aTV Flash (black), Firecore’s flagship product for the 2nd generation Apple TV, has been updated to Beta6. According to Firecore, Beta6 includes “huge improvements” in playback performance that come by way of a brand brand-new, lightweight player that has been built from the ground up specifically for iOS. This new player is said to empower Apple TV 2 to play a wide variety of media formats “without having to sacrifice the simplicity of the native Apple TV interface.”

What’s new in Beta6?

General

Added show/hide options for standard Apple TV menus

Added option to manually install if no Apple TVs are detected

Improved auto-update disabling

Improved installation error handling

Minor UI adjustments

Media Player

Added new lightweight player

Added recently played items to ‘Top Shelf’ in main menu

Added Favorites to main menu

Added option to manually mark files as watched/unwatched

Added ‘Test Connection’ option for AFP/SMB shares

Added support for DVD subtitles

Added support for multiple DVD audio tracks

Added basic support for MT2S files

Improved overall video playback (especially HD video files)

Improved thumbnail generation when cover art is not available

Improved FF/RW controls

Improved DVD menu and video playback

Improved DVD playback progress reporting

Improved memory management

Improved AFP/SMB streaming

Improved error handling for invalid files

Resolved most video stuttering issues

Resolved energy saver mode issue

Resolved issue that resulted in some DVDs being displayed in (squished) 4×3 mode

Resolved numerous DVD playback issues

Resolved flickering when navigating through certain menus

Resolved additional conflicts with XBMC

Reduced number of network connections used

Minor UI and other miscellaneous fixes

Beta5 is available through the Downloads tab in your account. If you’re already running aTV Flash (black) on your AppleTV all the new features can be installed through the Maintenance –> Manage Extras menu.

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