[iPhone-Developers]

Above is a picture of the Samsung Chromebox. Where have we seen this design before? That’s right! Apple. Apple’s Mac Mini’s design was completely stolen. For $329, you can get computer running Chrome OS. The Chromebox does NOT ship with a keyboard, monitor, or mouse.

Google and Apple continue to battle for a place at the top of the entertainment and technology food chain, and a recent report by the Wall Street Journal that details how Google is on the verge of releasing a home entertainment system that will allow its users to stream music anywhere in their home without the use of wires has caused quite a stir.

Google has already excited its customers – and aggravated its competition – by recently releasing a streaming music server that allows you to transfer music from a CD to the device by tapping the CD against it. The device then scans the music directly into Google’s music storage locker.

Google has been calling this wireless experiment “Project Tungsten” since last spring. Eventually they hope to be able to use Android at Home to power all the electronics in their users’ households. After that, all appliances, such as microwaves, refrigerators, and, of course, all the lights in the house. Over two hundred Google employees have been requested to be allowed to test the prototype device. The Federal Communications Commission has yet to reply.

According to the company’s patent application, users of this device will connect it to their WiFi networks at home as well as utilizing their Bluetooths to connect to other electronics and appliances. It will then test the stability of the home WiFi networks to see if it can support the device. It will put Google’s music streaming service and its other product, Google TV, which provides television from the internet, at the forefront of its customers’ homes. Users would be able to control the variety of services with ease via their smartphones and other hand-held devices.

Analysts report that Google will be challenged by its positioning this service as a platform instead of as a product, which means that it could get easily lost among a mélange of other home TV devices such as those marketed by Logitech. However, analysts also feel that this is new territory for Google to expand upon … if they handle the marketing properly. Many experts feel that this is impossible, especially since Google has so little experience in the field of hardware products or electronic devices. Despite criticism, certainly Google has done its homework, perhaps researching the top reviewed LED TVs on the market to provide inspiration.

Meanwhile, Apple is all ready to launch its own television that will allow users to stream music and TV shows directly from the internet. This device would change the face of television forever, and would also allow its users to sync all their devices and employ the so-called “cloud” to enhance their entertainment experience. According to analysts, such a television wouldn’t necessarily replace your current TV – at least, not yet – but it would allow you to organize, store, and manage all your personal data in one easy place.

As Apple and Google continue to battle, the world will watch with bated breath, benefiting – or not – from the random output of technology that is flooding the market.

Editor’s Note

Thanks to Evan Fischer for this quest post. He is a freelance writer and part-time student at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.

Got one of those handy Apple TVs for Christmas little over a week ago and want to jailbreak it? No problem — famous exploiter, pod2g, has developed a Seas0nPass that will allow you to untether jailbreak Apple TV 4.4.4. According to the folks at the iDownload Blog, here’s how you do this:

Step 1: Download and run the latest version of Seas0nPass.

Step 2: Click Create IPSW.

Step 3: Once the IPSW is complete, connect your Apple TV 2 to your Mac with a USB Micro cable. On your Apple TV Remote, hold Menu+Play for 7 seconds and release.

Step 4: Your Apple TV 2 should now enter DFU mode, and iTunes will automatically restore using the custom created jailbroken firmware.

Step 5: Once complete hook up your Apple TV to your television, and enjoy. You can verify the jailbreak by the FireCore watermark on you Apple TV’s Home screen.

[thanks iDownload Blog!]