I've come to the conclusion that DLNA is the secret sauce of the digital home. Of course DLNA isn't a secret, I've just never paid that much attention to it before.

DLNA stands for Digital Living Network Alliance. It's basically a standard protocol for streaming audio, video and photos between devices on your network, and it's built into a growing number of products including the PlayStation 3 and the latest Sony Bravia televisions.

DLNA requires two components - a DLNA server and a DLNA client. The DLNA server is usually a computer, running DLNA media server software such as Windows Media Player 11, TVersity or PlayOn. The DLNA server can also be a Network Attached Storage device. Your DLNA server holds all your content, plus some server software lets you connect to the internet to pull down stuff like internet radio and television clips from sites like Hulu. Of course if you want to access US-only sites such as Hulu, you'll need to be running Virtual Private Network (VPN) software to make it appear as if your DLNA server resides in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Once you've set up your DLNA server it advertises itself on your home network, waiting for a DLNA client or two to come along and connect. The great thing is that there are a lot of devices out there with built-in DLNA, giving them access to a whole range of extra content that they'd never usually be able to play. For example you can use a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360, or even a modified Xbox or Apple TV. It's a shame there doesn't seem to be a DLNA client for the PlayStation 2, as they're dirt cheap right now and there's an optional Ethernet adaptor.

There are plenty of DLNA-compliant, dedicated media players and the protocol seems to be creeping into mainstream DVD and Blu-ray players. You can also get a DLNA client to run on your computer - such as XBox Media Centre, a media player interface which has been ported toWindows, Mac and Linux as well as modified Xboxes and Apple TVs. DLNA is even built into some Ethernet-enabled televisions from the likes of Sony and Samsung, although the first generation of DLNA-compliant Sony Bravias would play audio but not video.

Some DLNA servers will even transcode video files on the fly, changing them to a format that your DLNA client can play - something that is important if you're using a device with limited format support such as the PlayStation 3. On the fly transcoding obviously requires a lot of grunt on the part of your DLNA server, so you might be better off looking for a more flexible DLNA client which can natively handle the widest range of formats. XBMC is a good place to start.

The reason why I started looking at DLNA is because I finally caved in and bought an Apple TV recently, but only so I could hack the bejesus out of it for a magazine feature. It's simple to hack the Apple TV by loading on software using a USB stick, after which you can use software such as XBMC and Boxee to stream all kinds of great content from your network or the internet. There's even an Apple TV VPN client, called BoxeeVPN, but I couldn't get it to work. Apple released the 2.4 software update for the Apple TV just before I bought one, which played havoc with a few of the software hacks, and this might be the cause of my problem.

Without a VPN I can't watch Hulu. I toyed with ideas such as using a VPN-compatible router, or running a VPN on a computer and then connecting the Apple TV using Internet Connection Sharing, but neither of these seemed like elegant solutions. Then I remembered that XBMC is a DLNA client, so the easiest solution is to run a DLNA server on my media centre as well as a VPN such as Witopia, and then use XBMC on the Apple TV to pull content off the media centre. DLNA server software such as PlayOn and TVersity handle local content and also offer plugins for online services such as Hulu. Hey presto, Hulu on your TV no matter where you live. Of course things are never that simple, but at least the concept is sound.

The reason why I've never paid much attention to DLNA in the past is that I've got a Vista Media Centre PC in my lounge room, which does everything (when it works), so I don't need to stream video between devices. I stream audio around the house using iTunes, Airfoil and a few Apple Express wireless points. I recently set up a television in the rumpus room downstairs, to keep the peace when the kids want to watch Play School but I need to use the TV for tinkering with toys. I've been wondering about the best way to get all my content downstairs and now I think I have the answer - XBMC running on an old PC with a DVD drive to cover all my bases. It certainly seems like the most elegant solution for my digital home.

Cupertino's favourite son and the black sheep of the Apple family have strengthened their bond, with a software update allowing you to control the Apple TV using multi-touch gestures on the iPhone.

iPhone 3.0 users can take advantage of the new features courtesy of this week's Apple TV OS2.4 software update. In addition, you can search Flickr photo tags and use Flickr images as screensavers. New view options let you view movies by genre, by movie or unwatched while TV shows and podcasts can be viewed by date, by show or unwatched. Apple has also added transport and chapter modes for use during video playback.

I finally decided to lay down some cash on an Apple TV this week, but I can't say I'm too excited about the idea of using my iPhone as a remote control. By the time I fish the phone out of my pocket (or wrestle it back from my kids), unlock it and then load up the remote app, it would be faster to just reach for the tiny Apple remote or else a universal remote control.

The only reason I finally caved in a bought Apple's hamstrung media player is so I can hack the bejesus out of it for a magazine feature. I shopped around and got a very good price on an ex-demo 40GB model - which Apple seems to have discontinued in favour of the more expensive 160GB version which sells for $449. Of course once you hack an Apple TV it's easy to upgrade the drive or add external storage so I was happy to go with the 40GB model.

I've actually been surprised at how easy it is to hack the Apple TV and install extra apps. If you're a newbie, wiki.awkwardtv.org is a great place to start. All you need is a USB stick, 30 minutes and a healthy disregard for the various terms and conditions you're about to violate.

Unfortunately my timing has been bad because the Apple TV OS2.4 software update seems to have created problems for those who like to hack the Apple TV and unleash its full potential. My particular problem is that I can't get NitoTV to install, which in turn may be the reason why I can't get the BoxeeVPN plugin to work properly. Combining the Apple TV, Boxee and a VPN service such as Witopia would let you sit back on the couch and watch the wealth of free streaming content that is only available in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Such complications are the price you pay for hacking any device, although thankfully Apple doesn't seem to put as much effort into blocking Apple TV hacks as it does blocking iPhone hacks. I'm sure passionate Apple TV hackers will soon update their apps for 2.4. If you're after the ultimate media player, I'd certainly recommend investigating the option of running Boxee on a hacked Apple TV.

Network Ten's new 24 high-def sports channel is coming to regional Australia, but non-sports lovers are paying the price.

Southern Cross viewers in regional New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and the ACT will get access to OneHD on July 2. Ten HD will be put to the sword and there will no longer be any high definition broadcast on Ten’s regular programming in these areas - mirroring Ten's changes in Australia's major cities. OneHD will be broadcast on Channel 50.

This is obviously great news for sports nuts who live away from the big smoke, but everyone else is paying the price. Dramas, sit-coms and movies that people previously enjoyed in high-def will now only be broadcast in standard-def. Ten's second SD channel is merely a standard-def simulcast of OneHD - so it's not like there's even extra content to choose from. The One SD channel shuts down completely when AFL is screening on Ten and OneHD - making a mockery of the claims that digital is offering more choice.

As with their city-dwelling cousins, this will drive some regional viewers who have invested in a HDTV to abandon watching these shows on live TV in favour of downloading high-def versions from the internet. Of course downloading such files is more of a challenge for those who live a long way away from the fast download speeds and generous data allowances offered to city broadband users.

Southern Cross' owner Macquarie Media Group has obviously crunched the numbers and decided switching from Ten HD to OneHD would gain them more viewers than it would lose them. This is a fair call, as no-one ever went broke overestimating Australia's love of sport. Still, it spits in the eye of those who paid good money for high-def gear so they could watch things other than sport.

I still think Network Ten should have made One its second SD channel and then offered a mix of Ten and One on the Ten HD channel. That way we'd get the best of both worlds, rather than shafting drama lovers so we can all enjoy poker and netball in glorious high definition.

Sony now offers Australian PlayStation 3 owners free music videos, but what happened to movie downloads and the TV tuner?

Sony's VidZone provides over 10,000 free music videos on demand for PS3 owners, letting them watch single videos or create playlists. Sure that's handy, but what about the proper movie download service that US users have enjoyed for a while? And what about the PlayTV television tuner that's been promised for some time?

Australians who paid top dollar for the mother of all gaming consoles, in the belief that these other services would come soon, are entitled to be annoyed. Sony is also missing a golden opportunity to lock loyal PS3 owners into its own content services before more competitors like TiVo come along to challenge Apple's impressive movie download service.

We might see movie downloads on the PS3 in Australia by the end of the year but, judging from Sony's recent comments, it's looking more like next year.

Don't talk to me about broadband speeds, download limits, rights management or licensing issues - Apple and TiVo can offer decent movie download services in Australia and so could Sony if it felt Australia was a priority. The grass is looking greener on the other side of the fence for loyal PS3 owners and, if Sony doesn't give them what they want, they'll take their entertainment needs elsewhere.

YouTube is targeting the lounge room with its new, TV-friendly interface.

Personally I've never understood why you'd want to watch YouTube clips on your television, unless you live in a region like the US where you can access full length movies and TV shows (or you use a VPN to trick YouTube into thinking you're in the US). Obviously someone must want to watch YouTube on their TV, because a range of vendors such as LG are building YouTube playback into devices such as Blu-ray players.

That's not to say that there's nothing worth watching on YouTube, for example I love the Chad Vader series and some of the Monkey and Apple clips such as the brilliant Large Hadron Collider Budget Meeting (Language Warning: perhaps Not Safe For Work). I just don't see why you'd bother sitting down on the couch to watch short clips on your television.

Anyway, YouTube's new XL interface is a pretty good first effort, designed to work in a browser on a computer or games console. Unfortunately even if you do live in the US you can't use it to watch YouTube's library of movies or TV shows, as the licensing issues are still being worked out. The other obvious shortcoming is that there's no remote-friendly onscreen keyboard, so it's not really a true sit-back interface unless you've got a wireless keyboard or you just want to flick through the menus without searching. It also doesn't work as well with media centre remotes as other TV friendly options, such as Hulu Desktop.

There's still plenty of work to be done, but YouTube XL is an interesting idea which gives us an indication of what YouTube has in store for the future.