2011 won’t be a year just about the iPad. Apple’s AirPlay will be saturating the market this summer with dozens of speakers, docks, and receivers designed to wirelessly stream your tunes in lossless glory. Today, Philips, Pioneer, and JBL have all announced speakers and receivers that all support Apple’s wireless sharing capabilities, and we’ve got press releases, prices, and more after the break.
Posts tagged with "airplay"
Here Come The AirPlay Systems: Phillips, Pioneer, and JBL Announce New Products
Air Video Finally Adds iOS 4.3 and AirPlay Support
Air Video, the popular iOS application to stream movies from a computer with real-time conversion, was updated last night to include support for iOS 4.3 (now in GM and ready to be released this Friday) and a much requested feature since Apple unveiled iOS 4.2 months ago: AirPlay video out support.
You may remember, in fact, that Apple’s initial implementation of AirPlay didn’t allow third-party developers to use the new feature in their apps. AirPlay video streaming was exclusive to Apple’s own applications for iPhone and iPad, and not even Mobile Safari could stream videos to the Apple TV. With iOS 4.3, however, Apple revised its decision (or simply had time to properly enable system-wide AirPlay support) and now allows every developer to implement the AirPlay APIs for video-out streaming.
The latest Air Video update supports AirPlay with iOS 4.3, and that’s it. Not a huge changelog, but the feature is the one we’ve been waiting for. As for those who think the new Home Sharing might make apps like Air Video or StreamToMe useless, please keep in mind that Air Video supports any kind of file, in any location, with on-the-fly conversion to iOS. iTunes’ Home Sharing is sweet, especially for music, but Air Video still wins when it comes to video support.
The new Air Video is available here, and it requires iOS 4.3 and Air Video Server 2.4.5-beta3 or newer for AirPlay support.
Stream Media Back to Your Mac with Banana TV
In the past we have covered some great Mac/Airplay apps from Erica Sadun, one of our favorite fangirls over at TUAW. We’ve shown you AirFlick, which lets you drop files and URLs to play the content on your Apple TV. We’ve also covered AirPlayer, which we think is incredible, that allows you to play AirPlay content on your Mac. She is previewing a new app that may be coming to the Mac very soon: Banana TV. Read more
iOS 4.3 Apps Already Being Approved
It appears that Apple has started approving applications that use features that will officially be introduced in the upcoming iOS 4.3 software update. StreamToMe, an app we previously reviewed here, has been updated a few hours ago with support for AirPlay video streaming, a functionality that’s not available on the current iOS 4.2. Being the feature exclusive to iOS 4.3, you won’t be able to try it unless you’re a developer. An Apple TV running the latest pre-release software is also required.
Does this mean iOS 4.3 is just around the corner? Beta 2 was shipped last week and we’ll likely see Beta 3 this Wednesday. Apple usually goes into 4-5 betas and a GM seed before public release, so we speculate we might see the final version of iOS 4.3 in late February. But then again, issues may come up in iOS betas at any time.
Quick! Download AirView Now, It Turns Your iOS Device Into An AirPlay Receiver
AirView is a universal application available for free in the App Store that does something iOS users have been asking since the original release of AirPlay: it turns any iPhone, iPad or iPod touch into AirPlay receivers capable of playing videos streamed from another device. With AirView, in fact, video can be streamed from iOS device to iOS device (iPhone to iPad, iPhone to iPhone) or from iTunes, something that Apple only does with the Apple TV 2nd generation.
AirView must be running on a device in order to show up as receiver on a local network. The app doesn’t enable music streaming, a feature we managed to activate in the past with a jailbreak hack. Photos aren’t supported either.
AirView is a neat little app that we guess Apple will soon remove from the App Store. When used in combination with Erica Sadun’s apps that extend AirPlay’s functionalities, it can become a quite powerful tool. Go grab it here now.
More Alleged iPad 2 Cases Appear, Hint at Mini DisplayPort
Rumors and leaks surrounding the forthcoming second generation iPad continue to spread like wildfire across the blogosphere with the latest coming from AppleInsider and MIC Gadget. Both received photos of iPad 2 cases that had openings that would suggest the addition of a rear facing camera, larger speaker, possible SD card slot and most intriguingly a small port at the top of the device that could be for a Mini DisplayPort receptacle.
The two tech blogs received photo’s of cases from China that whilst different had virtually identical port openings and further back up reports by Engadget that the second generation iPad would have an SD card slot and rear facing camera. The larger opening on cases around the speaker is also a recurring feature of such leaked iPad 2 cases and seems to be a likely improvement on the iPad 2.
Denon Gets AirPlay Via $60 Firmware Update
Want AirPlay on your Denon AVR4311, AVR3311, AVRA100, or DN7 Multimedia System? Prepare to shell out a sixty dollar upgrade for the privilege – Denon isn’t new to up-charging customers for software updates such as this one, but we think it’s a little absurd that they don’t just give you the proprietary update for free. Audiophiliacs looking to stream lossless audio to their receivers will pay for the privilege – everyone else can just buy a used Airport Express on eBay for the same price.
[via Macworld Australia]
AirPlay Devices To Explode in 2011→
AirPlay Devices To Explode in 2011
Engadget reports some statements from an interview with BridgeCo’s VP of Sales and Marketing Jordan Watters. BridgeCo is the company behind AirPlay that has signed an exclusive deal with Apple.
According to Jordan Watters, AirPlay devices could ultimately dwarf “made for iPod” audio docks by 2x to 4x.
“The ecosystem is already there,” he said smiling. And unlike iPod docks which are usually sold at a rate of one per iOS device, Watters sees consumers purchasing multiple AirPlay devices for every iOS device sold in order to enable whole-home distributed audio. In fact, growth could come as a “step function ramp sucking into the market,” Jordan enthused. In other words, he expects AirPlay growth to be explosive.
Personally, I agree with him. Since my first iPod, I haven’t felt the need of multiple docking systems as much as I’d like several AirPlay-enabled devices in my house and office now. I have an audio system plugged in my AirPort Express right now, and that’s it. As soon as Apple figures out a way to extend video through AirPlay to all apps and external devices, we’re going to see even more kinds of AirPlay devices.
First-Gen Apple TV Gets AirPlay Support with Remote HD
Remote HD is a new app developed by the Fire Core guys – the same folks behind the ATV Flash browser / utility – which brings AirPlay streaming to the original Apple TV, the first-generation silver model. Once installed on your iOS device from the App Store and on the original Apple TV through the Install Extras menu, you’ll be able to beam videos, Youtube, video podcasts and photos from your iPhone or iPad to the Apple TV.
If your iOS device is jailbroken and has AirPlay enabled for 3rd party apps, you’ll get the possibility to stream video from anywhere. Remote HD also lets you stream videos from iTunes on your computer.
Remote HD for iOS is available at $3.99 here.