Have been using the Apple TV 2nd gen. 2010 for a while, here is what my experience..

I suggest the ATV is just like iProducts, yet another i-Product that Apple didn’t spend/have enough time to test it before the product launch.

1/. Since it only has optical audio output (no 3.5mm nor composite Audio), all audio related output will depend on HDMI port, there is NO WAY of turning off the display when streaming Audio from the iTunes. (for whatsoever reason, power save, screen life etc…), there is only screensaver function on ATV, no screen off after a period, and you cannot turn off the display device either because the Audio output depends on that.

2/. I am having a problem with Audio volume that some of the Movie/Youtube clips/Movie Trailers have different Audio level, there is no normalizer, and basically no way of changing them with the ATV remote, you just cannot expect users to put the ATV Remote down and get yet another remote to do simple volume up/down/mute right?

3/. Video streaming is as raw as can be, I know iTunes only do MP4s, but no SRT/SUB support on streaming like all other player, example AirVideo on i-Devices.

4/. iTunes really needs more work to get better user experiences for user to enjoy ATV, I know iTunes is as suck as before, but at least can Apple please get their focus back to the basic functions instead of dreaming to get a piece of social networking pie? (Ping? we already has Twitter, Buzz, Facebook….chomp 2^1024 other open options.)

Still, I think ATV is a very good idea, well designed piece of hardware, I am sure if Jailbreak communities get more progress or Apple gets the AppStore for it (if ever) we should be able to do way more cool functions on this cool little box.

It was known that Jailbreak was possible (I remember someone report PwnageTools works on JB-ing ATV on pre-patched firmware)
Now limera1n is known by reports from users that DOES JB the ATV.

Not so excited yet tho, since no OpenSSH nor APT works “yet”, there is not much room for hacking yet….
Since one cannot “install” nor “execute” any Apps on the ATV now.

P.S.:
A bit of corrections, yes there are way to “install” apps on ATV even now, but since there is no Springboard (Launcher Like) UI, and there is no SSH yet, there is no way of executing the application yet..
But since the hard part has been passed (JB), hopes are high and I think that should be just around the corner… (I want lighttpd+PHP+Perl+SQLite and AirVideo on ATV!!!)

Links:
– TUAW – limera1n jailbreak released, greenpois0n jailbreak delayed
– Geeky-gadgets – Limera1n Jailbreak Works On Apple TV

Busy work today, so I can only took a little bit time off after office hour to test out my new toy.

Hardware setup was simple, HDMI, Power Cable in, display on, done done.

First setup was easy, ATV asked me about Language, English it is, connecting var Wifi, found router at work by itself, entered WPA2 password done done.

UI was simple, main menu was categorised in Movies, Internet, Computer, Settings.

Movies: with the default setup, I can view trailers for movies.
Internet: Youtube and others, tested out a few youtube clips, a little bit disappointed with the quality of playback, not Apple TV’s fault, never watched youtube on a 32inch display and I think it is what it should looks like, I then signed in my youtube account, played a few playlist with ease, happy about it.
Computer: Updated my iTunes at work to 10.x (latest), turned on home sharing, I was able to stream my music, photos and video to the ATV.
Settings: Didn’t went thru all of the settings yet.

There is a network problem at work that firewall acts very funny with traffics, I am having trouble on getting home sharing to work smoothly, not ATV’s fault, this network problem was known for a while, a little bit disappointed with quality on some of the streams, but I think it shall improve by time since most of our clips are not on HD (720p) yet (I have LOTS of HD at home, not at work)

While playing back a 60 mins 1080i h264 VBR clips, I have an unexpected reboot while 3X fast forwarding the clip, the ATV just when blank with no signal and reboot itself, it went up quick after the reboot, I suspect it was problem of the clip since it was VBR and compressed in a strange way, and honest 3X playback with my click click click over the remote…well..

One thing to point out is input by the remote was a joke, my password are at least 14chars+, and entering that over the remote was ar……what world is it now? shall we connect a Bluetooth Keyboard to it? (never took the time to read specs. on this issue, was it possible?)

Overall experience:
Fair to Good.

I have yet to update my iPad to OS4.2 for the AirPlay function, and with Jailbreak possibility, I am really looking forward to this baby!