Apple Movie Junkie

These are some of the stories we didn’t get chance to post about throughout the week, but we wanted to cover.

[TUAW] Mac mini, Apple TV to use new Ion platform? – Tom’s Hardware says that Apple will use NVIDIA’s Ion platform in an updated Mac mini, and AppleInsider says it could also be used in an updated Apple TV. Are we ready for a Mac mini/Apple TV hybrid?

[SlashFilm] Download These NOW: iTunes Offering 10 Free Sundance Short Films Until January 25 – Ninety-six short films were selected to be at Sundance this year and, starting right now, 10 of them are available for download on iTunes for free! To get the films, all you need to do is go to http://www.itunes.com/sundance (you must have iTunes already installed).

[Gizmodo] How Porn Will Shape our HD Future – Many adult sites have turned to internet distribution to peddle their wares because it’s cheap and it can be accessed from any computer—affording a little privacy in the process. As HTR points out: “Digital Playground is rolling out an entirely new HD download center where clients can download 720p video directly to their iTunes library or for use with their AppleTV. Pink Visual is already distributing HD downloads for use on your computer and others are following suit. It is only a matter of time until the bandwidth expands and we can all freely download 1080p porn over the Internet.”

I’d like to give a big thanks to site visitor Ben Kittrell for pointing this one out, but folks we may be getting HD purchases after all. If you go to Iron Man in the iTunes Store you will be presented with the ability, apparently, to purchase the movie in HD. I have yet to test this out myself, but I will be, and I am no where near my Apple TV so I have yet to test there as well. If anyone has gone through with the purchase, please share with the rest of the ATVj community. But for now, woo hoo!

Update – Well it was fun while it lasted but Apple has finally pulled down their HD icon from the Iron Man page in the iTunes Store. We can only hope and wonder wether this was not a mistake but Apple testing out a new feature to come. Based on Apple’s track record of new features slipping out before they are announced, I know my hopes will stay slightly raised for HD Movie purchases.

Several new TV Show season are now available in HD from the iTunes Store or Apple TV. These shows are Smallville, Season 8, Supernatural, Season 4 and new A&E series The Beast, Season 1. The series premier of The Beast is a free download.

Head on over to our HD TV Shows page to see the entire list of available HD TV Shows.