Comments on: Caught in the Wake of Apple’s Press Events

By: Martin Cohen

Martin Cohen — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 20:39:30 +0000

For us, a great advantage of Roku is that is works with a non-HD TV, and ATV does not.

So, no ATV for us.

By: David

David — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:11:05 +0000

Thanks, that’s what I thought you were saying. The meaning wasn’t totally clear on first read.

What I’m interested to see is if we will be able to stream from an iPad or iPhone to an AirPort Express (without owning an Apple TV). It feels like this should be possible, but it’s not been said explicitly. It’ll be interesting to see what the options are.

By: Geoffrey Goetz

Geoffrey Goetz — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:42:37 +0000

Currently for AirTunes to work, I can only have one Mac supporting one or more Airport Express devices. If multiple Airport Express devices are being supported, they must all be playing the exact same song. I am also required to have a logged in use with iTunes up and running. It is this running instance of iTunes that is in control. I have attached a remote to my Airport Express, but all it did was control my iTunes on my Mac. I have two Airport Expresses in my house currently, and cannot send separate audio streams to each from one running iTunes instance. They both must play the same song a the same time.

Focusing solely on one’s iTunes Library stored locally on a Mac, with AirPlay, it appears that the Apple TV will be able to control its own stream. More than just the ability to play, it will also have teh abilty to control. The present day Apple TV was in control of its own copy of an iTunes Music Library that it had synced locally. The new Apple TV will not have a local copy of anything. Whether or not this is just acting as a remote to a running iTunes application on a Mac, or if it behaves more like the relationship between a DLNA client and server is still unclear. Basically, what is the exact relationship between the new Apple TV and any iTunes Library? Can multiple Apple TVs access one iTunes Library and play separate media files? Does iTunes still need to be up and running in a logged on user account? I have one Apple TV on order, and look forward to finding out.

By: Darren

Darren — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:14:30 +0000

“No, AirPlay is AirTunes + streaming media from one device to another. AirTunes is streaming audio from a Mac -> Airport or Apple TV.

An Apple TV can stream media from a Mac, but you couldn’t throw it from, say, your Mac to an Apple TV.”

Sorry, but you are incorrect. AirPlay is Airtunes renamed with added support for video. It works from iTunes, iPhone, and iPad to compatible devices.

By: mannyvel

mannyvel — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:00:17 +0000

No, AirPlay is AirTunes + streaming media from one device to another. AirTunes is streaming audio from a Mac -> Airport or Apple TV.

An Apple TV can stream media from a Mac, but you couldn’t throw it from, say, your Mac to an Apple TV.

By: Geoffrey Goetz

Geoffrey Goetz — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:13:16 +0000

Correct, a potential to create competition within it’s own product line. For the same price, consumers will have to choose between two solutions to distribute music in their homes. One will have the added ability to connect to a printer and act as a wireless extension of their network, while the other will have the added ability to stream video and have a rich menu driven user interface that can control the content it accesses. That is not to say that competing with itself will hurt sales of either product. They could end up complementing each other.

By: David

David — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:41:22 +0000

“Apple is potentially cannibalizing its own product by competing with the presently available AirTunes capability of the AirportExpress.”

Isn’t AirPlay just AirTunes renamed, with the addition of media types other than just Tunes. Were you trying to suggest that it might take away one of the main selling points of the AirPort Express?