"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." - William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

If we applied Shakespeare's logic to today's digital age, then it would also mean that watching mis-tagged or untagged videos on your Apple device (be it a Mac, iPhone, iPod or Apple TV) would be just as enjoyable. Okay, you got me, they'd probably be just as good. But this doesn't mean you're excused from tagging your videos appropriately.

First, a bit of background. The vast majority of videos purchased from the iTunes store, as well as "digital copy" (iPod/iPhone pre-formatted videos that are sometimes included on DVDs and Blu-Ray discs), will come pre-tagged. So, the situation for those in this camp (myself included) is peachy, especially when using an Apple TV. Your videos show up on the screen screen with proper titles, season and episode numbers, actors, and descriptions. Just the way Steve likes 'em.

But what if you already own the DVD and want a version for your iTunes library? For those of you with the time and patience to rip an MPEG-4 version (and believe me, this takes some patience, especially if you use H.264 encoding) of your favorite videos, a HandBrake-MetaX martini make tagging your videos a bit more of a pleasurable experience - as if it wasn't fun enough already.

Apple has quietly pushed out software updates for both the Apple TV and the Remote application for the iPhone and iPod touch. The update, identified as version 2.4 for the Apple TV, and version 1.3 (24) for the Remote app, adds gesture support for controlling Apple TV from your iPhone or iPod.

Our in-house Apple TV geeks, Megan Lavey and Christina Warren, both installed the updates and gave them a try. Megan indicated the gestures were quick and responsive, and coupled with the ability to use the iPhone/iPod keyboard to search for shows, the new versions made it much less tedious to navigate through your shows.

Boxee users may wish to hold off on updating, however, as it seems that you may not be able to reinstall Boxee after completing the update. Also worth noting is that the new Remote app requires the 3.0 software update to be installed on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

With WWDC 09 coming up next week, Wall Street analysts are polishing their crystal balls and commenting on what they think we'll hear about. In a post on Barron's Tech Trader Daily blog, Eric Savitz polled the top tech analysts for their ideas.

Yair Reiner of Oppenheimer believes that the new iPhones will be delayed until WWDC so that the conference focus will be on Snow Leopard and iPhone OS 3.0. Shaw Wu of Kaufman Brothers is in agreement, and Wu also believes that AT&T will offer more flexible service plans, and that the iPhone line will split into a high-end version with improved battery life and a junior version with less functionality.

Savitz's post goes on to tap Phil Cusick of Macquarie Research for his ideas, which also include the split of the line into high-end and entry-level iPhones. He's noted as saying that the high-end phone will include both a front camera for video chat and a rear mounted autofocus camera, but that an OLED screen won't be a feature of this device.

Kathryn Huberty of Morgan Stanley is cited as believing that the new iPhones will be unveiled at WWDC, with a $100 price cut, lower AT&T service plan fees, and entrance into the China market, thereby increasing demand. Huberty is noted as thinking that Apple won't add another US carrier before 2011. Vincent Rech of Societe Generale also believes that China is ripe for an iPhone distribution deal.

Everybody's favorite research analyst, Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray, has high hopes for AppleTV in the near future, according to a post on the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital site today.

Blogger John Paczkowsi cites Munster as believing that Apple is working on both a new AppleTV for a September release and an App Store to go with it. WWDC 09 might be used as a launch site for an AppleTV SDK, along with an announcement of an App Store for AppleTV for a 2010 launch.

Munster, who has a pretty good track record at Apple predictions, feels that future AppleTV apps could include digital video services for expanding content offerings (he cites Hulu as an example) and that an SDK would enable use of the iPhone or iPod touch as a game controller.

The consensus? Pretty much everyone believes that new iPhones are imminent, although the timing of the release is up in the air. Several of the analysts believe that the new devices will be announced at a separate Apple event towards the end of June where Steve Jobs can make his long-awaited return to the company.

Whatever the outcome of WWDC, be sure to stay tuned to TUAW for our continuing coverage of this important event.

On a January day in 1981, my sisters and I experienced unbridled glee when our father came home with a shiny new VCR. Imagine: Movies. In our own house. Whenever we wanted. What a world! It was an enormous, top-loading hunk of metal and plastic that I'm sure is currently at the bottom of a Pennsylvania landfill.

The VCR's arrival spawned the movie rental shop, the biggest of which (In Scranton, anyway) was Blockbuster. Today, services like On Demand, Netflix, Hulu and to a lesser extent Apple TV have forced them to re-think their business model, and they're getting into the video on demand business as well.

According to AppleInsider, Blockbuster's vice president of digital entertainment Kevin Lewis recently told Reuters that they're going to make downloadable content available to TiVo customers soon, and Apple after that.

That's all the detail we've got, but we'll assume he meant the Apple TV and iTunes. We'll keep an eye on this story and keep you updated.

My favorite media center software, boxee, has just released a new alpha update for Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5 users and Apple TV users. This update, which the boxee team classifies as bleeding-edge (which means, if you don't want to deal with any potential bugs, wait for the more stable release scheduled for March 24, 2009) adds the "App Box" -- boxee's version of the App Store, automatic updates, and most excitingly, a new video-optimized RSS reader. The new RSS reader allows users to access Hulu's public RSS feeds directly from boxee.

Two weeks ago, boxee was forced to remove Hulu streams from its service. As boxee noted in its blog, users aren't going to wait around for Hulu's content providers to get with the program, or for an official agreement to be ironed out. Within hours of the initial Hulu shutdown, industrious coders created alternatives anyway; those alternatives were thwarted, rebuilt, thwarted again, and the game continues on. Although the RSS feed implementation isn't as slick or as quick as boxee's stand-alone app was, it's a start. Plus, on my 40" Samnsung HDTV, the quality wasn't bad at all. Playback was a little more stilted than via the direct boxee app, but it is certainly more than watchable.

Boxee's "App Box," which is similar to the Plex App Store, utilizes a lot of video source plugins previously available from places like BoxeeHQ. Now the installation process is one-click, and not a bunch of steps. Right now, the only repository of apps set by default is the official repository, which contains add-ons built by boxee or trusted sources, but you can easily add access to additional sources as they crop up (dir.boxeehq.com will get you access to every BoxeeHQ app). Some of the new sources that are especially cool: TED Talks and Boing!Boing! video. BoxeeHQ is prepping a PBS app for the March 24th boxee release, so lots of cool stuff is on the way.

To download the latest boxee release, head over to app.boxee.tv, head over to Download and download the Mac version. Apple TV boxee users just need to go to Downloads in the Launcher menu (where Boxee and XBMC are located) and grab the latest version (it'll say 0.9.9.5324 test version) that way. If you need to put boxee on your Apple TV, head over to the ATV-USB Creator page and you can get all the information you need to create a patchstick.

I've updated my Apple TV and my MacBook and I'm digging the new features. What do you think?

As one might expect in the hubub following Hulu's decision to block Boxee users from streaming its content, a technical work around has now popped up. Over at Lifehacker they've got complete instructions for installing a plugin for XBMC / Boxee that will bring back the brain-softening stream.

It appears to be a relatively simple process that works for both the Apple TV and the Mac versions of Boxee. Of course, there's no telling how long this particular patch will work, though frankly it seems hopeless on the part of Hulu. After all, they have to make their content available to web browsers, so in the end all the XBMC / Boxee hackers have to do is fool the Hulu servers into thinking they're streaming content to a regular web browser's Flash plugin. So unless I'm missing something, from a technical standpoint it seems like as long as the XBMC community is willing to write patches I don't see how Hulu can keep their content locked up. Of course whether they might have some legal recourse is another matter whatsoever.

Update: Apparently the plugin is already broken. Hopefully, a new one will pop up soon.

As a boxee user/proselytizer, I am gutted over the latest news: Hulu will be removed from boxee as of Friday (February 20, 2009). Hulu gives some insight into its request for removal from boxee in its blog post and at least Hulu seems to understand that this decision will be extremely unpopular for users. And I think that's an understatement.

So what's going on? Why would Hulu request the removal from a system that not only doesn't omit ads, but gives nothing but positive good will to the Hulu brand? As always, it seems to come down to money, or in this case, "content providers." Apparently big media still doesn't get it. Streaming TV shows over the web -- even in HD -- is apparently just fine, just don't make it easy to access or use on a TV-sized monitor.

Boxee isn't alone in feeling Hulu's wrath. Earlier today, Hulu content was yanked off of TV.com (CBS's TV portal that started offering programming in January). I sort of understand Hulu's position in regards to TV.com -- why give competitors a key to all of your content if you aren't going to get anything in return -- but boxee?

This is just incredibly short-sighted and a total lose for consumers, customers and TV viewers. Just as television networks are making waves in providing free alternatives to torrents (or buying stuff off of iTunes), they do stuff like this that only reinforces old habits.

The even more pathetic situation is that if I hook up my MacBook to my HDTV, using HDMI or DVI, I can still watch Hulu that way. I can even pause and fast forward from the comfort of my couch, if I use a Bluetooth keyboard. This just makes having a central box for all my media THAT much more difficult.

Will this end with boxee? What about the Hulu-capable TVs that debuted at CES? Are those devices somehow exempt?

We'll be following this story as it develops. As the boxee team says, they are committed to getting Hulu back on boxee. We hope something can be worked out soon.

Apple is now asking users of the Apple TV product to take a survey "in an effort to improve [the] Apple TV." According to Mac Rumors, new Apple TV owners were told about this data collection. In an email sent to various users, Apple gives us the following details about the survey:

"Please take a few minutes to complete this survey to help us understand how you use your Apple TV. Your responses will remain completely confidential and results will be viewed only in aggregate. We value and appreciate your input."

The survey takes a few minutes to complete, and provides users the ability to give their full input in the form of a text box. You can take the survey by clicking here.

Update: Apparently Apple is experiencing a heavy server load and the survey site is being very unresponsive or not at all responsive at this time.

Thanks for the tip, Zack!

Tom's Hardware says that Apple will use NVIDIA's Ion platform in an updated Mac mini, and AppleInsider says it could also be used in an updated Apple TV.

NVIDIA's Ion platform is a low-cost, small-form-factor logic board that includes both an NVIDIA graphics processor and Intel CPU (among other things). According to AppleInsider, Ion uses the same 9400M chipset used in the new MacBook and MacBook Pro models. We knew that existing iMac and Mac mini models are already using the 9400M as part of the NVIDIA MCP79 platform. Either way, with the 9400M, full-screen HD decoding is built-in.

According to Tom's Hardware, the Ion package slated for use with the Mac mini includes an Intel Atom 330 processor. AppleInsider says that performance gains for a new Mac mini based on this platform could require OpenCL, a technology only available so far in builds of Snow Leopard.

Tom's expects the new Mac mini to arrive in March, while AppleInsider, says that it could arrive "this month." Fingers crossed.

The Apple TV, on the other hand, with its 1GHz CPU, would see a significant boost with Ion. The margins on the Apple TV are already tight, though, and adding more power could break the bank on Apple's "hobby" project. But what if the next-generation Apple TV and Mac mini were one and the same?

It's a floor wax! It's a dessert topping! Stop, you're both right.

It isn't just about Macworld; shockingly there is some other tech news happening this week as well. Our pals over at boxee have just announced a new version, some love for UK users and some great news: no more invites needed!

Instead of hounding me (I kid, I never minded) for a boxee invite, you can sign-up yourself at boxee.tv/join and get downloads for the Mac, Apple TV and Ubuntu. The Windows alphas are still in closed testing, but progress is moving quickly.

Here's a run-down on what's new and improved:

• iPlayer support for UK users -- no more crying over the lack of overseas Hulu; you can now get the iPlayer via boxee
• Joost support
• MTV Music support
• dual-screen support
• Netflix improvements
• search in Hulu
• updates to the SMB library

Netflix is still only working on the Mac and not on the Apple TV, but this is a great update. I've been seeing some of the private builds and the improvements are nice. A reminder, boxee is still in alpha, but the development process is on a tear!

All day on December 25, TUAW presents "Now What?" We've got first steps and recommendations for all the Apple gifts you (hopefully!) found under the tree today. Happy holidays!

The Apple TV launched almost two years ago and has yet to really "take off." That's OK, with more and more downloadable HD content, improved support for stuff like podcasts and Airtunes and some awesome third-party solutions, the Apple TV can easily become a great media center.

Did Santa bring you an Apple TV this year? These are my tips for making it even more awesome!

Boxee It

I've made no secret about my unabashed love for boxee, the awesome media center with a social kick that can run on your Apple TV. It should be no surprise that my first piece of advice is that you set-up boxee on your Apple TV as soon as you get it connected to your TV and home theater.

Need an invite? If you don't have a friend to ask, check out the boxee forums, hit up the boxee Twitter feed or pester me (@film_girl) and you should be able to get one pretty quickly. On January 8th, 2009, boxee will be opening up the alpha for everyone.

After you've updated your Apple TV to the latest firmware, follow my instructions or take a look the information at the ATV USB Creator project page for the the details on making a patchstick. The process is extremely easy and you just need a USB stick (1 GB or more recommended) and a few minutes to get everything up and running.

Once boxee is installed, you can enjoy Hulu (if you live in the US), streaming video from other services, last.fm and playback of other file types that won't natively play on the Apple TV; you can store those files either on the Apple TV, or that you access from another hard drive.

Learn about the other cool software add-ons

I really love the Awkward TV Wiki, which is a great way to stay abreast of the latest programs and hacks users have created for the Apple TV. Most of these plugins can be installed via a patchstick -- like boxee -- and they run on-top of the existing Apple TV interface. Some of the coolest utilities, like Couchsurfer, have recently been updated for firmware 2.3.

Although modifying your Apple TV does come with some risks (you might have to do a factory restore if something goes wrong), the methodology of applying said modifications has become much, much easier and you really aren't putting your Apple TV at risk. Still, keep in mind that Apple won't provide any technical support for a modified Apple TV (which means, restore it to factory settings before sending it back :-)).

Try out a new remote, ore the iPhone/iPod touch remote app

One of the most usefulf feature additions in firmware 2.3 is the ability to program a universal remote to work with the Apple TV. If you have a really nice programmable remote, like the Logitech Harmony, you've already been able to use it with the Apple TV -- but now you can do the same thing with your TV or receiver remote.

Even better, if you have an iPhone or iPod touch, the Remote app [iTunes link] is pretty awesome. The Remote app let's you control music from your Apple TV -- which is fantastic if you want to use the ATV as a music center.

Rent some holiday movies or buy a holiday TV show

'Tis the season! Rent or buy a Christmas movie directly from the Apple TV! You can also peruse some holiday TV classics, like The Best Christmukkah Ever from the first season of The O.C.

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm super thankful that I have been able to spend the last 13 months blogging for TUAW and interacting with all of you. On a more superficial note, I am also thankful for my Macs and all the cool stuff Apple products enable me to do.

The newest member of my Apple family is the Apple TV. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk to Avner and Andrew from boxee, the company behind the social media player of the same name. Boxee released an update earlier this week, but the next big version is set for December 4, 2008. Avner and Andrew were nice enough to answer my questions, share some details about the future of boxee and best of all, provide a link so that TUAW readers can join in the fun! If you want to try boxee on your Mac or Apple TV, enter your e-mail address at http://boxee.tv/tuaw and you should get an invite within 24 hours.

In the comments, on Twitter and via e-mail, many of you have asked questions about boxee, its limitations and its future. I took these questions and comments to Avner and Andrew, and here's what I got back.

On .MKV support for Apple TV

Boxee supports the .MKV container and if you are using a Mac mini, MacBook, iMac or Mac Pro, boxee can play back 1080p .mkv files without a problem. Apple TV is limited by its processor and GPU, and it maxes out playing back 420p and 720p .MKV content. I don't usually deal with .MKV, but a quick Google search turned up a lot of information about programs that can be used to convert files. Apparently, the PS3 has this same limitation.

Hulu performance

A number of users have complained about the quality of boxee's Hulu playback. I also noticed a decrease in quality after the latest update. The update on December 4 is going to address this. The big problem, for Apple TV owners, is once again the limitations of the hardware. Seeing as Apple TV's can stream HD content from iTunes (when downloading anyway), I think this is something that can be greatly improved, but it might take some time. Boxee is still in alpha and the goal is to enter beta sometime next year, so while I think the fact that Hulu is supported at all is fantastic, the Apple TV experience might take some time to fully evolve. If you are using a Mac for boxee playback, your performance will be much better.

We've covered boxee, a fantastic media center application that can run on your Mac or Apple TV. With its attractive interface and support for Hulu, boxee is what convinced my boyfriend and me to order an Apple TV. Predictably, the day our second Apple TV arrived from Apple (the first unit broke after watching just one movie), the 2.3 software update was released, nullifying our boxee goodness.

Fortunately, the boxee team has updated boxee to support 2.3. Even better, the geniuses behind USB Creator -- a tool that makes installing boxee and the XBMC on an Apple TV a snap -- have updated their awesome software to make the whole process seamless.

If you want to install boxee and XMBC on your Apple TV, this is what you want to do. You will need a USB flash drive (minimum of 512 MB, though 1 GB or higher is recommended):