Secrets of Apple TV 4.1

“Apple [has] released Apple TV Software Update 4.1, its first major upgrade to the new second-generation Apple TV, adding AirPlay video support and fixing a number of issues from the initial release,” Jesse David Hollington reports for iLounge. “The update weighs in at 280MB and should take no more than ten minutes to download and install, after which your Apple TV will restart with the new version.”

Hollington reports, “Ironically, the most significant new feature in this latest Apple TV update is something that doesn’t really appear anywhere new on the Apple TV menus or settings. Support for playing back video from iOS devices using AirPlay has been added, but it’s entirely under the hood.”

“Note that AirPlay audio streaming hasn’t changed from the previous version, and in fact hasn’t even really changed from the original first-generation Apple TV, back when the feature was known as AirTunes. The second-generation Apple TV can still be used as a remote speaker from iTunes and in fact continues to work fine even from older versions of iTunes,” Hollington reports. “What has changed is the addition of video support to AirPlay, which now allows video content to be streamed to the second-generation Apple TV from most iOS 4.2 devices and from iTunes 10.1.”

There’s much, much more in the full review – recommended – here.