New and Noteworthy: Apple: Leopard will ship on time; Why a 0 Xbox can be better than Apple TV; Apple TV hacked; more

Apple: Leopard will ship on time BetaNews reports second-hand that Apple is telling analysts that Mac OS X 10.5. (Leopard) will ship "on time," a vague indicator as the company has only stated publicly that the upgrade would ship sometime in Spring. "It seems as if Apple is determined to not take a similar route as Windows Vista with its next-generation operating system, code-named 'Leopard.' The company took the unusual step on Friday of responding directly to speculation by the Taiwan technology publication DigiTimes that its newest operating system was delayed, saying it was on track to deliver Leopard in the Spring." More.

Best Buy to carry Apple TV starting tomorrow BloggingStocks reports that Best Buy will will be selling the Apple TV starting this week. "Best Buy will have about 3,000 Apple TV units in stores waiting for an official release tomorrow (Tuesday) across its 800 stores. It will be interesting to see if these initial units fly off the shelves like many Apple products do. In retail, half the battle is just getting foot traffic, and the Apple TV should get those feet in the doors. Hopefully, it will be demonstrated properly in Best Buy stores in order to 'wow' consumers" More.

Why a $100 Xbox can be better than Apple TV Ars Technica opines that the original Xbox (which can be had for about US$100) is easier to hack, cheaper, and has much more support from the hacking community right now than Apple TV. "While in Columbus, we happened to pass through the Apple store, and I got my first look at the AppleTV. A slick piece of kit, to be sure, and one you'll be able to read all about at Ars Technica shortly, but not quite suited to my needs.  I want to be able to watch DivX files on my TV; it's the only way to keep up with TV from back home, and legally, too (thanks, Auntie Beeb!). Apple's beautiful little box can't help me out, but give my wife a used XBox, and 20 minutes later an XBMC media center is the solution to my needs.  Plus, it can stream BBC Radio 4 to boot! Sure, you can always open up and hack an AppleTV, but you do so at the cost of your warranty.  With secondhand hardware that's cheap, that's not a concern." More.

Alternatives to Apple TVCNET profiles some competition for the Apple TV, giving Microsoft's XBox 360 the highest rating. "Microsoft's second-generation console is a great game machine. But the 360 goes a lot further. It streams music, photos and videos from networked Windows PCs, and it streams TV programs from Windows XP Media Center and Windows Vista Premium/Ultimate PCs. Microsoft plans to deliver live TV channels by the end of 2007." More.

Apple TV = hacked ZDNet has a round-up of recently published Apple TV hacks for upgrading the hard drive, playing different video formats, installing another OS and more.

Previously on MacFixIt:

• Mac OS X 10.4.9 (#8): System volume louder: boon for some, drawback for others; Fix for Griffin AirClick; more
• Apple TV: Purchased videos not playing (cannot be authorized); Disappears from devices list in iTunes -- fix; Translating video

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