Hackers get to work with Apple's AirPlay
Stream punks
It's been a busy week or so for coders hacking AirPlay, Apple's media streaming protocol. We've seen code posted to allow streaming from Macs to Apple TVs, from iPads to Linux boxes running XBMC, and now we have an iPad-to-Windows link enabled.
The app you need is AirMediaPlayer, with runs under Windows XP, Vista and 7, and it requires Apple's freely available implementation of its zero-config tool, Bonjour.
Like AirFlick on the Mac - for Mac-to-Apple TV - and AirPlayer (iOS to Mac), AirMediaPlayer uses Bonjour to advertise the host machine as an Apple TV. Your iOS 4 device will then stream the video or music you're playing in it to the PC.
You can download AirMediaPlayer from website Technology and Science.
AirPlayer and AirFlick can be downloaded from developer Erica Sadun's site.
AirFlick was quickly tweaked to allow not solely Apple-sanctioned formats to be played on the Apple TV. By chucking a Mac version of AirVideo into the mix you can transcode video from, say, AVI XviD to H.264.
Erick van Rijk then used VLC to transcode DVDs in real time, and by tweaking the DVD code just slightly you can screencast your Mac's display to your telly via the Apple TV. ®
COMMENTS
sorry, no
It's not DLNA, not even close.
1) DLNA is not open, its members only, AirPlay is open, and is no longer "just apple." Just because apple had a hand in it, is it bad? (USB, 1394, DisopayPort, I can easily go on).
2) DLNA is not free, AirPlay is free to all registered devs.
3) AirPlay supports every DLNA core codec, plus Motion JPG, giff, tiff, AAC, HE-AAC, WAV, and actually supports DRMed files as well, plus, it supports any codecs an app can decode and feed into the transfer on the fly, which DLNA does not support (since there is not app SDK for DLNA software yet, only hardware level integrated support). The only codec AirPlay does not support is MPEG4 part 2 (divx) but that can be wrapped into MPEG4 part 10 (H.264) without actually having to recode the video (it takes seconds, and has no impact on the video quality at all, it does NOT involve trans-coding into a new format, just a new carrier format)
DLNA is a money maker, like FLV or MPEG before it was opened up. It is not a free platform, and we, the community, should be AGAINST it, not trying to support it.
just like DLNA then
Denon charge £50-odd extra for their kit to work with Airplay, brands seem to have to be invited to join the scheme and then have their logos on Apple marketing material - I would be surprised if there weren't licensing fees changing hands.
Airplay is very much like DLNA - crap and nasty. Except it's crapper and nastier. UPnP AV is the open choice.
Just hackers?
The AirPlay SDK IS OPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Apple gave it away, free...
