Items tagged with airplay
There's not a ton of separation between streaming set-top boxes and dongles, and even less so now that Amazon announced its new cross-platform Amazon Fling service. Similar to AirPlay and Google Cast, Amazon Fling gives Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick owners the ability to beam images, video, and audio from their iOS and Android mobile apps to their television. To kick things off, Amazon has made available its Fling Software Development Kit (SDK). The neat thing about the SDK is that it's not limited to flinging media content to Fire TV devices, it also supports two-way communication between Fire TV and mobile apps. This type of functionality opens the door for some unique and innovative two-way...
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Friday was the day that Apple made a software update (version 6.0) available to its Apple TV customers, but over the weekend users reported that installing the update was causing a host of problems, from networking issues to actually bricking Apple TVs. In response, it appears that Apple has pulled the update, but the company has otherwise not made an official statement on the situation. Apple forums are awash in complaints of failed updates, disappearing movie rentals after the update, bricked Apple TVs, and connectivity issues. There are some tips for workarounds, but they don’t appear to work for everyone. Worse, at least one user alleges that Apple has been deleting whole threads on...
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Amazon's Instant Video service may have started out as a side benefit to its Prime membership, but it's quickly becoming the main focus and a worthy contender to Netflix. The service is now home to over 40,000 movies and TV episodes available for unlimited streaming, and over 140,000 videos available to rent or purchase, which you can then view on your television or mobile device. If you're an iOS users, you'll be happy to know the service now supports AirPlay as well. That's one of the new features that was rolled into version 2.1 released this week. Other added/updated features included in the 2.1 release include: IMDB case and director information, ratings, goofs, trivia, and quotes Read customer...
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It's not too often that Harman Kardon ends up on these pages, but the company's newest A/V receivers have a few tricks up their sleeves that'll appeal to more than just audiophiles. The Harman Kardon AVR 2700 and AVR 3700 look like your average receivers, but there's a module within that enables native 4K scaling as well as support for Apple's wireless AirPlay standard. Both the Harman Kardon AVR 2700 and AVR 3700 are powered by the acclaimed Harman Kardon high-current, ultrawide bandwidth amplifier, not to mention eight HDMI inputs (with full 3D support), and Dolby TrueHD / DTS-HD Master Audio decoding. There's a free app available for Apple and Android phones / tablets in order to use those...
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There are just under half a billion iOS devices in the world, all of which use the "old" 30-pin Dock Connector. Starting with the iPhone 5, that connector is out, and Lightning is in. As the world must go on, eventually we'll see accessories shipped to support the new adapter, despite the overwhelmingly huge market share advantage of supporting the older one. Bowers & Wilkins is leading that charge into the future, with the introduction of the A7 and A5 AirPlay speakers. These join the pricey Zeppelin Air, enabling users of any iPhone or iPad that supports AirPlay to stream without a cord. The A7 is expected to ship next month for $800, while the A5 will go for $500. Not surprisingly, this...
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Russound may not be a company on the tip of your tongue, but they're actually quite the player in the multi-room audio market. This week, they introduced the AirGo Outdoor Sound Station. AirGo is the first portable, weather-resistant, amplified speaker dock for use with Apple AirPort Express. AirGo can be placed outside on a deck, on a lawn, in the driveway or anywhere a listener wants to hear great sounding music. With the AirPort Express and AirPlay, the music from an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac or PC fills the air with full range sound quality. In addition, users can stream music from iTunes, Pandora or any other music service. Installation and setup is simple. Users only need to configure...
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There's no question that Apple's AirPlay has taken wireless multi-media streaming to a new place. Before, that type of streaming was generally reserved for enthusiasts, or those with oodles of money to spend on something as trivial as cutting the cord. But as Apple tends to do, they've taken it mainstream. Now, a lot of applications are popping up to take advantage of AirPlay, and in some cases, push AirPlay well beyond the place that Apple initially inteded. AirServer is one such application. It's a new app that's just hitting the App Store this month, and it's being called the "most advanced AirPlay/iTunes receiver app on the market." Why deserving of that name? For $2.99, the app let you stream...
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Apple's AirPlay service is definitely becoming one of the more popular protocols in the A/V space, and while it's certainly a long ways from being as mainstream as something like Bluetooth, the simple fact that Apple's name is on it is giving it serious mindshare. Harman Audio has just introduced a new JBL product, and obviously the key feature is AirPlay. For those looking to stream their iTunes library library wirelessly from their computer or iDevice, it's probably a solid option. The On Air Wireless AirPlay speaker dock has a fairly unique shape, with 360-degrees of audio able to fill an average sized room. You can pop your iPhone or iPod touch into the dock itself, and it'll charge; but...
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Apple's AirPlay service has really taken of, and it looks like it may continue to do so in a slightly different way. While the service has been mostly used for audio streaming, and exclusively so in partner devices, there are new rumors that Apple may give partner companies the ability to add video streaming. It's reported that Apple's partner companies pay arond $4 per product to have AirPlay compatibility, but these A/V receivers aren't passing along iPad/iPhone video. Yet. A new Bloomberg report cites two people familiar with the matter while saying that Apple is currently mulling a plan that would expand AirPlay licensing. If this proves true, it could lead to televisions with AirPlay support...
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Apple's AirPlay is definitely taking off in a big way. The concept of streaming music and media over the air from device to device is very appealing, and while the concept isn't new, Apple has once again taken an older concept and delivered it to the mainstream, but that also gives opportunity to rival companies to once again push their competing formats. Sony is no stranger to streaming media, but the company's HomeShare wireless protocol hasn't seen a huge influx of products in recent months. That's changing at the start of 2011. Sony has just released a new wireless HomeShare audio system that enables users to listen to music from any DLNA-certified player, as well a Sony Blu-ray player. The...
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As far as iOS releases go, this is just about as big as they come. Not since the iPhone OS revision that introduced Apple's App Store to the original iPhone has there been a buzz surrounding one of Apple's iOS releases, and for good reason. Much in the same way that Android 2.2 had significant impact on the path of Android's future, iOS 4.2 will surely dictate some of iOS' future. iOS 4.2 is significant in that it's the first major operating system update for the iPad, which was released in March. It's also timely. iOS4.2 is brings true, native multi-tasking to the iPad just in time for the holidays. Do these updates make the iPad worth re-visiting if you skipped over it the first time? If you'll...
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As far as iOS releases go, this is just about as big as they come. Not since the iPhone OS revision that introduced Apple's App Store to the original iPhone has there been a buzz surrounding one of Apple's iOS releases, and for good reason. Much in the same way that Android 2.2 had significant impact on the path of Android's future, iOS 4.2 will surely dictate some of iOS' future. iOS 4.2 is significant in that it's the first major operating system update for the iPad, which was released in March. It's also timely. iOS4.2 is brings true, native multi-tasking to the iPad just in time for the holidays, and that fact alone just might push a few Secret Santas into springing for one. It also shows...
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If you have an iPhone or iPod, a large collection of MP3s and a great home theater system, Ubuntu has an app for you. The Linux distro maker has introduced a way to stream the music from its cloud to your home system using Apple's AirPlay. You'll also need an audio/video component that supports AirPlay such as an Apple TV, or one of the AirPlay-supported third-party stereo electronics from Denon, Marantz, or iHome. And wait ... one more thing. You'll need a paid account with Ubuntu One Music. While Ubuntu does offers 2G of free storage for music and other files, in order to stream from your mobile device, you'll need to sign up for Ubuntu's $4/month Mobile Package. Ubuntu...
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doubleTwist has unveiled an updated Android app and desktop client. The announcement came shortly after Winamp's announcement that its own Android app has exited beta, and doubleTwist added a feature that Winamp just added as well: wireless sync. doubleTwist is a company founded by Monique Farantzos and Jon Lech Johansen (or DVD Jon). DVD Jon famously cracked the AACS DVD encryption system, as well as Apple's iTunes FairPlay DRM. doubleTwist desktop app makes no bones about wanting to be the "iTunes for Android." The desktop app has access to the Android App Store as well as Amazon MP3, and a directory of Podcasts. The wireless sync feature treads close to Apple's naming convention for "AirPlay;"...
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Have you heard of AirPlay? Chances are you have, but not much about it. Apple recently talked about the new technology when talking about the forthcoming iOS 4.x update for the iPad. Basically, AirPlay is an Apple-branded wireless streaming service that will allow users to stream their iTunes music remotely from their PCs and Macs across their home networks without any extra setup. If you buy an AirPlay-certified device, you'll be able to stream iTunes music directly to it without buying any extra hardware so long as you already have a Wi-Fi network setup. Denon and Marantz are two high-end names in the home entertainment business, and Apple announced that both of these guys were partners from...
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Apple has done it: a new, refreshed Apple TV. Steve Jobs has called the Apple TV a "hobby" for some time, but it sounds like that hobby may be something more now. With the introduction of iOS, it seems that the Apple TV has new life. For the longest time, the Apple TV truly was a sore thumb in the company's lineup, using a completely different UI and software build than any of their other devices. But now, the same UI you're used to on the iPhone and iPod touch will be coming to the revised Apple TV, and it will sell for a very seductive $99. And that price point isn't the only price point worth mentioning. Somehow, Apple has managed to also get users a library of HD movies to rent, including...
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'DVD Jon.' of DVD and FairPlay cracking fame, has gone legit.Beginning Tuesday, the first product from his company, DoubleTwist Ventures, will enter open beta. Called DoubleTwist, it's a free desktop client that essentially allows any kind of music, photo, or video file to be shared between a long list of portable media players, and through Web-based social networks.Instead of iTunes songs or videos taken with a Nokia N95 remaining locked on the phone, DoubleTwist software allows for dragging, dropping, and syncing of different media formats no matter the device.The idea, according to DoubleTwist founder and CEO Monique Farantzos, is that media files should be more like e-mail. It shouldn't matter...
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