AirPlay Opens Door to Almost Any Web Video on Apple TV

MacRumors · Sep 17, 2010

The news that iOS 4.2 allows any standard iOS video playback controller to potentially stream content to their Apple TV is continuing to generate some excitement. Seth Weintraub suggests that this is a bit of a Trojan horse strategy that will allow iPad and iPhone customers to stream a huge amount of content from Apps and the Web to their Apple TV:

That means you can watch most Internet video on AppleTV over AirPlay. The day AppleTV is released, youll be able to watch free SD clips of shows that appear on ComedyCentral.com like the Daily Show and Colbert Report via Airplay. You theoretially should be able to watch Hulu Plus so long as it is encoded in H.264 (and doesnt get blocked once the networks figure out what Apple has done here).

This streaming ability (so far) only seems limited to those Apps that play using the standard iOS video player. Examples beyond Safari included YouTube, iPod, BBC News and MLB apps.

Image from Gizmodo
Gizmodo shared the same sentiment last week when it called AirPlay Apple's "sneak attack on television."

Article Link: AirPlay Opens Door to Almost Any Web Video on Apple TV

newagemac · Sep 17, 2010

Nice "Go To Market Strategy", Mr. Jobs. Very well played sir.

dXTC · Sep 17, 2010

It... Has... Begun!

And frankly, I wouldn't bet against Apple at this point. ABC's announcement of the My Generation app is just the beginning of the future of interactive TV.

ouimetnick · Sep 17, 2010

Did Apple intentionally do this? they may not have realized what AirPlay is capable of doing.

andrew0122 · Sep 17, 2010

Can anyone tell me if AirPlay will be able to be streamed to the original :apple:

TV?

Also has anyone confirmed that iOS 4.2 Beta 1 has AirPlay?

Zoiks · Sep 17, 2010

Eh, I've got the mini hooked to my TV, and I still prefer to watch anything HD, not SD crud that I'd be able to stream from YouTube and whatnot.

(disclosure, I am in Canada where Hulu is not allowed. If I could get HD Hulu streamed over the net, then I'd be kicking my PVR to the curb for sure!)

Good One Steve-O!

dmm219 · Sep 17, 2010

wow...people are getting WAY ahead of themselves here. Apple has ONLY shown being able to play iTunes bought material through airplay. Considering that they STILL only allow iTunes material to be streamed to ATV (v1), I think everyone is going to be GREATLY disappointed when they learn that AirPlay only works with Apple iTunes video.

There is absolutely NO evidence to believe otherwise at this point...

jdavtz · Sep 17, 2010

I know it's nice to do this wirelessly, but couldn't you always do the same thing with a cable anyway (in other words, is there anything for "the networks" to do anything about?)

Consultant · Sep 17, 2010

andrew0122 said:
1) Can anyone tell me if AirPlay will be able to be streamed to the original TV?

2) Also has anyone been confirmed that iOS 4.2 Beta 1 has AirPlay?

1. nope
2. yes of course it has it

Cougarcat · Sep 17, 2010

ouimetnick said:
Did Apple intentionally do this? they may not have realized what AirPlay is capable of doing.

Of course it was intentional.

netdog · Sep 17, 2010

Nice article by Seth.

9to5 and MacRumors are the only Mac sites I visit anymore.

dXTC · Sep 17, 2010

ouimetnick said:
Did Apple intentionally do this? they may not have realized what AirPlay is capable of doing.

Of course this was intentional. Apple is effectively calling the networks out.

EDIT: Beaten to the punch by Cougarcat. (/shakes tiny fist)

PlayWithTV · Sep 17, 2010

Netflix Paradox

So you can stream Netflix from another computer to your Apple TV, which already has Netflix, thus causing a rift in the space/time continuum.

AgingGeek · Sep 17, 2010

Except that iPad and iPhone can't play most internet videos.... ;-)

jdodoubleg · Sep 17, 2010

Any idea if this will work with Sony S-Air speakers? That would be AWESOME!

saving107 · Sep 17, 2010

dmm219 said:
wow...people are getting WAY ahead of themselves here. Apple has ONLY shown being able to play iTunes bought material through airplay. Considering that they STILL only allow iTunes material to be streamed to ATV (v1), I think everyone is going to be GREATLY disappointed when they learn that AirPlay only works with Apple iTunes video.

There is absolutely NO evidence to believe otherwise at this point...

Any video encoded in Quicktime h.264 will be able to be streamed with AirPlay

and 9to5mac.com is reporting:

That includes any video that can play on your iOS 4.2 device, like: Facebook video, YouTube, Netflix, Videos, BBC News, MLB and really anything else you can watch on your iOS device. That also includes videos built into Apps and magazine subscriptions too. All of this can be beamed to your AppleTV via Airplay.

http://www.9to5mac.com/27015/airplay-is-apples-go-to-market-internet-tv-strategy

paradox00 · Sep 17, 2010

dmm219 said:
wow...people are getting WAY ahead of themselves here. Apple has ONLY shown being able to play iTunes bought material through airplay. Considering that they STILL only allow iTunes material to be streamed to ATV (v1), I think everyone is going to be GREATLY disappointed when they learn that AirPlay only works with Apple iTunes video.

There is absolutely NO evidence to believe otherwise at this point...

Scrolling down the front page of Mac Rumors you will find this:

https://www.macrumors.com/2010/09/17/will-airplay-stream-hulu-or-other-video-apps-to-apple-tv/

The just released 4.2 beta has some early support for AirPlay built in -- enough to generate some excitement about the possibilities.

Every standard iOS audio/video playback interface in Beta 4.2 now shows an AirPlay button that allows you to stream audio to an AirPlay enabled device. Forum user spimp31 successfully (audio) streamed the following apps from his iPad to his Airport Express:
- Safari (videos embedded from YT and Vimeo, audio files)
- YouTube
- Netflix
- Videos
- iPod
- BBC News
- MLB

drewc1138 · Sep 17, 2010

I'm still maintaining that AirPlay holds a LOT more in store than just video streaming.

iOS 5 will be all about streaming your content via wifi to other devices. That includes apps...for example, imagine using your iPhone to control an Angry Birds game on your TV screen.

xkalibur · Sep 17, 2010

YES, there is evidence. No one is getting ahead of themselves.

dmm219 said:
wow...people are getting WAY ahead of themselves here. Apple has ONLY shown being able to play iTunes bought material through airplay. Considering that they STILL only allow iTunes material to be streamed to ATV (v1), I think everyone is going to be GREATLY disappointed when they learn that AirPlay only works with Apple iTunes video.

There is absolutely NO evidence to believe otherwise at this point...

Actually that evidence was posted via MacRumors, today.

https://www.macrumors.com/2010/09/17/will-airplay-stream-hulu-or-other-video-apps-to-apple-tv/

Lepton · Sep 17, 2010

To take advantage of this, wouldn't the new appleTV have to have a general safari bromwser in there, so you could go to these sites? Has it been said it will include a browser?

netdog · Sep 17, 2010

Will Macs be getting AirPlay too?

techapocalypse · Sep 17, 2010

I'm just curious is when you AirPlay to an Apple TV will it do the iPad aspect ratio of 4:3 or the video files aspect (usually) 16:9? Cause i use streamtome and the VGA adapter but as you know it doesn't do the TV's resolution so yeah...I'm sure we'll know when the Apple TV is released but i figured maybe someone knew

netdog · Sep 17, 2010

Lepton said:
To take advantage of this, wouldn't the new appleTV have to have a general safari bromwser in there, so you could go to these sites? Has it been said it will include a browser?

I think the browser is in the AirPlay iOS device (and hopefully in the OS X devices too).

tasset · Sep 17, 2010

I hope this is true, it is the new AppleTv's only saving grace. Before the announcement MG Siegler wrote a post on Techcrunch about the fight for television with a backdrop of the storming of Normandy. Maybe Apple doesn't want to get mowed down on the beach by the Nazis (cable, telco, media orgs) and plans to drop in like Inglorious Basterds behind the lines and kill em off like guerillas. Steve wants his 100 scalps!

RMXO · Sep 17, 2010

I use AirVideo to play my mkv's, does this mean, I will be able to stream my MKV's to the new ATV?

AirPlay Opens Door to Almost Any Web Video on Apple TV

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