We recently wrote about the plethora of unnoficial AppleTV hacks to have surfaced on the Internet, including a plug-in that brought YouTube access to Apple’s set-top-box. As of today that particular hacker can take a well earned rest (or move onto another cool project) because Apple will soon release an update which enables the device to browse, search, and playback YouTube content.
From the press release:
Beginning in mid-June, Apple TV will wirelessly stream videos directly from YouTube and play them on a user’s widescreen TV. Using Apple TV’s elegant interface and simple Apple Remote, viewers can easily browse, find and watch free videos from YouTube in the comfort of their living room.
Also of note is that users will be able to log-in to their YouTube accounts from the AppleTV so that they’ll be able to view and save their favorite videos.
YouTube support on the AppleTV is something that I’ve called for right from the start, and in many ways I’m not surprised to see Apple add this new feature. One of the reasons that the hackers have had so much joy developing unofficial add-ons is because the AppleTV’s software already has a plug-in architecture — suggesting that Apple always intended to roll out new functionality. (What upgrades do you think we’ll see next? Let us know in the comments.)
In more AppleTV-related news, Apple now offers a build-to-order version of its set-top-box with the option of a 160GB hard drive — priced at an extra $100 ($399). Nice!
