These are some of the stories we didn’t get chance to post about throughout the week, but we wanted to cover.

[TUAW] Mac mini, Apple TV to use new Ion platform? – Tom’s Hardware says that Apple will use NVIDIA’s Ion platform in an updated Mac mini, and AppleInsider says it could also be used in an updated Apple TV. Are we ready for a Mac mini/Apple TV hybrid?

[SlashFilm] Download These NOW: iTunes Offering 10 Free Sundance Short Films Until January 25 – Ninety-six short films were selected to be at Sundance this year and, starting right now, 10 of them are available for download on iTunes for free! To get the films, all you need to do is go to http://www.itunes.com/sundance (you must have iTunes already installed).

[Gizmodo] How Porn Will Shape our HD Future – Many adult sites have turned to internet distribution to peddle their wares because it’s cheap and it can be accessed from any computer—affording a little privacy in the process. As HTR points out: “Digital Playground is rolling out an entirely new HD download center where clients can download 720p video directly to their iTunes library or for use with their AppleTV. Pink Visual is already distributing HD downloads for use on your computer and others are following suit. It is only a matter of time until the bandwidth expands and we can all freely download 1080p porn over the Internet.”

Update – As commentor Nate mentioned, it appears as though the Dolby Digital markings are back on the Apple TV for the appropriate titles. Great news other then the fact that we have to go back through a weeks worth of titles to backtrack what titles really did contain DD 5.1 surround sound. Thanks Apple!

If you’re an audiophile, and have noticed recently that Apple has been offering up less and less titles with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, then you are not alone. First and foremost Dolby Surround is not available with all SD rentals, and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound is not available with all HD rentals. Since we track these movies everyday we have a pretty good idea of what titles contain DD 5.1 and what doesn’t and it seems as though Apple has wiped all signs of any titles containing DD 5.1 sound either on the Apple TV listings or iTunes Store. For instance, as in the screen shot above, we know for a fact that Iron Man did contain DD 5.1 when it was released as an HD rental.

Now what does this mean, who knows. If I was a betting man, and knowing Apple’s track record with these kinds of things, I would say it was a glitch in Apple’s system. All though, what if Apple was upgrading the sound quality, or audio tracks in general, of these titles. Time will tell.

Anyone who has been following this site knows that we usually aren’t the ones starting rumors, were usually the ones jumping on them, but this particular little nugget I found myself, so I thought why not post about it.
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Being a subscriber to the RSS feed of appletvhacks.net, over the weekend I received an update stating that the site was for sale. Below is the original copy from the post.

“As many of you have probably noticed – recently the site hasn’t been updated as much as either we, or you, would like.

There are two of us who run the site, and we unfortunately have many other commitments which make keeping the site up to date very difficult.
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[Engadget HD] Engadget HD is reporting that some changes may be coming at VUDU. VUDU is a direct digital download competitor to Apple TV. These changes could come in the form of moving away from the retail space and focusing on custom home theater integrated systems. Meanwhile VUDU is planning major announcements for it custom integrated system at CEDIA EXPO. VUDU plans on announcing that they will soon be offering 1,000 HD titles, and a lifetime warranty for purchased titles.

As an Apple TV user, one thing about this announcement which stood out to me was the quote regarding VUDUs HD titles, “The biggest weak point is the lack of purchasable hi-def content,” and that VUDU is working furiously to build its HD library. As of now, if I understand VUDUs service correctly, you are not able to purchase HD titles. But the inference here is that this ability is coming to VUDU, an ability that I think a lot of Apple TV users would love to have, to own HD titles. Could we see this included as part of those iTunes 8 enhancements that Kevin Rose was hinting about? Ah, we can only dream.