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XMBC Comes to iPad, iPhone4, AppleTV2

Posted on January 21, 2011 by editor

XBMC, an open source, free software project designed to provide an extendable platform for TV set top boxes, has been ported to the new iOS based Apple TV, iPhone 4 and iPad.

XMBC Comes to iPad and iPhone 4

After porting XBMC to the A4 chip for the new Apple TV, the group has decided to also release the software for the architecturally similar iPad and iPhone 4, "because we can."

Apple's iOS family are the first ARM Architecture devices able to run XBMC. Previous releases run on x86 PCs and Macs, and originally the first Xbox, a port which has since been discontinued (the modern Xbox 360 is PowerPC based and can not run XBMC). An XBMC remote app exists for Android, but only functions as a controller for a standalone XBMC machine.

XBMC on Apple TV

The new port makes Apple TV one of the cheapest devices that can run the XBMC platform (originally targeted at the first generation Xbox as "Xbox Media Center"), but it's not just cheap; it also appears to be quite powerful.

Rather than only allowing for thin client streaming, the new release for Apple TV will support the full XBMC platform, including support for playing a variety of codecs, with hardware support for both 720p and 1080p HD video. The group says that "no longer is your AppleTV2 chained to iTunes."

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