixit speculates this storage will be used for caching while streaming TV shows and movies.

The teardown also revealed that the Apple TV features the same A4 processor and amount of RAM (256MB) as the iPad.

Of course, the Apple TV has connectivity features that the iPad doesn’t: Ethernet, HDMI output, an AC adapter and an optical audio-out port. But it’s pretty interesting how similar the two devices are otherwise. Perhaps this is a clue that the Apple TV and iPad will be very tightly integrated in the near future (going beyond the AirPlay streaming feature we’re already familiar with).

An 8-GB drive doesn’t sound like much, but it’s pretty good considering the Apple TV’s $100 price tag. And because the Apple TV’s focus is streaming media, 8GB should leave more than enough room for extra third-party apps, if Apple later decides to open an Apple TV app store, which some have speculated to be a possibility.

A full step-by-step teardown of the Apple TV can be found on iFixit’s website.

See Also:

Why iOS Could Make Apple TV Succeed

Apple TV Runs iOS, Opening Door to Apps, Jailbreaking

AppleTV Runs iOS, Already Jailbroken

Photo: iFixit

Full story at http://feeds.wired.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/Ew9FtC_a9fY/

3 Secret Apple TV Features Steve Jobs Hasn?t Told You About

The new Apple TV could be Steve Jobs’ best sleight-of-hand trick yet.

During his modest introduction of the device, Jobs called the Apple TV “one more hobby.” But a closer look at the code and the hardware powering the Apple TV reveals that there’s a lot more going on under the hood than the CEO shared.

Interestingly, Jobs didn’t mention that Apple TV runs iOS, the same operating system running on its flagship product, the iPhone, and some other big hits ? the iPod Touch and iPad. And there’s more, too: The Apple TV’s software may already be jailbroken, and some hidden software should eventually allow you to share the Apple TV’s media with other iOS devices.

These secret ingredients could be the recipe Apple needs to shake up the television industry. For years, Apple executives have labeled the set-top box a “hobby” product because of its mild success compared to blockbuster sellers like the iPhone and iPod. Now that Apple TV has been revamped into a streaming rental service with an arsenal of stealth features, maybe Apple has a chance to change the TV business ? if not today, perhaps later.

“The most important�hint of�Apple’s real ambitions in the living room come from�AirPlay, which�puts iPhones and iPads in the driver’s seat and makes the�TV�just an output�device for the�Apple�ecosystem,” said James McQuivey, a Forrester analyst, in a recent e-mail statement. “Expect�Apple�to gradually push more and more�in that direction, but as of this moment in 2010,�Apple�has not yet made a�significant play for control of the�TV.”

Here, we round up the juicy tidbits we’ve heard about Apple’s mysterious new set-top box.

iOS and third-party app support

There’s more than enough evidence proving that the Apple TV runs iOS. Dispelling any doubts, Apple recently posted a build of iOS 4.1 specifically for the Apple TV.

This piece of information about iOS is important because of a new feature called AirPlay, which streams media from your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch to the Apple TV. When Jobs demonstrated AirPlay, he only showed the feature working with an iPad’s built-in video player, photo app and music library. Now that we know Apple TV runs iOS, it’s likely that third-party apps such as MLB at Bat or ABC Player will be able stream media to the set-top box, too.

DaringFireball blogger John Gruber confirmed that an AirPlay button is showing up in the MLB at Bat app, and he adds that apps using the built-in media controller will be able to integrate AirPlay.

Long story short, you’ll be able to wirelessly stream media from some third-party apps straight to your Apple TV with an AirPlay button. AirPlay is shaping up to be Apple’s secret weapon to reshape home entertainment.

In addition to AirPlay, the fact that Apple TV is running iOS means that — in principle, at least — it may someday be able to run applications from the iTunes App Store. For now, that capability is not included in Apple TV, but the underlying operating system certainly supports it, so Apple might open a TV App Store in a future software update.

Jailbreaking hacks

Third-party app support will probably be limited for the Apple TV, but that’s where the jailbreakers come in. In the same way that we’re able to override restrictions on the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch with a jailbreak, we should be able to run unauthorized apps on the Apple TV — something Jobs would never advertise, of course.

In fact, hackers already have a head start, because a tool called Shatter, which was used to jailbreak the newest iPod Touch, already works with the Apple TV, according to the iPhone Dev Team. That means we should be expecting hackers to code some unauthorized apps soon to unlock additional capabilities such as video conferencing via your Apple TV.

On top of that, existing hacks for the old Apple TV should work, too.�Dev Team member�Will Strafach explained that�?the new AppleTV OS seems to be a mashup of the old AppleTV OS and iOS,? meaning “frappliances,” plug-ins that add functionality to the old Apple TV, should work as well.

‘Lowtide’ app

The Unofficial Apple Weblog’s Erica Sadun, a popular iOS programmer, took a close look at the Apple TV’s software and discovered that it runs an application called Lowtide ? the software containing the set-top box’s media interface.

Sadun dug deeper and found lines of code that suggest that Lowtide might eventually be extended to other iOS devices. In other words, you should be able to share media from the Apple TV to your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, whereas originally we thought we’d only be able to do the converse with AirPlay. This functionality would be comparable to a Slingbox or an EyeTV.

Lowtide isn’t readily available for Apple’s iOS mobile devices yet, but iOS developer�Dustin Howett has already managed to load Lowtide on an iPod touch running iOS 4.1, demonstrated in the video above. He recommended against doing it yourself, though, unless you’re ready to reformat your iPhone on a regular basis just to turn it back into a phone.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Full story at http://feeds.wired.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/kVMxssqgUt0/

BT signs up to EC code aimed at cutting broadband power consumption

Dave Bailey, Computing, Thursday 30 September 2010 at 10:19:00

EC estimates broadband kit accounts for about 15 per cent of the ICT sector's
overall energy consumption

BT has signed up to an
European Commission (EC) Joint
Research Centre (JRC) code that commits it to reducing the power consumption
of its broadband ICT infrastructure.

EC figures show that broadband equipment accounts for around 15 per cent of
the ICT sector's overall energy consumption, about 47 terawatt hours (TWh) for
the European Union (EU) in 2010.

Speaking at the
ICT
2010 ? Digitally Driven event this week, EU Commissioner M�ire
Geoghegan-Quinn said: "The success of these codes of conduct [one covering
broadband, another for datacentres] shows the industry's recognition that
innovation to boost energy efficiency is a commercial, economic and
environmental priority."

EC Digital Agenda VP Neelie Kroes agreed, saying: "implementing these two
codes of conduct will significantly reduce the EU's electricity consumption and
could save as much as ?4.5bn per year."

There are currently 10 signatories for the
JRC
Institute of Energy broadband code of conduct, including vendors
Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Huawei, Nokia Siemens Networks, and carriers Deutsche
Telekom, Swisscom, and Telecom Italia.

These have now been joined by BT, as well as A1 Telekom Austria, Belgian
carrier AG Belgacom, Dutch carrier KPN, France Telecom/Orange, Greek carrier
OTE, Portugal Telecom, Spanish telco Telefonica, Norwegian carrier Telenor and
Turk Telekom.

The JRC's Institute for Energy (IE) says its 29-page broadband voluntary
code of conduct can help ICT companies to reduce their energy consumption by as
much as 50 per cent.

The code could have a significant effect on BT's procurement activities re
lated to its optical fibre rollout since it specifies that signatories need to
ensure that procurement specifications for broadband equipment are compliant
with the code.

The JRC is also responsible for a code of conduct related to datacentre power
consumption, to which BT is already signed up.

EC figures for EU datacentres show that they account for about 18 per cent
(56TWh) of ICT sector energy consumption, and are expected to grow faster than
any other ICT technology

Full story at http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2270658/bt-signs-ec-code-reduce

House approves bill setting NASA's new course

Congress has approved a blueprint for NASA's future that extends the life of the space shuttle program while backing President Barack Obama's intent to use commercial carriers to lift humans into near-Earth space.

Full story at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39431324/ns/technology_and_science-space/

Alien planet looks 'just right' for life

Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Astronomers say they have found the first planet beyond our solar system that could plausibly sustain life as we know it, just 20 light-years from Earth.