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A/V Streaming to Replace AirTunes in Next Airport Express (RELIABLE SOURCE)

ipedro

ipedro

macrumors 603
Original poster
Nov 30, 2004
6,476
9,297
Toronto, ON
I have confirmed through a VERY RELIABLE source that the next version of Airport Express will support Audo AND Video Streaming!

This source claims that AirTunes will be replaced by a yet unnamed feature that will stream A/V content. The unit will have an S-Video out as well as the current optical audio outlet.

There will be a delay feature that will keep audio and video in sync so it is obvious this will be ideal for streaming DVD content.

The unit will be announced and released June 6th at the WWDC Steve Jobs keynote.

I've been looking unsuccessfuly for information on the next Airport for months and finally I hit the gold with this source.

This news shows that Apple is moving in the direction of eventually launching an Online Video Rental/Purchase store in the near future.

EDIT: Corrected launch date
 
ipedro said:
I have confirmed through a VERY RELIABLE source that the next version of Airport Express will support Audo AND Video Streaming!

This source claims that AirTunes will be replaced by a yet unnamed feature that will stream A/V content. The unit will have an S-Video out as well as the current optical audio outlet.

The unit will be announced and released in July at the WWDC Steve Jobs keynote.

I've been looking unsuccessfuly for information on the next Airport for months and finally I hit the gold with this source.
Click to expand...

Seeing as the Keynote is in June, you're not starting off on a very reliable note. :rolleyes:
 
sorry, my bad. She said it was to be announced at the WWDC, the July date was my mistake.

Take the news as you want, this is after all a rumour site.

My source works for a company that will remain unnamed (but that you all know) which has a video component and was thus notified in advance to make plans for having their software become compatible with this new technology.
 
AE is advertised with 30 free songs on iTunes...

Could be they are trying to move stock with the "sale." The iTunes store is advertising 30 free songs with the purchase of an AE...

Thanks for this tip...

This of course begs the question of when, not if, a video iPod will be released...
 
pdpfilms: Do I know you? Diane? lol

As for veracity, I had written about this in my blog some time ago and received confirmation from a source close to Apple that this was indeed in the pipe. Tonight I got solid confirmation from a more reliable source.

PlaceofDis: More than a dreamy rumour. Let's meet here after the keynote.
 
I'm guessing that it would use h.264 for streeming the video from the mac to the airport. Apple did this before when they introduced the apple lossless encoder for iTunes. This rumor doesn't seem that unrealistic.
 
thecow: thank you. You took the words out of my..uh.. fingers.

With H.264 now launched, the possibility of video streaming is now a reality.

The previous problem with streaming video was that compression technologies would never allow for full screen video streaming. With H.264, even if your "pipe" is clogged, the video can be scaled down to allow for a smooth stream.

With the delay sync feature, I would imagine that the new Airport Express will have buffer memory. This way, it can receive a/v information and only play it when sufficient matching audio and video are on the system.

As for price, my source didn't speculate as to it's price. I'm sure Apple is keeping the lid on this as much as they can but as we all know, it's impossible to keep a secret on something you need to let other parties become aware of.
 
aswitcher said:
I take it this wont be cheap...say $50-$100 US more???
Click to expand...

well if they are phasing out the older express units than i dont think the price will be that outrageous
 
I wonder what they'll call the new feature since AirTunes will be on it's way out.

AirTime (as in Wireless QuickTime)?

AirStream?

AirFlow?

AirA/V (unApple)

___________________________

On a sidenote, this is the continuation of making an Apple computer the media hub of the home. Have a Mac Mini and an Airport Express and you've got the perfect media hub. Wireless.
I bet this is going to tie in with the new expected WiFiPod.
 
snkTab said:
Until Apple makes a Airport Express Photo just to spite you.
Click to expand...

Very good point! I wouldn't be surprised to see this as a selling feature:

"Wirelessly view your iPhoto gallery on your TV"

What other possible uses can come of this?

iChat A/V on your TV? Plug your iSight into the Airport Express and sit back on your couch as you video chat with peole on the other side of the planet. INSTANT video phone!
 
aswitcher said:
I take it this wont be cheap...say $50-$100 US more???
Click to expand...

Not bad IMO. Even better if it is the same price as todays AEX.

Video streaming does make me wonder if Apple is going to announce a Mac mini type of device with the much desired multimedia capability. I for one would want to be able to rely on Apple for a closed-ended type of system. Meaning that I did not have to rely on Elgato as an example.
 
ipedro said:
Very good point! I wouldn't be surprised to see this as a selling feature:

"Wirelessly view your iPhoto gallery on your TV"

What other possible uses can come of this?

iChat A/V on your TV? Plug your iSight into the Airport Express and sit back on your couch as you video chat with peole on the other side of the planet. INSTANT video phone!
Click to expand...

From your mouth to Apple's ears.
 
ipedro said:
iChat A/V on your TV? Plug your iSight into the Airport Express and sit back on your couch as you video chat with peole on the other side of the planet. INSTANT video phone!
Click to expand...

iSight wasn't designed to sit on top of your tv and sit on your couch and talk. what i am saying is the lense isn't design to be focused on objects far away. there are professional video conferences device designed to do that. I don't see that as a practical application unless the iSight get redisigned. there is also latency issues. how would it work? would you use you ichat client on your mac to connect to the person then tell the airport express to use the cam and mic on the airport express. the airport express basically need a remote control if you wanted this to be possible.
 
tangerineyum said:
Well if this is indeed true i will be buying a new airtunes unit in june, whether or not it supports video.
Click to expand...

I second that. I have been waiting and will continue to wait. But there better be a GOOD new feature(s), otherwise the present ones will seem just fine, especially with a nice price cut.
 
there are a couple of a/v streaming units out there (none using the H.264 codec, ofcourse) but they are selling in the $300 range. D-Link makes one and Microsoft is pushing this quite a bit, but they are pretty ineffective. They didn't get it right. They don't have jobs' midas touch. ;)
Would love A/V streaming! Hoping it's real.
 
superbovine said:
iSight wasn't designed to sit on top of your tv and sit on your couch and talk. what i am saying is the lense isn't design to be focused on objects far away. there are professional video conferences device designed to do that. I don't see that as a practical application unless the iSight get redisigned. there is also latency issues. how would it work? would you use you ichat client on your mac to connect to the person then tell the airport express to use the cam and mic on the airport express. the airport express basically need a remote control if you wanted this to be possible.
Click to expand...

But a separate A type of hook-up specifically for the iSight that would allow to place the iSight on your coffee table and connect wirelessly would sell very well IMO. In the worst case Apple finally releases iSight 2.0 with wireless capabilities.
 
H.264 is incredible. I had a 10GB MPEG2 file (an HDTV episode of Battlestar Galactica recorded with EyeTV) and converted it to a 500MB H.264 file with no noticable loss of quality.

That is a 20x size reduction! The guys who came up with this codec must have had some kind of new, deep insight in to the nature of video data.
 
broken_keyboard said:
That is a 20x size reduction! The guys who came up with this codec must have had some kind of new, deep insight in to the nature of video data.
Click to expand...

I think a lot of it probably has to do w/computer processing power getting to a point where this is becoming a viable solution. I'm sure the idea for this has been on paper for a while, but they just had to wait for computers to catch up.

broken_keyboard,
Could you post like a 5 or 10 second section from each source so we could do a side by side comparison?

After hearing all about H.264 I finally got to seem some of it and, honestly, I was a bit let down. But my perspective is skewed 'cause I see production quality HD footage on a regular basis... H.264 looks awesome for what it is, but it just can't come close to the "virgin" HD source.

Anyway... dirty little secret studios/networks probably don't want you to know about HDTV is that some shows (no idea how many) that b'cast in both SD and HD will take their SD version, up-convert it to HD, and send that out as the HD.

Anyway, on topic, a streaming a/v device would be pretty cool.


Lethal
 
Ummm

Count me in as skeptical. While it is true that H264 may allow smaller file forms, the processing power is still needed: what is going to decode the H264 transmission? The AirTunes experience was definitely pointed at consumers: Mac and PC users alike. How is Apple supposed to support decoding for this format?

As it is, with the Macs on my sig, AirTunes likes to drop the signal once in a while.

I would love to see this: but I am very wary my possums...
 
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