Hasta La Gadget!

While users can browse the Netflix menu screens, multiple Apple TV owners are unable to stream movies to the device. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

A number of Apple TV customers are unable to stream Netflix movies to their devices, according to several user reports posted over the weekend.

A Netflix spokesman confirmed to Wired.com that a small number of Apple TV devices were experiencing technical issues with the service, and the company claims the issue has been fixed.

“Now I have to use my iPhone and a composite cable to watch Netflix on my TV,” said Ryan Walton, general manager of Buymeaniphone.com, in an interview. “I paid $600 for a phone that an $89 device won’t take care of. It’s kind of sad.”

Netflix downtime for Apple TV customers is bad press for the Cupertino-based company in a video-on-demand market packed with competitors. The California-based Roku introduced its Netflix-streaming set-top box in 2008, later producing other models capable of delivering more services. Currently both Roku and TiVo offer access to Hulu Plus, which streams network and premium TV shows on demand. And of course, recent digital cable boxes now offer DVR recording services, which let you store your selected shows to watch when you want.

The glitch may also look particularly embarrassing for the Apple TV, which in years past drew criticism for its lack of movie offerings and technical capabilities compared to other digital video services on the market. (Apple CEO Steve Jobs even repeatedly refers to the Apple TV as a “hobby,” implying it’s one of the weakest products to sport the company’s brand.) The newer Apple TV 2 was a complete do-over on the set-top box, focusing on streaming video rentals instead of videos downloaded onto the device hard drive.

Therefore, those experiencing a Netflix outage over the weekend missed out on a big chunk of the Apple TV 2’s core functionality: streaming movies.

Apple did not comment on this report.

Those experiencing difficulties over the weekend received “error 111″ — or 112 or 115 — messages when attempting to watch a movie using the streaming movie service, though access to the Netflix menu screens was still possible. Complaints surfaced around Thursday July 1, continuing through the weekend.

Some others experiencing the problems, like Walton, were able to access Netflix on different non-Apple TV devices like the iPhone, iPad and a MacBook Pro. The issue appears to predominantly affect some owners of Apple’s second-generation TV device.

A number of other users went to Twitter to air complaints, while still others started threads asking about the issue on the website MacRumors.com.

“We had a technical issue with a few devices that’s fixed now,” said Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey in an interview. He declined to go into further detail.

Some users posting on the MacRumors forum pages said the issue was resolved after updating to version 4.2.2 of the Apple TV 2 software. The Apple TV update servers have been inaccessible recently, however, barring some users from the ability to update their software version.

Still, others who were updated to version 4.2.2, like Ryan Walton, continue to experience movie streaming issues.

Are you experiencing any Netflix problems with your Apple TV 2? Take our poll, or expand upon issues further in the comments below.

Hey, guess what? That Real Racing 2 HD update that combined your iPad and TV for dual-screen gaming action will soon be able to ditch the wires and use AirPlay to beam every turn and crash to your flatscreen. You’ll need an Apple TV or other Mac device hooked up to your set, and the feature won’t be unlocked until iOS 5 hits, but it should satisfy your curiosity for what playing a Wii U might be like until the new Nintendo console lands next year. If you’re set hardware-wise and your interest is piqued, you can download the game for $12.99 from the app store — now you’ve just gotta hold tight for that OS update in the fall.

Real Racing 2 HD beats Wii U to the wireless, dual-screen gaming punch originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple released iOS 4.3.3 on Wednesday, but as it did with 4.3.2, neglected to patch the untethered jailbreak exploit in redsn0w 0.9.6rc9 (since updated to rc15). Looks like that’s a hat trick for the iPhone Dev Team. The hack works with most devices (even the Apple TV), but there’s still no solution for iPad 2 owners — we’re sure that the underground powers that be are hard at work searching for holes that Apple overlooked. Installation instructions remain unchanged, so if you’ve been eager to get your iPhone tracking fix on without bricking your device, grab the latest IPSW and head over to our source link for the download links.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

redsn0w untethered jailbreak for iOS 4.3.1 works with 4.3.3, still no iPad 2 support originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 May 2011 09:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seven months ago, Motorola unveiled a dual-sided, QWERTY-laden TV remote control: the NYXboard. It was never heard from again. Today, we’ve learned why — the open-source community will be selling a version specially redesigned to control your XBMC rig. The folks at Pulse-Eight — a startup with roots in the XBMC community dedicated to designing hardware — tell us they actually talked Motorola out of bundling the remote with set-top-boxes in favor of a nefarious plan. Simply put, they want you to be able to purchase an IR and RF remote that natively supports XBMC for a penny under $60 this June.

While we don’t have any real pictures of the unit quite yet — just the renders you see above and below — developers say it will work with installations on Mac, Windows, Linux and the original Apple TV on day one, and will actually turn off the side of the remote that’s face down to avoid accidental inputs. You’ll find the NYXboard up for pre-order now at our source link, with the first shipments slated for around June 27th. Then again, you might want to wait, as we’re told there are more surprises in store: a second version that can control the Apple TV 2, and a secret method which would allow the remotes to control your home entertainment center without pesky line-of-sight infrared. The best laid plans and all that… but it sounds like Logitech’s Harmony may finally get some competition.

Update: The situation’s a bit tricky, but the XBMC Foundation (a non-profit entity) wants you to know that hardware vendor Pulse-Eight (a for-profit venture) isn’t actually part of their group — Pulse-Eight was founded by an XBMC team member and produces hardware targeted at the XBMC community, but apparently isn’t funded by (nor directs funding towards) the XBMC foundation itself.

Motorola NYXboard surfaces from the dead, XBMC reclaims it (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve been using an HDMI to DVI adapter to hook up your Apple TV, there’s a chance you’ve been dealing with some annoying flickering on the boob tube since downloading the latest update to the device. Well, the end to your flashing screen woes is here: Apple’s just let loose a followup that promises to fix the flickering. Update 4.2.1 also addresses audio issues and a glitch that puts the thing in a permanent slumber when it goes to sleep. So there you have it — now you won’t have to miss even a split second of your favorite episode of That’s So Raven, even though we all know you have it committed to memory. Follow the source link to get your fix.

Apple TV 4.2.1 update puts kibosh on flickering screens originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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