Apple Seeking to License AirPlay for Video Streaming?

[mcmlxix]

I don't buy it; Apple offers the Apple TV for $99 which provides AirPlay. I don't think they'll license out the software; Apple has too many negative experiences with licensing out software...

With iOS 4.3 enhancements and iDevices everywhere, ATV seems more and more obsolete.

I don't know why Apple revamped the ATV last year. To me it makes more sense to license the AirPlay to TV manufacturers (free or for fee). I mean, isn’t ATV really just a dongle (albeit with iOS in it) that receives transmissions and is attached to a TV. It’s just a glorified antenna.

Come on Apple sell more iPads etc, and with some new code, enable them to make ATV obsolete.

 

[topperdog]

Airtunes has been awful since all the latest updates Apple has made. Fix the issues Apple created before adding more to the mix. Dropouts are Airtunes only quality now. Good idea, but it doesn't work very well at all.

 

[ciTiger]

That would be nice...

 

[jerome65]

I don't buy it; Apple offers the Apple TV for $99 which provides AirPlay. I don't think they'll license out the software; Apple has too many negative experiences with licensing out software...

How many AppleTV's were sold last year? How many TV's? How many DVD players? How many AV Receivers?

If AirPlay were implemented on 50% of the TV's being sold and 50% of the AV receivers, 50% of the DVD players, Sony PlayStation, and Nintendo Wii then even at only $4 per device they could end up making more money than they do with AppleTV and in the end make the living room "simpler" for their customers. They would also boost potential sales and rentals of video from the iTunes store.

Just look at the proliferation of Netflix streaming enabled devices on the market today, there is a lot of money to be made here even if it does end up killing the AppleTV.

 

[nickisgame69]

How will they control quality

ATV quality is in Apple's control but T quality is not. If they do decide to license the software technology then every tv manufacturer will implement with their own hardware. Its possible that Airplay will work better on one device versus another. I believe that will taint the Apple brand. Apple should stick with its guns. ATV works well because it fits in Apple's model. Licensing software that is so hardware dependent is just a bad idea.

 

[Westacular]

Yep, this is an awesome app. You have to manually download the BETA version of Air Video Server for it to do Video Airplay though. The regular release does not support it.

The speed increase in the recent Server betas is fantastic. Seeking while watching live transcoded videos went from unusably slow to almost instantaneous.

 

[bayxsonic]

This is going to be great, absolutely, but forget to pay only a $99 premium for this feature. TVs with Internet access and AirPlay capabilities are going to be overpriced for a couple years. Then the technology will either have failed and retired from TVs or it will be in every or so TV. Now I just wish I could have a cheap audio AirPlay receiver to connect my speakers to ($40 anyone?)