http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2951&p=1

GPU:

"The chip itself is a GeForce Go 7300:

The Go 7300 has 4 pixel pipes and 3 vertex pipes and a 64-bit memory interface. On the bottom of the motherboard you'll see the two 32MB Samsung 700MHz GDDR3 devices for a total of 64MB of dedicated graphics memory. The Go 7300 does support Turbo Cache so it can get speedy access to main memory, but given that the Apple TV will be required to deal with fancy graphics and transitions at resolutions as great as 720p or 1080i it makes sense to have a good amount of local memory. As thoughtfully pointed out by AnandTech reader Eug, the Go 7300 may also be used to help accelerate H.264 video decode."

CPU:

"We believe that the Intel CPU in the Apple TV is an Ultra Low Voltage Pentium M based on the Dothan core, running at 1GHz (max frequency), 400MHz FSB and a 2MB L2 cache.

Each Nanya DDR2 device is 64MB in size, for a total of 256MB of main memory that the Apple TV has at its disposal."

I wonder if the IDE channel supports 2 devices. If so couldnt you load up an OS. Would be rather neat to have a computer at that dimensions. I guess one way to check is just to attach an optical drive instead of a HDD and run a live OS from the optical drive.

http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2951&p=1

CPU:

"We believe that the Intel CPU in the Apple TV is an Ultra Low Voltage Pentium M based on the Dothan core, running at 1GHz (max frequency), 400MHz FSB and a 2MB L2 cache.

Each Nanya DDR2 device is 64MB in size, for a total of 256MB of main memory that the Apple TV has at its disposal."

Looks like it got hacked already:
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2391956

Apparently, people can mount the AppleTV drive (using an external enclosure) on another Mac and install whatever quicktime components you feel like.

Just think about the endless possibilities.... a slimmed-down version of eyeTV? It's basically a low-power mac with an HDMI output.... geeky, but interesting.

Looks like it got hacked already:
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2391956

Apparently, people can mount the AppleTV drive (using an external enclosure) on another Mac and install whatever quicktime components you feel like.

Just think about the endless possibilities.... a slimmed-down version of eyeTV? It's basically a low-power mac with an HDMI output.... geeky, but interesting.

I prefer to think about codec support and the elimination of frame-rate caps. Maybe I'll get one of these things after all.

Looks like it got hacked already:
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2391956


Wow! And this is after only one day! Imagine what they can do in week :)

Wow! And this is after only one day! Imagine what they can do in week :)

Absolutely!
I'm also wondering if it could handle full 1920x1080i... but then there's still a bunch of bottlenecks.... no gigabit ethernet, no firewire.

Firewire and Gig are not bottlenecks for 1080i.

I stream 1080i all the time from my HDHomeRun to my MBP over G perfectly.
10/100 handles it easily and USB 2.0 is 480Mbps, when only ~20Mbps is needed for ATSC sourced 1080i.

Yes I agree, this thing looks very hackable and I am already trying to figure out what I can do with mine.
I haven't even been able to enjoy it for more than 15 minutes, cause it's been apart.
Good thing is I already have a backup of the Drive so now I can always roll back if needed.

Firewire and Gig are not bottlenecks for 1080i.

I stream 1080i all the time from my HDHomeRun to my MBP over G perfectly.
10/100 handles it easily and USB 2.0 is 480Mbps, when only ~20Mbps is needed for ATSC sourced 1080i.


You're right of course. I had been thinking in terms of standalone eyetv player with firewire external harddrives. I'd like to know if the built-in Geforce 7300 and the cpu (see Jimwesternguy's post above) are fast enough for 1080i.

I read on another blog type site that the OS is not on the HDD but sort of like embedded firmware? Is this so?

I guess that would prevent custom OS on the HDD if the OS itself is on a chip.

I read on another blog type site that the OS is not on the HDD but sort of like embedded firmware? Is this so?

I guess that would prevent custom OS on the HDD if the OS itself is on a chip.They've pulled the drive, stuck it in a portable enclosure, mounted it on a regular Mac, modded the OS, replaced it back in the appleTV (with working OS additions), and are hacking it right now as we speak over at Something Awful (http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2391956&perpage=40&pagenumber=1). They've already installed Perian and have it running xvid. Much more. It's like reading a mystery novel over there, not knowing how it's going to end (he says as he hits the reload button at SA).

Seems like Apple has left this thing wide open to the hacker/modder crowd, and they're having a heyday!

Gizmodo reports that upgrading the HD is possible too. They have one running with 120GB.

[edit]The breakdown at AnandTech didn't reveal any flash memory for an embedded OS, so it appears to be HD-driven ,a 40GB 4200rpm Fujitsu.

Thanks wildrock. I'll read up on it later as it is blocked from my workplace. The hardware size is neat in itself adding additional support will make the software side even neater.

This sounds very good. I wonder if they can do anything about the 5.1 support and a higher bitrate for audio?

This sounds very good. I wonder if they can do anything about the 5.1 support and a higher bitrate for audio?They've already got Perian running, and all of the codecs it supports. The lead on the A52 codec project chimed in that he's going to work on it to see if they can get the AC3 support enabled.

Pretty exciting. It looks like Apple dumbed down the box for the masses, yet left it open to the mod crowd to add in all the extra features. Lots of news to come in the near future to see just what can be done with this box. They're talking about enabling the USB for for a keyboard right now.

There's going to be a lot of sleep-deprived hackers out there for a while.

[edit]
The appleTV is running "Apple TV OS 10.4.7 (8N5107)" as reported by the System Profiler. It has a 900MB OSBoot volume, with the rest of the drive partitioned into a Media volume. Damn those folks at Something Awful are fast!

Saweet! What I'm really interested in is being able to play my collection of backed up DVD's. That would be real nice.

Saweet! What I'm really interested in is being able to play my collection of backed up DVD's. That would be real nice.I'd say the way the hackers (good folks :D ) at sumpin awful are having at it, it will happen, sooner than later. There's an IRC Freenode group running at #perian discussing it, too, if anyone monitors freenode.

They've got VLC running full audio and video on it. iTunes, AFP, and more. :)

I posted a how to upgrade the drive a bit ago.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/23/how-to-upgrade-the-drive-in-your-apple-tv/

It occurs to me that once these hacker-types really get this stuff right, there will be a good market for them to charge a modest fee to user-types to really unlock the potential of their aTVs...

It occurs to me that once these hacker-types really get this stuff right, there will be a good market for them to charge a modest fee to user-types to really unlock the potential of their aTVs...

Yep. Just like PTVupgrade for Tivos. Their whole based is based around upgrading Tivos. I'd cough up $50 to not have to reincode all my MPEG2s and Xvids.