FireCore today released aTV Flash (black) 2.0, the highly-anticipated update to its flagship software for the jailbroken Apple TV. Version 2.0 brings a number of enhancements, including a Library View for browsing media content by category (TV, movie, etc.), integrated search, and trakt.tv support for keeping content wirelessly synced between multiple Apple TVs.

Sadly, aTV Flash (black) still doesn’t support the third-gen Apple TV, as a jailbreak for Apple’s latest set-top box has not yet been released. But second-gen Apple TV owners can grab today’s 2.0 update now.

There’s a new icon on the Apple TV tonight, and it’s kind of a sweet surprise. The 2012 iTunes Festival will be in London, with apps available on iPhones, iPads and Macs for free streaming of the event.

Looks like Apple decided to get an app onto the Apple TV as well, ahead of the September 1st launch date.

It’s been relatively quiet on the Apple TV jailbreak front since the untethered jailbreak was released for iOS 5.0.1. The only thing we really know about the third-gen Apple TV jailbreak is that it won’t be released for awhile. An untethered jailbreak is being worked on for new Apple TV owners behind the scenes, but no ETA has been given.

A lot is still happening in the Apple TV jailbreak community, however. FireCore today announced a huge update to the popular aTV Flash (black) software. Version 2.0 will supercharge a jailbroken Apple TV with even more features and improvements. A short beta period for aTV Flash (black) 2.0 will be offered before the final release, and there’s a limited number of spots available for those interested.

In an investor note today, Barclays investment analyst Ben Reitzes comes down squarely on the side of many others who believe a set top box is the way Apple has “cracked” the TV scene, rather than with an integrated television set created by Apple hardware designers. His opinion is that Apple is more likely to create a TV product that focuses on the software and not the hardware.

“We believe consumers would welcome such a product from Apple,” wrote Rietzes, “as well given that many younger customers seem to be watching content on demand on smaller screens (iPads, laptops) in private places – and only Apple seems to be the company that can redirect that content back to the big screen.”

Lots of people love to jailbreak the Apple TV, but the process of unlocking the little hockey puck’s full potential can be a pain. When you want to jailbreak an iPhone or iPad, it’s as easy as downloading the free Absinthe tool, plugging your device into your Mac, and clicking a button. Once you’re jailbroken, Cydia is automatically installed as an alternative App Store for finding tweaks and apps.

On the Apple TV, it’s not so easy. Sure, the actual process of jailbreaking isn’t that difficult, but aside from staple packages like aTV Flash (black), you have to manually install third-party Apple TV apps via a command line interface on a connected desktop computer.

A new installer app for the Mac called Nito makes it much easier to install third-party apps on a jailbroken Apple TV.

If you’ve been browsing the Internet every day in the hope that someone’s going to announce a jailbreak for the third-generation Apple TV you bought back in March, then look away now. iOS hacker Pod2g has confirmed that neither he, nor any other hacker he knows of, is working on an exploit for the Apple’s latest set-top box.

The other day, I was goofing around with one of the slick new features of OS X Mountain Lion, AirPlay streaming from my Macbook Air to my Apple TV. I played some videos to my LCD TV right from the laptop, and then sent Diablo III up there as well. All worked well.

Then I wanted to get back to some writing, so I figured I’d send some music from iTunes over to my Apple TV, using the same AirPlay menubar icon that I’d sent the video over with. While I could hear the music from my TV, the Apple TV also displayed my computer screen. I didn’t want that, so I stopped AirPlay screen streaming, and clicked the button in the lower right corner of iTunes, and chose my Apple TV as an external speaker, like I’ve been able to for a while.

Turns out, there’s an easier way to do this, and one that doesn’t rely on iTunes.

If you want to watch a movie on your Apple TV, but you want the sound to play through a stereo or home theater system, rather than through your TV, the only way to do that right now is to install a bunch of messy cables that connect one device to the other — and they need to be relatively close together.

In iOS 6 beta 3, however, you can send audio from the Apple TV to an AirPlay-enabled speaker system at the other end of the room wirelessly.

This replica is probably the closest you’ll ever get to having a real Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver. What does it have to do with Apple, you ask? After all, this is the Cult of Mac.

The Screwdriver is also a universal remote, which means that it will not only control your TV and VHS VCR, but also you Apple TV and – via the Universal Dock – your iPhone or iPod.

One of the reasons most of us jailbreak our Apple TV is to install aTV Flash (black), a terrific piece of software from FireCore that adds a ton of incredible features to your set-top box. In its latest update, aTV Flash delivers a number of features, including trakt.tv integration for those who never know what to watch.