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Will AirPlay Stream Hulu or Other Video Apps to Apple TV?


One of the most anticipated features in iOS 4.2 is the introduction of AirPlay for Apple TV. AirPlay will allow you to stream audio and video from your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad directly to your Apple TV.

With AirPlay, you can stream it all from your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, too. So if you feel like watching a movie you have on one of your devices, you don't need to rent or buy it again. Just tap to start playing content on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, then tap again to instantly stream whatever youre watching -- or listening to -- directly to Apple TV.

The just released 4.2 beta has some early support for AirPlay built in -- enough to generate some excitement about the possibilities.

Every standard iOS audio/video playback interface in Beta 4.2 now shows an AirPlay button that allows you to stream audio to an AirPlay enabled device. Forum user spimp31 successfully (audio) streamed the following apps from his iPad to his Airport Express:

- Safari (videos embedded from YT and Vimeo, audio files)
- YouTube
- Netflix
- Videos
- iPod
- BBC News
- MLB

As there are no shipping 2nd generation Apple TVs yet, no one has been able to confirm video playback from 3rd party apps yet. In theory, any streams that can play in the standard iOS video player should be able to be streamed/played to the new Apple TV (which also runs iOS). What's not so clear, however, is how protected content works such as Hulu. In additional, Hulu has been notoriously stubborn about allowing their content to be played anywhere other than their intended devices, so we expect they will limit this functionality if at all possible.

Also, since this is beta software, things could change drastically between now and release. One customer even emailed Steve Jobs if AirPlay will work for every video playback or just stuff from the iTunes library. Jobs simply replied "everything played in the Videos app."

Top Rated Comments

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22 months ago
Maybe this is how you play games (or apps, another MR poster said apps) on your tv.....possibly, Hopefully not just video. I Guess airplay might be the key to it all.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
22 months ago
I wonder if you will be able to streamcast your desktop to ATV, should be great for playing games or just having your TV as an another screen
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
22 months ago
This is what I was expecting when it was announced, there is no need for apps on the device and the storage that would go with them when it will just stream them from the iPhone/iPad that you are using as a remote.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
22 months ago

Maybe this is how you play games (or apps, another MR poster said apps) on your tv.....possibly, Hopefully not just video. I Guess airplay might be the key to it all.


Game video would be very hard to stream.

An iTunes video is easy. Just send the data file to Apple TV, and it will play it.
For a live video game? You'd have to convert it to h.264 on the fly, or send raw video.

arn
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
22 months ago
Hulu only works in the US, so I'm boycotting them! As if I had a choice... :D
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
22 months ago
Now I want one. :D
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
22 months ago
this should have been activated years ago so we didnt have to use crap like Airfoil

Will all these features work with iPhone4?
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
22 months ago

I wonder if you will be able to streamcast your desktop to ATV, should be great for playing games or just having your TV as an another screen


This would be great.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
22 months ago
So the Hulu content would stream to the iPhone/iPod/iPad and then stream back out to the Apple TV? Nice if they can pull this off, not holding my breath.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
22 months ago

Game video would be very hard to stream.

An iTunes video is easy. Just send the data file to Apple TV, and it will play it.
For a live video game? You'd have to convert it to h.264 on the fly, or send raw video.

arn


Or send frames ? :rolleyes: But that would need Gigabit Ethernet at least.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives

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