Another death nail on Google TV?
xbmc.org
xbmc.org
I see that it's been already discussed at the Eggcorn Database forum: http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1195 so it's at least somewhat common
For reference, an eggcorn is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn
I run Plex (a Mac-only XMPC derivative) on a Mac Mini, but $699 is a lot more than $99. If your storage is NAS already, about the only advantage the Mac Mini has over a jailbroken AppleTV2 is the ability to play Hulu through Safari and not get blocked. (Well, it's also a lot faster and mostly future-proof as new codecs are introduced.)
It's a great piece of software, happily streaming from my NAS box, playing music, etc. Not found anything it doesn't play yet.
And there are remote control apps for iPhone and Android too!
Has it reached a point where I can just install it on some hardware (which?) and leave it at my parents', connected to their TV?
General usecases I see: normal TV(maybe PiP, timeshift, record), youtube, local/remote photos, CD/DVD movie playback, ideally semi-automatic torrent download.
It's better than a laptop because it just sits under the TV, and you can get it on a box for about $100. Personally, my TV is hooked up to an amp, sits in front of the sofa, and is a much better experience than watching things on a laptop.
If you want timeshifting and recording then you want something like a Tivo (or MythTV if you want to do that yourself).
Sorry to be the grammar Nazi, just trying to help.