14 DAY TRIAL // It was just 10 days ago that 19-year-old developer Brandon Holland announced that he was able to get Skype up and running on the Apple TV. It didn't exactly come as breaking, for two reasons:1. because Skype for a handheld would have been more attractive, and 2. because the story lacked visual proof. Proof that is available today, along with the release of the respective (early version) Skype plugin for Apple TV.
Last month (on the 24th), according to 9to5mac.com, "at the ripe age of 19," Mr. Holland was developing "a Skype hack for the AppleTV," calling the feat "commendable". Although there was no actual confirmation that he was able to talk to his Skype friends using the hack, the story didn't present us with clues to believe it was fake.
Picking up on the story, I went and argued why on Earth not do this on a device worthy of the time and effort it takes to implement, given that you can have the service running on your iMac, MacBook, Windows PC, or whatever, just as easy. And don't tell me that Apple TV owners don't have a PC. Although a handheld Skype hack sounded so much better at that time, the recent availability of a Skype plugin for Apple TV sounds quite great, to be perfectly honest with you.
Not owning Apple's digital media receiver, I can only guess how many advantages it can offer to couch potatoes, since this only adds to the vast array of features the Apple TV employs.
According to Brandon, the plugin empowers the Skype API to allow calls via USB headsets, text messages etc: "This plugin is basically an Apple TV front end for the Mac version of the Skype Application. It uses Skype's powerful and well documented API to obtain information, set preferences, make calls, ect. I'm working on a tutorial / documentation for installing and using this plugin," Mr. Holland writes on brandon-holland.com.
Here's where you can have a look at the video demonstration, in which Brandon promises a fully-featured version within a week's time.