Having a web browser running on the Apple TV has always been on top of my list of hacks I wish somebody would do. Even better, Safari running on Apple TV. With this one application, I can browse the web, read RSS feeds, watch movies, check my Yahoo calendar and so on and so on.
There are many devices out there that attempt to connect that big plasma/LCD screen on the wall to the web. Media Center PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox360 (with tversity) and Microsoft Web TV just to name a few. But each has its own pitfalls (low resolution, bad integration, hard to implement, etc.). None of them offers an elegant solution to the problem.
Apple TV, with its elegant FrontRow interface and the ease of use of the Apple Remote, has a chance to shine here. I’m not talking about the watered-down experience like the Web TV or Opera on the Wii. Or full-blown-but-complex experience of running Internet Explorer on the Media Center PC or running Safari on the Mac mini. This is such a natural thing for Apple to do. Why bring Safari to Windows when it has absolutely no chance of winning anybody over? Instead bring it to the Apple TV and create a whole new experience in the living room.
I am seriously investigating this. I am currently looking at Camino’s source code and see how that can be turn into a plugin using AwkwardTV.org’s plugin interface. The Web Kit that Apple has bundled with XCode does not run on Apple TV and I don’t know how complex it is to modify that to work. So, I’m going the open source route at the moment.
However, I am hoping that comes September 5th, not only will there be iPod-related news but also, Apple-TV-related news. And if one of the news happens to be Safari running on the Apple TV, I will stop working this. (hey, I can dream, can’t I?)Â If not, I will pursue this further. Even if it means another bounty has to be set up for it.
Thoughts?
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