AirPlay Opens Door to Almost Any Web Video on Apple TV

[japanime]

Major League Baseball will undoubtedly rewrite their apps to prevent this from working. They grab money everywhere they can, and this would be a "free" way to circumvent their Extra Innings package.

EDIT: I stand corrected — apparently the latest version of the mlb.com app allows for video out. This is an awesome*— and surprising — development! Perhaps MLB took a look at what the NFL is doing with its own app and decided they better offer video-out.

 

[blackNBUK]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who saw this coming. When Steve Jobs announced the new Apple TV and decided to cap his introduction of it with AirPlay the first question in my mind and sent to Mr. Jobs via email was "will 3rd-party apps be able to stream video via AirPlay". He never responded, but I saw the vague response he sent to another user about the Videos app.

Clearly he knows the potential for AirPlay to change the game. It falls within the current license/contract terms he has in place with TV studios because the device playing the video is still the iPhone or iPad or iPod, but the external monitor is the television (kinda like you can do with the Apple A/V component or composite cables -- but without the cables).

Being able to initiate AirPlay from a mobile device and send audio or video to another device will have huge implications -- the potential is huge (from car stereos to television to other mobile devices).

I'm actually a bit surprised that AirPlay was announced a full 2 months before it will be available, but I suppose you need to get the 3rd-Party manufacturers time to get their accessories ready for Christmas and developers need time to test.

The next big move will be when your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch can be an AirPlay receiver. That is the predecessor to cloud-based iTunes.

Good summary of the implications of AirPlay!

However I think the most significant point of AirPlay is the way that it neatly routes around the limitations of a TV user interface. Instead of trying to browse/discover new content from 10' away with just a remote, AirPlay allows that to be done on your iPad while still using your big screen for watching the content. Think of it as a TV guide magazine that starts shows when you touch them.

Of course an iOS device is a seriously expensive remote control; however many people will have a suitable device already. Plus you could see an AppleTV as a relatively cheap accessory to an iPad.

 

[ten-oak-druid]

Cable and Satellite tv needs a new format. We are living in an era where the technology to record and produce a television show is readily available and much less expensive than it used to be. Instead of a handful of people running a few companies picking which programs get made, one would think that we could see each medium size city produce at least one quality program from its population.

I picture a network paired up with on on-line experience where each city has a competition of local talent. Top rated shows are then brought to the channel and the best of the best get prime time slots.

 

[blackNBUK]

Cable Satellite tv needs a new format. We are living in an era where the technology to record and produce a television show is readily available and much less expensive than it used to be. Instead of a handful of people running a few companies picking which programs get made, one would think that we could see each medium size city produce at least one quality program from its population.

I picture a network paired up with on on-line experience where each city has a competition of local talent. Top rated shows are then brought to the channel and the best of the best get prime time slots.

Maybe I'm running ahead of the pack but the whole concept of a 'channel' is starting to seem like an unnecessary step. I've been using a PVR for 90% of my TV watching for the last few years and which channel a program appears on is pretty much irrelevant. I care about the content not who broadcasts it.

In the case of ultra-local TV I think the best approach is to just get the content out there. This could be through a web-site, a video podcast, a YouTube channel or an App. The important point is to stop thinking of TV as this remote thing and for the small content producers to find their own way to an audience.

Edit: I forgot to mention but using a PVR means that 'prime-time' also becomes an irrelevant concept. Obviously the same applies to streaming TV.

 

[blybug]

I assure you they have figured out what Apple has done here, and they will quickly figure out how to block it.

Why should they block it? Subscribers are still paying for Hulu+, could just as well have their computers directly connected to a 50" monitor/TV...AirPlay and the TV black box conduit remains a closed-tight system. Simply allows the TV to be the monitor. Why should Hulu or any of these other content providers care what the customer is using for a monitor, as long as they pay their monthly fee and/or watch the embedded ads?

In fact, I'm thinking I might be more likely to subscribe to Hulu+ if I can watch it via TV and not be stuck at my desk watching on my computer. It's value-added for Hulu+ and one step closer to convincing the average Joe to cancel his cable.

 

[blybug]

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...

You are misinformed. The current TV syncs and/or streams from iTunes, but it is incorrect to state that Apple only allows "bought" iTunes material. It's a networked iPod with a TV for a screen.

My Library contains >300 DVD movies and dozens of full TV series ripped, >80 hours of home video, and >20,000 songs, some iTunes purchases but most ripped from CDs. All this material is organized in iTunes on a MacBook and syncs & plays flawlessly on my TV.

The TV-2 will take this seamless integration several steps further, and there is absolutely no evidence to believe it will be limited to "purchased" content.

 

[wagawagawoowoo]

what about a business wireless projector option?

i attend lots of meetings where people fight over being connected to the projector. Some places dont like you bringing a usb memory stick as they dont like the security risk so make you connect direct to the projector. (this also allows you to use keynote as ive never been anywhere where they can read a keynote presentation)
wouldnt it be cool if you could connect an appleTV to the projector and then have your laptop or iPad connect to the appleTV wirelessly? you could then show your keynote (or dare i say powerpoint) slide show over the air?
perhaps there needs to be some controls for selecting who has access? you dont want to be giving a lecture to a group of students and find they take over the screen.
can i call it AirShow?

 

[Zmmyt]

Since AirVideo use The standard iOS vidéo player I am pretty sûre thaï IT Will AirPlay jus fine. I am looking forward to try IT The minute I get The AppleTV v2. I might actually subscribe as a developer to get early aces to the new os.

This would be ace.

 

[Scuby]

[...]
can i call it AirShow?

Nice idea, but probably not quite the right bits of kit to do it. The new Apple TV only has HDMI out, but most business-focussed projectors won't have that - newer ones will have DVI, which is an easy conversion (unless Apple have enabled HDCP on the output, which is very possible). Most of them are still stuck with VGA though.

Other issue is that it would need businesses to put iTunes on their computers. If they're not happy with USB sticks or you connecting to internal networks, they're not going to want "entertainment" software installed or wifi networks to be setup and open to visitors.

Sure the same underlying architecture could be used, but probably a bit niche for Apple.

David

 

[Master Chief]

You are misinformed. The current TV syncs and/or streams from iTunes, but it is incorrect to state that Apple only allows "bought" iTunes material. It's a networked iPod with a TV for a screen.

My Library contains >300 DVD movies and dozens of full TV series ripped, >80 hours of home video, and >20,000 songs, some iTunes purchases but most ripped from CDs. All this material is organized in iTunes on a MacBook and syncs & plays flawlessly on my TV.

The TV-2 will take this seamless integration several steps further, and there is absolutely no evidence to believe it will be limited to "purchased" content.

The new Apple TV is all about renting content. No longer about purchasing content. In other words; You first need iTunes to purchase the movie you want to add to your collection, and then stream it to your Apple TV, simply because as it stand now... you can't even purchase anything from the Apple TV UI.

Renting movies on the other hand is straightforward.

Nobody here wondering about what streaming via WiFi will do to your iDevice battery [life]?

 

[blybug]

The new Apple TV is all about renting content. No longer about purchasing content. In other words; You first need iTunes to purchase the movie you want to add to your collection, and then stream it to your Apple TV, simply because as it stand now... you can't even purchase anything from the Apple TV UI.

There is no reason to think that self-created content (ie home movies or Handbraked DVDs) loaded into iTunes will not play on the new TV, as they currently do. To paraphrase the original TV tagline, "If it's in iTunes, it's on your TV."

Obviously would prefer that customers to buy or rent all their TV content from their store, and will make the process so seamless that many will. But this will not be a requirement nor will the device limited in this way.

I bet Apple has discovered that their current TV user base just wasn't buying that much content through the device itself, most purchases were happening through iTunes/computers anyhow. Removing the purchase feature lessens the need for any internal storage, which has contributed some to the smaller quieter design, and the $99 price point.

 

[NSMonkey]

I hope that the automakers stop supporting proprietary connectors and protocols, and adopt an open standard for connectors and protocols.

What do you call Bluetooth A2DP, Bluetooth AVRCP and USB mass storage?

Again, why not open standards? Why not any HTML5 video? (once HTML5 is a reality) Why not any AVC video? Why not any VC-1 video? Why not any MPEG-1 video? Why not any MPEG-2 video?

Why not Flash? [ducks ]

Apple already uses AVC (a.k.a. H.264, a.k.a. MPEG-4 Part 10), so I guess they agree with you. And FYI, there is no such thing as "HTML5 video". HTML5 doesn't specify a codec.

 

[bigpics]

I dunno much about art, but I know when it's in HD...

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.

Absolutely. Why watch all your fave iTunes content you cared enough to pay for, a grainy print of "Citizen Kane" or amazing rare Classic Rock and rising Indie artist videos in cruddy SD when you can get the deepest thoughts of "The Real Housewives of Some Vapid Place" in stunning (and mind-numbing) HD?

Obviously you are a person of taste and discernment. pixels are all, pixels of what, who cares? Man, they're in HfrackingD!!

 

[Deslock]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

The original story mentions streaming Comedy Central shows from your iPad. But, from what I've seen, its not possible to play CC content on the iPad (Flash only). Am I missing something?

I have the same question.

 

[eye]

Relax people, this is just a rumor. It doesn't say it's a guaranteed feature.

 

[(marc)]

This wouldn't solve the issue that iOS can't playback Flash videos, which still make up a large part of internet video.

 

[applefan69]

This wouldn't solve the issue that iOS can't playback Flash videos, which still make up a large part of internet video.

Do you get anything in return from adobe for doing that?

you cant tell me you enjoy bending over, and shining adobes boots.

 

[freediverdude]

Isn't this the same as that Intel WiDi technology used with Windows 7 and the Netgear Push-to-TV set top box that's been out already, or is this something different. I know a lot of people with windows laptops are already doing this sort of thing.

 

[Master Chief]

There is no reason to think that self-created content (ie home movies or Handbraked DVDs) loaded into iTunes will not play on the new TV, as they currently do. To paraphrase the original TV tagline, "If it's in iTunes, it's on your TV."

Oh absolutely. The Apple TV will output anything [in a supported format] you stream to it. Apple doesn't care about how you obtained it. They don't care if you ripped a DVD or whatever. Not my problem either.

Obviously would prefer that customers to buy or rent all their TV content from their store, and will make the process so seamless that many will. But this will not be a requirement nor will the device limited in this way.

That would be nice yes – for both Apple and its stock holders – but no, it ain't a requirement. This is however not the point of my reply.

I bet Apple has discovered that their current TV user base just wasn't buying that much content through the device itself, most purchases were happening through iTunes/computers anyhow. Removing the purchase feature lessens the need for any internal storage, which has contributed some to the smaller quieter design, and the $99 price point.

Right. And this is what I was trying to address, because you have to purchase your content from your Mac. It cannot be done from the Apple TV itself. You simply don't have that option.

This unfortunately also means that your Mac needs to be switched on, for as long as it takes to complete the download(s), and when you want to watch that movie.

This however could have been so much easier, by temporarily buffering purchased movies on the Apple TV's flash drive, until your Mac is switched on again. That would be a perfect time to auto-upload that movie [you have to store is somewhere after all].

Watching purchased movies would have been equally easy. Simply upload it to the Apple TV and switch off your Mac. Making it much more user eco/friendly.

 

[E.Lizardo]

Can anyone tell me if AirPlay will be able to be streamed to the original TV?

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

Don't know about the second one,but the word from apple on the first question is no.
Strangely enough my aTV died just after I ordered the new model.

 

[E.Lizardo]

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!

As if "Steve-O"could do anything about it.
Don't know if it's worth the money,but have you looked into a proxy?I paid for one for a while just to watch(don't laugh)The Littlest Hobo on CTV's site,from here in Alabama.It worked flawlessly.
OK,go ahead and laugh.

 

[E.Lizardo]

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...

Except that email from Steve.

 

[E.Lizardo]

I understand that a straight port of the new AppleTV OS may not be possible for the old AppleTVs. But I'm a bit angry that they aren't at least enabling Airplay and TV show rental playback on the old AppleTVs.

You can still get that-it's a $99 upgrade

 

[E.Lizardo]

Why should they block it? Subscribers are still paying for Hulu+, could just as well have their computers directly connected to a 50" monitor/TV...AirPlay and the TV black box conduit remains a closed-tight system. Simply allows the TV to be the monitor. Why should Hulu or any of these other content providers care what the customer is using for a monitor, as long as they pay their monthly fee and/or watch the embedded ads?

In fact, I'm thinking I might be more likely to subscribe to Hulu+ if I can watch it via TV and not be stuck at my desk watching on my computer. It's value-added for Hulu+ and one step closer to convincing the average Joe to cancel his cable.

You are obviously mistaking content providers for reasonable people.See:The cat and mouse game Hulu played with Boxee.

 

[E.Lizardo]

The new Apple TV is all about renting content. No longer about purchasing content. In other words; You first need iTunes to purchase the movie you want to add to your collection, and then stream it to your Apple TV, simply because as it stand now... you can't even purchase anything from the Apple TV UI.

Renting movies on the other hand is straightforward.

Nobody here wondering about what streaming via WiFi will do to your iDevice battery [life]?

I'm not wondering at all.Hint:it won't ADD battery life.