Touting the ability to play downloaded videos and streamable shows on your living room set, Apple TV is now boosting its rep to  techie households everywhere with Apple TV commercials. This one particular commercial shows iTunes movies on Macs and iPods that end up eventually on your own entertainment showcase in the living room - the primal ability to Apple TV.

Despite the current flak Apple TV is getting from TiVo and Windows Media Center fans, a plethora of modders, hackers and Internet TV enthusiasts have boasted everything that can be possible on the device, including game emulation and games, plus HD playback on TVMini HD.

The slim, silver device from the Cupertino-based company was already released back in March, and should still be available at your nearest Mac or home theater retailer. Oh, and you could probably grab a different flavor of Apple TV for room preferences.

We mentioned in an earlier post on our Apple blog that videogame console emulation is apparently possible on Apple's new Apple TV. If you're still a bit skeptical about that, here's proof. Gizmodo has posted a video of an enterprising Apple TV owner - Rusty - playing Super Mario Bros. on an Apple TV.

Rusty says that this was made possible through the use of a standard Apple TV OS plus a few hacks. "Pretty simple hack to accomplish," he said. "Just enabled shh. Then VNC, AFP and USB. Then installed Nestopia and Emulator Enhancer." Nestopia is one of the emulators confirmed to be compatible with the Apple TV OS.

Anyway, check out the video below. Now who's to say that Apple gaming's nonexistent?

The Apple TV is a set-top box selling for US$ 299. Dubbed as "the next-gen of home entertainment", the Apple TV lets you play any media content like music, podcasts, movies, TV shows stored in your computer onto your TV. You can get digital content from the internet and play it on your TV, instead of getting DVDs from a store. With the help of the Apple TV, you can even watch a part of your movie in the living room and finish it in your iPod.

A set-top box like the Apple TV plays your computer content on your widescreen TV. What if the tables were turned and the computer - specifically a MacBook - plays the Apple TV instead of the other way around? This sort of scenario happens in this vid we have here. Too bad we didn't get a tutorial about how to perform this; it'll be nice to do it just to see it could be done.

Check out this YouTube vid of an Apple TV running on a MacBook.

The guys from AwkwardTV.org have successfully booted Apple's recently-released Apple TV via USB. They also uploaded a video of the external USB bootstrap, and here's what Ozzy from AwkwardTV.org has to say about it:

...our first successful external USB bootstrap from a recovery image on the Apple TV. This will allow us to begin development of externally booting the Apple TV without having to crack open the case and modifying any of the contents at all.

In order to prove that the Apple TV is actually booting off of the hard disk attached to it via USB, Ozzy from AwkwardTV.org "modified the bootlogo png file on the recovery partition on the external disk." Check out the vid below.

Just like most Apple products out there, Apple TV sprang out of nowhere and awed fans with its amazing features. It was introduced at this year's Macworld Expo in San Fran and Steve Jobs himself was the one who introduced it to the public. However, some say that a Mac Mini, an ordinary TV set, and a sprinkle of wits could also perform the same exact magic of Apple TV without the rather steep price.

Anyway, some of you might still not be familiar with Apple TV, so we hosted this interface walkthrough video from Engadget. The video is quite informative and educational, so to speak, going through Apple's wireless media streamer that includes playing back movies, trailers, and music, and watching photos. There are also some lessons on how to tweak the setup and options menu.

Apple TV began shipping a couple of days ago, March 20 to be exact, with a price tag of US$ 299.

A controversial video related to the 2008 US democratic party nominations is making rounds on the internet. Although the ad has been connected to Sen. Barack Obama, his campaign says that they have nothing to do with the ad. The said ad depicts a young blonde female athlete running with a sledgehammer towards a widescreen, where Sen. Hillary Clinton talks to a mass of zombielike followers.

This political ad was based on an ad released by Apple in 1984. TV Guide ran a 1999 story on this Apple ad, naming it number one on the "50 Greatest Commercials of All Time" list. Apple spent a then-outlandish sum of US$ 400,000 to produce the ad and US$ 500,000 to air it. It aired only once at the Super Bowl XVIII but it turned the then little-known brand Apple into a household name and started the whole Super Bowl ad craze.

Here's the Obama ad, while the 1984 Apple Ad can be found at Full Article for your comparison.

SnoopTunes Noestring Attached has been around for some time but is only catching on now. In case you are not so familiar with this gadget, it is an addon device for the iPod which gives the unit wireless sharing capabilities. We're not so keen on adding this bit but, yeah, it's pretty much like the Zune's own wireless music sharing feature.

The gadget was designed by a brilliant 16-year old kid named Kristyn Heath. We wonder now what does Steve jobs, or the rest of the Apple company for that matter, thinks about Heath and her creation.

Anyway, the gadget itself weighs around 10g and it measures 79 mm X 25 mm X 25 mm. There are five available channels as of now and a total number of two channel memories. It is powered by an AAA battery.
If you want to know more about the product, there's a video capture below of SnoopTunes Noestring Attached as recently featured by NBC. The gadget can be purchased over at eBay for US$ 59.99.

iPod owners may want to hear out this interesting information regarding their players. Apple is apparently planning to release a new firmware update which will, among other things, give your iPod the same Cover Flow view under use on iTunes. You don't have to imagine how that'll look, as we've picked up this video via Gizmodo to demonstrate the feature.

Of course, we advise the hopefuls to keep a stiff upper lip until new info arises - along with more details on what else this update does in light of the recent Vista fix that was released.

A guy who goes by the YouTube username of tzywen has just coded a PocketPC program that mimics the iPhone's interface. It's not a firmware, just a program running in fullscreen. The program utilizes the Eten M600 PocketPC's touchscreen to make it work just like an iPhone. Almost everything's in there too: the sliding lock, SMS, calendar... like I said, almost everything.

It also has the iPod feature, but tzywen says that it's still under development. Pretty much all you can do with it is scroll up and down. It can't play any songs yet, but it does prove that you can imitate the iPhone using just a PocketPC. In tzywen's own words, "It just depends on how far you're willing to go." Check out the vid below.

We covered the story surrounding Apple's plans to place an ad for the iPhone prior to the Oscar night's premiere just a couple of days ago. But now people who've watched the show from opening to closing credits pointed out the craftiness in Apple's ad specifically made for the Oscars.

The 79th Academy Awards night stirred up Tinsel Town for a long stroll down the "red carpet," aside from the occasional pose and chat with fans and correspondents. Apple made sure they were at the party, too, by making use of their crafty advertising skills. Although the entire video seems pretty simplistic, it makes use of footage from classic to modern movies, each one sporting a "Hello?" line. Tailored for the Oscars? A resounding yes.