If you find yourself looking at your Apple TV every Tuesday to learn what new releases Apple and the movie studios have blessed us with, then you might find Apple TV Junkie really useful. That's because Apple TV Junkie posts all of the new releases of High Definition rentals -- along with other important Apple TV news.

In one glance of the page you can find out:

• The $.99 movie rental of the week
• How many HD movies grace the iTunes shelves
  
• Top 10 movie purchases
  
• Top 10 movie rentals
  

So, if you're always looking for the hotest new movie rentals on the Apple TV and iTunes, you can make Apple TV Junkie your first stop.

[via Tekzilla]

Parties can sometimes be boring, but with a Mac with an iSight and an Apple TV, you can liven up any party! In this how-to, I am going to show you how to create an Automator workflow that will take pictures at specified times and sync them over to your Apple TV, all without you ever lifting a finger. This Automator workflow is fantastic when you have people over for a party they can head over to your Mac, take a crazy picture of themselves and have it synced over to the Apple TV in the living room.

Continue reading to learn how to make this Automator workflow.

Rogue Amoeba has announced Airfoil 3.2, the latest release of their audio utility which allows you to play any Mac audio over your Apple TV, AirPort Express, or other Macs. In addition to improving support for the latest generation Expresses ("including full password support and better synchronization"), the big addition with version 3.2 is remote control support. With either the Apple Remote on the Apple TV or the Keyspan Express Remote for an Express, Airfoil now allows you to play/pause and move forward/back on tracks playing through either iTunes or QuickTime Player.

The upgrade is free for registered users, while new copies of Airfoil for Mac are $25; a demo is available.

If you have an Apple TV and are interested in some of the exciting things you can do by hacking it (e.g. adding additional video codec support like divx, etc.) but have been too chicken to try it yourself, you may be interested in the aTV Flash from Apple Core. Basically the aTV Flash is a patchstick -- a USB flash drive preloaded with software to modify the Apple TV OS. You just plug it in to your Apple TV and it automatically hacks your Apple TV to add multiple codec support, SSH access, the Couch Surfer browser, and much more.

The aTV Flash is compatible with the current Apple TV Take Two and they offer free updates for a year. However, all this convenience will cost you -- $59.95 to be precise. It's also worth keeping in mind that all of this can be done for little or no cost if you want to get your hands dirty. But if the convenience of a plug and play option is worth it to you the aTV Flash may be worth checking out.

[via MacMerc]

When I was a lad in Pennsylvania, renting a movie meant driving to Scranton Video (this is pre-Blockbuster, boys and girls) and crossing your fingers in hopes that something you actually want to watch will be among the four dozen VHS tapes they had in stock. Of course, the previous customer didn't rewind the tape before returning it.

A few years later, Blockbuster provided a much larger collection of unwound movies I didn't want to see. Eventually, Netflix took the inconvenient travel out of the equation (except for us small-town folk with PO Boxes) by sending movies through the mail. And there was much rejoicing.

Today, services like On Demand and Apple TV have eliminated the taxing walk to your mailbox by delivering movies directly to your television. Customers can rent, download and watch a hit movie faster than you can say "sedentary lifestyle." And Netflix wants a piece of the (in)action.

Neflix and Roku have produced the Netflix Player, a $99US set top box that allows Netflix customers to stream any of the 10,000 available movies and TV shows. It connects via HDMI, composite, or component, and allows users to browse the library and make selections with the remote.

At one hundred bucks, it's less expensive than an Apple TV, but it also does a lot less -- no iTunes or iPhoto synchronization, current trailers, etc. It's not a real threat to the Apple TV, but evidence that the set top box is here to say.

[Via AppleInsider]

In a recent Ask TUAW we addressed a question about getting divx video files to register properly as TV Shows in Front Row. In the discussion that followed one of our readers suggested VideoDrive as an easy way of accomplishing this. Basically, VideoDrive allows you to import your videos into iTunes without converting them, while still having full control over the metadata, including the tags that control placing videos either in the TV Shows or Movie categories. That way they will appear in the appropriate submenus in both Front Row and on the Apple TV. VideoDrive can also download cover art form Amazon as well as clean up file names and more. Keep in mind, however, that the appropriate codecs must already be installed to use this (check our Perian for this purpose).

VideoDrive is €12.99 (~$20) and a demo limited to 12 videos is available for download.

As we posted earlier today, Apple announced that several movie studios will now be releasing digital versions of their movies for sale on the same day as the DVD. Even Apple TV users can get in on the fun. You now have the option of buying movies directly on your Apple TV, whereas before today you could only rent movies from Apple TV. Sure, it's not groundbreaking considering you could buy the movie on your Mac and transfer it to your Apple TV, but it's nice to see the added layer of convenience.

Apple TV owners will also note a new "Top Sellers" category in the "Top Movies" page, an additional option for those times when you want to crowdsource your movie selection.

Thanks, Kevin!

If the native hackability of the version of OS X on the Apple TV isn't enough for you, there's now a convenient boot loader that allows you to install linux. This also opens up the possibility of running linux based video software, particularly MPlayer, Myth TV, and XMBC. Further, since there are linux drivers for the NVIDIA hardware decoder in the Apple TV there's also the possibility of higher resolution 1080i output as opposed to the 720p it's normally limited to.

Unfortunately, this is project is still in the early stages and none of this is working perfectly yet. Nonetheless, it's a interesting development on the Apple TV hacking front.

[via Apple TV Hacks]

Apple TV Source notes that the latest 2.0.2 update makes internet radio work a little better with the Apple TV. Basically you can play internet radio streams on the Apple TV if you have it synced to an iTunes computer with a playlist containing the streams. Before the update the source computer had to be on for this to work. Now, however, the Apple TV will retain the playlist even without the iTunes computer until it is restarted (it will retain the playlists even if put to sleep). The original post has complete instructions.

Apple has updated the Apple TV software to version 2.0.1. This is the first update to the Apple TV since the game-changing Take 2 software was released. Generally, with these "point releases," Apple doesn't change many things (mostly bug fixes and such).

The only significant difference in the update is the implementation of Genres in the "My Movies" list. Have you noticed any new features that we haven't covered? Be sure to tell us in the comments.

Thanks to everyone that sent in a tip!

Earlier this week, AppleInsider reported on an Apple TV patent filed in 2006 and just published; it shows DVR features, and the patent also includes a feature where the iPod could be docked with the Apple TV to sync content for on-the-go viewing.

"For example, program data for upcoming programs, e.g., for the next month, can be downloaded and stored on the remote control device," Apple said in the patent. "Thereafter, a user of the remote control device can search programs that are to be broadcast and determine which programs to record. The recording settings can be programmed onto the remote control device, and then be provided to the video device when a data communication is established between the remote control device and the video device."

If Apple manages to implement DVR functionality for the Apple TV, it could definitely bring a game-changing device to the TV industry. Who knows, it could become a direct competitor to the TiVo. Be sure to look through our gallery of patent filing pictures.

[via AppleInsider]

As Macworld has reported, Apple has failed to meet their target of 1000 standard definition rentals and 100 HD rentals, that they claimed would be available by the end of February. While the number of HD titles available via Apple TV is pretty close to the promised figure, 91 according to Macworld, not all of these films offer DD 5.1, which was one of the hyped HD features.

As for regular rentals, by Macworld's calculations, around 400 titles are available (my own calculations show 417), which isn't a substantial increase from my own calculations back in January. The total number of available films, for rent or purchase, available via iTunes is teetering around 800 by my calculations. Clearly, this is well short of 1000 titles.

So the question becomes, why is there a delay? Some of the editorials that have appeared online seem to take the position that Apple failed to meet predictions in part because of delays with the Apple TV software. While I could see how that might affect the number of available HD titles (and remember, HD titles are much closer to meeting expectations than regular rentals), this just seems too convenient.

It has also been inevitable that parallels be drawn between the number of available movie rentals and the delays with the iPhone SDK, as if there is some sort of pattern in Apple not meeting expectations. To me, this makes absolutely no sense. As far as I can tell (and granted, I'm no expert), the iPhone SDK is wholly unrelated to iTunes and the iTunes rentals. The fact that both systems have had logistical problems with roll out is unfortunate, but I can't see how they are either related or indicative of a trend.

So what's the real story? While I doubt we will ever get a definitive answer, I think Ars Technica has the most plausible theory: licensing issues with the movie studios. It's no secret that the studios have been reticent to fully embrace digital distribution. Personally, I think the fear that digital rental sales could cannibalize home video sales is understandable. Home video attributes for a huge amount of the studios return on investment and embracing one model at the risk of another must be scary.

Plus, it is clear that Apple had to cede to the studio demands just to get the rental agreements in the first place. True, all the major studios are represented, but certain production companies still have the right to refuse to appear on iTunes. Apple also conceded to flexible pricing and a 30-day exclusive DVD window (if the studio chooses to invoke it). Apple does not possess the power they have in music sales in the video space, as such, I find it more than plausible to believe that they are more at the studio's mercy for when films will be available and on what terms.

Undoubtedly a large library was one of the keys to iTunes' success in music. It is crucial that Apple achieve something similar if they want rentals to succeed. It's easy to blame Apple for dropping the ball, but in this case, I really think this is something that is out of their control.

[via Ars]

In the first half of our iTunes movie rental debate, Mike stakes out the "Pro" position on extended-duration rentals with an appeal on behalf of tired, stressed parents everywhere.

Let me just say it: there is a perfect market for iTunes movie rentals. It's the same market that Netflix or VOD sales addresses, the same audience that prefers (or is limited to) staying at home rather than a night out at the movies. You know who we are -- the stroller patrol, the breeder bastion, the Momfia... the parents. We crave entertainment, and we're willing to pay for it, but our evenings are squeezed to the point of nonexistence. By the time the offspring are fed and watered, tucked away in their beds, we might only have an hour or two's worth of 'we' time to enjoy a feature film. If someone wakes up and needs 15 minutes of settling back to bed, well, forget it. With the 24-hour watch time limitation on iTunes movies, tomorrow night, when we might have another chance to view our movie, it's too late.

Thus, opinionated folk such as David Pogue, Rob Griffiths, Glenn Fleishman, and our reader Marshall (his open letter to Apple is reproduced at the end of this post) all concur that some form of extension past the 24-hour limit makes great sense to parents and great sense to Apple's rental market. I join my voice to theirs, and offer this modest proposal: Add a $0.50 surcharge for a 6-hour extension, or $1 for a 12-hour bump. Make the extra time optional -- you'd still have to decide and pay for it at rental time, not add it on after renting the movie, as the DRM challenges of a shifting finish line + multiple playback devices are probably too much to handle. I bet that parents of young kids, or families with variable evening schedules, would fork over the extra spare change to extend their rental times, and let's remember that those couple of quarters are pure profit (it costs the same in encoding and bandwidth for a 36-hour movie to download as for a 24-hour movie). I'd gladly take the extra time for free, but if you've got to add a modest surcharge I'll swallow my pride.

Give me a 36-hour rental and I promise this: I will buy an Apple TV and I will start renting movies on it. That's $225, cash on the barrel, plus what I'll spend on the flicks. Who's with me?

I've been looking for a good way to get a subtitled movie – with a SubRip (srt) file – into iTunes, my Apple TV and my iPod. I hadn't found much joy before this morning. Then I stumbled upon Submerge. I need to do some tweaking in the detailed preferences yet, but it seems to do the trick quite well.

Submerge supports most video formats, including mov, avi, and mp4. In addition to SubRip, it also supports the SubViewer 1 & 2 (sub) and MicroDVD subtitle formats. By allowing the aspect ratio to be forced in the conversion, Suberge can make better use of screen real estate on various devices. And if you want to speed things up, there's also support for the Elgato Turbo.264. Overall, it seems to be a great solution. Of course, if there's a better program for doing this for under $10, I'm looking forward to hearing about it in the comments.

Submerge is $9 and has a free trial available for download.

Rogue Amoeba has announced an update for Airfoil to version 3.1, adding support for sending audio to the Apple TV. Unlike the built-in iTunes support, Airfoil allows you to stream any audio source from your Mac to your Apple TV, Airport Express, or other Macs running their Airfoil Speakers client application. This allows you to use your Apple TV to listen to web-based "radio" sources like Pandora (my favorite) or last.fm, as well as other media players like QuickTime Player, etc.

Airfoil 3.1 is a free update to registered users and $25 for new users. A demo is available for download.