AirPlay in 4.3 delivers on access for third-party apps

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AirPlay is one of the cooler new technologies Apple has brought us recently, and iOS 4.3 (coming March 11) will allow third-party apps full use of its wireless streaming capability, not just for audio, but for video as well. Apple is already busy approving apps that take advantage of AirPlay's video-streaming capabilities. For example, StreamToMe allows you to stream from a Mac or a PC to your iOS device via Wi-Fi or 3G.

In theory, you should be able to send your music and pictures from any app to your Apple TV over AirPlay, but according to GigaOM, it seems that not all your favorite content producers will be playing along. So far, only Vevo has updated its app to support AirPlay when 4.3 comes out. Netflix has said it won't be supporting AirPlay streaming, since Netflix is already available on the Apple TV itself. Hulu, Comcast and HBO haven't decided yet, and ABC isn't interested.

The problem for the media companies is rights -- they're doing their best to keep their web content off your television screens because They Fear Change and think they'll lose money if you get to watch what you want, where you want. Let's hope no one thinks of doing an end-run around such shortsightedness with a bit of wire that could link your iOS device to your TV screen -- whoops, too late.

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Source: http://gigaom.com/video/airplay-is-coming-to-apps-except-the…

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AirPlay is one of the cooler new technologies Apple has brought us recently, and iOS 4.3 (coming March 11) will allow third-party apps...

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Ade

What's new? Air Video "allows you to stream from a Mac to your iOS device via Wi-Fi or 3G" already without needing iOS 4.3, but requires "server software" on the Mac and can't cope with iTunes DRM video. Will the new iOS remove these 2 problems?

March 04 2011 at 11:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

backwoodsperry

Does anyone know if 4.3 will allow videos in the camera roll (a.k.a iPhone4 HD videos) to be sent to the AppleTV via airplay?

I was quite surprised that this didn't work when airplay was first introduced. Seems like a quite basic use case!

March 04 2011 at 2:20 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Darrin

Don't these television companies know that people like me do not watch commercials anymore because we FFWD through all of them on our DVR's? It was not until I began watching some shows on my computer or iPad that I saw a commercial again. So where does this factor in? Don't they make money from us watching these or do the companies who pay large sums of money to air them not care if they are seen?
I mean if P&G and others care about us seeing commercials it appears the internet on computers and tablets is the way to go right now. I would think these companies would go crazy knowing people just don't see commercials due to DVR.

March 04 2011 at 12:15 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

mack

Presumably the piece of wire just mirrors what is on the iPad screen at 1024 x 768, while AirPlay allows you to stream a much better resolution video image to your Apple TV.

March 04 2011 at 11:25 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

2 replies to mack's comment

xtacyl3oy

Actually, the HDMI outs 1080p (according to the keynote), at least for the video anyway.

March 04 2011 at 11:41 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

mack

@xtacyl3oy - it may well output 1080p but the point is that with mirroring what you will see is what is on the iPad screen (which is 1024 x 768) scaled to that dimension.

The article suggests that you don't need to worry about video applications that don't support AirPlay because you can just do screen mirroring instead. Indeed the article suggests that this constitutes an end run around apps that don't support AirPlay.

My point is that simple screen mirroring - which you can do from any app - won't give you anything like the same visual effect on a wide screen plasma television as watching a video via AirPlay or using an app that actually includes built in support for the new HDMI interface.

March 04 2011 at 4:21 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Ryank

If you are interested in streaming photos (UIImages) from iOS to AppleTV2 without iOS 4.3 - read my how-to post here http://livevision.us/wordpress/

I used this method with camThis and it was recently approved for the AppStore.

March 04 2011 at 9:58 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

blogger

So, it is OK with these content provides for me to run a cable from my iPhone/iPad to the TV but they don't want me to do it wirelessly?

Sense not making it is.

March 04 2011 at 9:39 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to blogger's comment

Not exactly the same thing. The iPad HDMI connector will (seemingly) only mirror the iPad's display. So you would see all the other stuff on the iPad when using an App like MLB. You'd see the wifi signal, battery level, etc. Plus, you'd be seeing a 4:3 picture.

With Airplay, you would presumably see a 1280x720 (perhaps upscaled), full widescreen video of a baseball game. Much more enjoyable.

I'm guessing MLB won't have any issues with this. Other content providers may object on grounds that their contract may state that they aren't allowed to stream to televisions (the Hulu vs. Hulu plus argument)

March 04 2011 at 11:17 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

diefy1977

Has MLB.com made any mention about AirPlay yet? That is the one app I am looking forward to streaming to my ATV.

March 04 2011 at 9:30 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

2 replies to diefy1977's comment

j annis

Sling box would be nice.

March 04 2011 at 9:54 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Shawn

Same here. Hopefully they allow it. They already do on roku, right?

March 04 2011 at 10:41 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Samuel H