AirPlay Hacking: Streaming to Linux and Windows, DVD Streaming, and More
Over the past couple of weeks, we've covered Erica Sadun's efforts at extending AirPlay video streaming functionality with AirPlayer, which allows users to stream content from iOS devices to Macs, and AirFlick, which offers the ability to stream video from Macs to the new Apple TV. While the tools are only very alpha versions, they demonstrate how Apple and third-parties could extend AirPlay functionality.
Sadun and others haven't stopped there, however, with new proof-of-concept demonstrations arriving showing AirPlay functioning in a wide variety of environments not officially supported by Apple. Among the interesting developements:
- AirPlay comes to Linux: An installation of the open-source XBMC media player on Linux running an AirPlay service allowing iOS devices to stream to computers running Linux.
- AVI files on the Apple TV: Utilizing the resources of Air Video Server, Sadun was able to stream live-transcoded AVI files from her Mac to the new Apple TV, eliminating the need to convert such files to iTunes-friendly formats.
- Streaming DVDs to the Apple TV: Using VLC, AirFlick, and a bit of command-line tweaking, Erick van Rijk and Sadun have demonstrated how to stream DVD content from a Mac to the new Apple TV. While certainly not a one-click solution at this point, the demonstration shows the wide variety of media that can be converted for AirPlay streaming.
-
Screencasting a Mac to Apple TV: While the result is a bit blurry and demonstrates significant lag, video of a Mac's screen can be streamed to an Apple TV for display. The technique uses a similar VLC trick to that used to stream DVDs.
- AirPlay for Windows: In the same vein as Sadun's AirPlayer for Mac, Apostolos Georgiadis has released AirMediaPlayer for Windows to allow iOS devices to stream content to Windows PCs.
Popular Stories
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Juli CloverApple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital."
In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Juli CloverElevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag.
Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year.
Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro.
The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup.
The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie.
The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...
