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Denon has revealed the latest additions to its networked AV receiver lineup, designed to suit users with a range of budgets. The new INCOMMAND models also all support Apple’s lossless AirPlay wireless standard, which adds streaming support for the full range of Apple iOS devices and Macs. Three of the four new models also offer support for the new 4K Ultra HD standard.
Pioneer Electronics today introduced two new Elite home theater AV receivers, the Elite VSX-43 7.1-channel receiver and VSX-70 7.2-channel receiver, designed for expanded entertainment options controllable throughout the home. The new receivers incorporate high-resolution file format playback, expanded multi-zone and multi-source management and functionality, custom installation features, AirPlay and 4K Ultra HD compatibility. Both receivers are controllable by way of Pioneer’s smartphone apps for iOS and Android.
Home Box Office has updated its HBO Go app to version 2.1, adding background AirPlay streaming that lets users pass video onto TVs and other devices using AirPlay while making the mobile device free to run other applications. The update adds general performance enhancements as well as some additional interactivity for Game of Thrones watchers: while the episode is streaming to another device, users can see additional content (mostly text- and photo-based) on their iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.
Whole-house audio systems maker CasaTunes has announced a line of multi-room music servers that offer built-in compatibility with multi-zone AV receivers from a variety of major-brand manufacturers such as Denon, Harmon Kardon, Yamaha, Sony, Pioneer, Marantz and Integra/Onkyo. The servers are configured using apps available for iOS and Android, and extend the capabilities of third-party controllers by adding AirPlay wireless speaker and multi-zone AV receiver support to these systems.
Today's Apple TV 5.2 update, released alongside iOS 6.1, adds a few new features. The most important may be the ability to stream music via iTunes in the Cloud, cutting out the need to stream from a connected computer or iOS device. Accordingly Apple has also incorporated Up Next, the feature first seen in iTunes 11 that shows what music is coming up and allows for quick editing of the playlist.
Behringer is demonstrating the first-ever AirPlay system that allows users to combine new and legacy components into one IP-based wireless central command at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The Omni System features the Omni Amp receiver amplifier, Omni Link adapter, subwoofer, wireless speakers and AirPlay technology that enables consumers to bridge the gap between new and legacy electronic components from multiple manufacturers.
LG has announced a number of AV systems the company will be demonstrating at CES, alongside the recently-revealed Hecto Laser TV Projector. Of the five audio products that will be shown, two will use Near Field Communication (NFC) to connect to mobile devices, while Bluetooth connectivity is also prevalent among the remainder.
Following a nearly three-month gap with no official app for Apple's latest iOS devices, Google has released a version of its iPhone YouTube app optimized for the iPad and iPhone 5. The new universal version also adds video streaming with AirPlay, a feature missing from the original iOS 6 version of the app, which worked only with the iPhone and iPod Touch. Google originally released a version just before the launch of iOS 6, which brought some new features (and also ads for the first time), but left out iPad compatibility.
iHome, maker of a range of audio accessories for Macs, iDevices, and other gadgets, announced the shipment of the newest addition to its line of AirPlay compatible wireless speakers. The iW3 can stream wireless music from iTunes on a PC or Mac, from an iPad, an iPhone, or an iPod touch. The unit is certified for 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, and features a modest size, making it easily placeable in any number of rooms.
JBL has unveiled the newest in its line of audio streaming devices. The JBL SoundFly Air plug-in speaker is an Apple AirPlay enabled audio speaker. The unit's companion application adds music browsing, cover art, provides volume and tone adjustment, and allows for full customization of the digital signal processing to tailor the sound to the space.
(Updated with details of the security measures included with the firmware) Apple has released a major firmware update for second- and third-generation Apple TVs. The v5.1 upgrade implements several new features, most notably the ability to save several iTunes accounts on the same unit and switch between them. App icons can now be reordered by holding down the select button, and new advanced network options can be set via configuration profiles. People with AirPlay-compatible speakers, AirPort Express routers, and/or other Apple TVs can use AirPlay to stream audio to them.
Onkyo is soon to release an iOS docking station with wireless capability for its receivers. As well as having a 30-pin connector which also charges an iPad, iPod, or iPhone, the DS-A5 will also allow receivers from other manufacturers to take advantage of the AirPlay wireless streaming, and the streaming of audio files from computers with iTunes installed.
Apple is preparing to announce a version of AirPlay that doesn't require people to connect to a Wi-Fi network first, says the Telegraph. The technology is said to be tentatively named "AirPlay Direct," and on track to debut at a widely-anticipated press event on September 12th. To stream audio under the new platform, people would just need Apple hardware and a compatible stereo or speaker system. Wi-Fi would still be involved, but without an intervening router.
Cloud content provider Brightcove has launched a new open-source SDK and platform to help make "dual-screen" apps that can leverage Apple's AirPlay technology to offer games, video and other sorts of applications which offer content on both the iPad's own screen as well as a network-connected HDTV. Though the technology isn't new, the company's App Cloud platform aims to streamline TV-oriented app creation.
Bang and Olufsen has unveiled the BeoPlay V1, the first television from the high-end audio manufacturer's brand B&O Play. The television uses self-contained speakers set in a Scandinavian-industrial style powder-coated steel cabinet, contrasting with the previous TV releases. The manufacturer also noted an iOS docking station, called the BeoPlay A8, which adds Apple AirPlay support as an update to the original BeoSound 8.
Rogue Amoeba has released a new version of Airfoil Speakers Touch, its iOS audio app. The software normally serves as a companion to Airfoil, a desktop client for Mac and Windows PCs that streams audio to iOS devices via AirPlay. The v3.0 update enables iOS-to-iOS streaming, potentially eliminating the need for Airfoil, though the option can only be turned on through a $3 in-app purchase.
If maybe a little more slowly than Apple would like, AirPlay is becoming a staple of the wireless speaker market for iOS devices. The technology has a few advantages: Wi-Fi streaming allows for higher-quality audio than Bluetooth, in theory, and its integration into iOS and iTunes guarantees widespread support of options like broadcasting to multiple audio outputs in different rooms. Logitech's first entry into the AirPlay market comes courtesy of its Ultimate Ears brand, something previously limited to headphones. The UE Air Speaker rides on two promises: first, an easy setup process, and second, high-fidelity sound. At $400, can it deliver on expectations? We review it here.
Pioneer has taken the covers off to new additions to its Elite range of AV receivers. Both the Elite VSX-42 and the Elite VSX-60 sport AirPlay support for lossless iTunes and iOS streaming, as well as support for DLNA (1.5) and Bluetooth audio streaming with an optional Bluetooth adapter. They also come with vTuner Internet radio, which is extended in the VSX-60 to include support for Pandora and Sirius XM.
Following an inadvertent pre-listing on Amazon UK’s website as far back as October, Logitech has formally unveiled its new UE Air Speaker with AirPlay streaming support. The device supports uncompressed streaming from iTunes, as well as iOS devices connected to home networks. The shelf speaker system creates a large soundstage by employing dual tweeters and woofers.
Mog has posted a new app for Windows desktop owners. With it, subscribers can listen to music from the music service's catalog of over 14 million songs on their windows PC as well as their mobile device or Mac. The app features a native audio decoder for improved audio playback quality.
A late-week release saw Pioneer introduce four new mainstream AV receivers that mostly bring Internet awareness to the core of its lineup. The top three, the VSX-822, VSX-1022, and VSX-1022, all have support for AirPlay, DLNA, and vTuner Internet radio to grab media from iOS devices, iTunes, and some other hardware on the same local network. Ethernet is common across all of them, although the 1122 has the choice of a Wi-Fi adapter to reduce clutter.
Apple finished the week with a post to its developer page for Mountain Lion Developer Preview 2. Build 12A154Q is primarily meant to address earlier flaws and doesn't specifically outline what's new or fixed. The build is clearly unfinished, however, and is currently missing 32-bit kernel extension support, a large number of Game Center features, limited Notes support, and issues with NVIDIA graphics drivers, DVD Player, and limited Recovery Partition features.
iHome has unveiled its second AirPlay-capable speaker, the iW2. The minimalist speaker is focused on playback and will take audio over Wi-Fi from iTunes and any AirPlay-capable iOS device. If they're needed for extended periods, they can be charged directly from the iW2's USB port.
Searches and rumors Friday gave further credence to beliefs that a new Apple TV was due side-by-side with a new iPad. Checks by The Verge noted that some Apple stores now listed online availability with an unusually specific March 7 date. Some listed it as in stock, while others had a "check availability" that made the next round of supply unclear.
A new application for Macs leverages the AirPlay technology found in the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 to mirror the screens of those devices onto a Mac running Snow Leopard or higher. Called Reflection, the app can simply show the screen or put a "device shell" around the screen to simulate the look of an iOS device and its contents. The program utilizes the AirPlay abilities to wirelessly stream visual and audio information from the device to the Mac.
In a surprise step, Apple on Thursday gave developers a preview version of OS X Mountain Lion, the next significant update to the core OS. The new version is directly influenced by iOS 5 and includes Notification Center, Reminders, Notes, Game Center, and Twitter integration, with iCloud syncing where it's relevant. AirPlay Mirroring is also new to the Mac and shares exactly what's on screen through an Apple TV.
IAC has hoped to reinvigorate the idea of live TV on modern devices by starting up Aereo at a special event on Tuesday. The platform streams over the Internet but is getting mover 20 channels of true broadcast HDTV through huge grids of fingertip-sized tuners at Aereo's end. A cloud-based DVR with 40 hours of space lets viewers save favorite shows to watch later.
Two different tech gear companies have announced two new products for music lovers who want small speakers. Gear4 out of El Segundo are launching the AirZone Series 1 home speaker and iPhone/iPod dock that incorporates AirPlay compatibility for remote sounds and control, while iPod accessory maker iHome is offering two different mini-speakers that stream music and more via Bluetooth connections, one including a mic for speakerphone use.
Google's apparent decision to make its own wireless audio system appears to have come after stopping at least some activity with accessory makers, according to Electronista sources. Now said to have based its work on the Android@Home technology shown at Google I/O last year, the company had been talking to accessory makers building up to the May event but grew silent not long after. The silence might not necessarily have been ubiquitous, but it suggested that Google had taken the reins to make a product of its own.
Google may be making its own wireless audio system and dipping into its own hardware, an apaprent leak uncovered Thursday. The unnamed system, purported by the Wall Street Journal to have been in the works for years, would share at least music throughout the home. It would be sold directly under Google's brand, including the speakers, but could talk to other hardware and could use a phone or tablet for control.
Today in the MacNN forums members continue to to discuss rumors that the iPad 3 will be delayed, click here to join in. One forum goer asks about AirPlay in the thread titled "AirPlay won't work on one Mac."
Bang & Olufsen (B&O) has used CES as a launchpad for several new products including a plasma TV, companion wall speakers, as well as B&O Play, a new line of portable audio. The BeoVision 12-65 is an ultra flat 3D 65-inch plasma TV with integrated center channel and 7.1 surround sound audio. The BeoLab 12 is a complementary speaker system.
Among the companies announcing AirPlay-based electronics at CES are Griffin and Acoustic Research. Griffin's contribution is the Twenty, an amp that pairs with an AirPort Express to pump AirPlay audio into a nearby speaker. The amp supports 2.1 channels, producing up to 20W of output per channel. Users can also attach a powered subwoofer; automatic active crossover kicks in at 80Hz. A pricing and a launch date for the Twenty remain unannounced.
Samsung has been slowly building up the presence for its own competitor to AirPlay. New discoveries by Amit Kumar have shown that the ironically titled SwipeIt, a local mobile-to-TV sharing feature, quietly began reaching TVs at the start of the new year. A matching Android app (Android Market) has been built by Movi and went out on January 3, again without much notice, and doesn't require Samsung hardware to work.
Pioneer has just released two Elite-branded and networked home theater receivers that both get AirPlay support and DLNA 1.5 compatibility. The N-30 and N-50 otherwise share a 2.5-inch color LCD display. Using AirPlay, users can stream music from their iTunes libraries and iOS devices wirelessly, as well as use Pandora web radio, iHeartRadio and other music services. DLNA 1.5 catches a large number of other devices that can stream audio or HD video.
Samsung preceded CES with a pair of audio docks aimed both at its Galaxy S smartphones and, ironically, iOS devices. The Audio Dock with Vacuum Tube Amplifier, or the DA-E750, mixes both a digital amp and a vacuum tube pre-amp for what it hopes is a mix of accurate sound with warm tones. Samsung is also promising full wireless support for its own Android devices as well as iOS, including Apple's AirPlay, Samsung's AllShare (DLNA), and Bluetooth.
XBMC recently rolled out a significant revision of its home theater software, 11.0 Eden Beta 1, for download. Its makers say there are too many improvements to list, but the main ones include speed boosts, add-on update rollbacks, and improvements to the Confluence default skin. iOS users also now get AirPlay support with stable in-sync performance.
App developer Airtight has just released an Android app ($0.99, Android Market) that lets Google TV hardware devices use AirPlay to stream movies and photos from iPhones, iPod touch, and iPad devices to their HDTVs. The currently beta-stage app lets a Logitech Revue or Sony device get some of the features that would normally need an Apple TV. Some features aren't yet supported, including AirPlay mirroring, music, and the streaming of copy-protected movies.
A new FCC filing has given out Pure's plans to make its own AirPlay dock. The oval-shaped Contour 200i-Air takes the existing Contour and adds in the requisite Wi-Fi and companion hardware to take audio from iPads, iPhones, and iPod touch players on the local network. It's not clear if it will keep the Wi-Fi Internet radio features of its ancestor.
In a last-minute arrival, Klipsch's promised Gallery G-17 wireless speakers have started shipping. The AirPlay-focused speakers pipe audio from any iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, or iTunes app on the same Wi-Fi network. The design is meant to provide an "audiophile resolution" with dual amps as well as two 20W woofers and two 10W tweeters.
Apple during a Made For iPod summit in its contract manufacturing base of Shenzhen has revealed that it's hoping for AirPlay support over Bluetooth. Reported by MacOtakara as frustrated with the lack of licensed devices, Apple was said to be supplying a new iPod Accessory Protocol (IAP) authentication chip that would let accessories take advantage of the shorter-range wireless for easy playback. It touted the iPhone 4S' Bluetooth 4.0+HS support as being particularly useful for very low-power devices like health care monitors and certain game controllers.
(Update: pics removed) The just-revealed 2012 CES Innovations Awards gave us a glimpse of what to expect from LG at this year's CES show. They include three new HDTVs, including the 55-inch Cinema 3D TV 55LM9600, with the company's Nano Full LED backlighting and a major visual redesign. There is also a Cinema 3D 55LM8600 set that should be identical, but forego the advanced LED tech. Both have LG's thinnest bezel.
Following on from the earlier OnBeat speaker stand for the iPad 2, JBL has now added the OnBeat Air, essentially the same stylish speaker dock, now with added AirPlay for wireless connection and music streaming. The unit features adaptable clamps that allow various iOS devices to be fitted in either horizontal or vertical orientation, and is able to charge the iOS devices as well as play them either wirelessly or through a 30-pin dock connector.
Eyecon Resources has launched Eye-C (free, Android Market), an Android media player app. The app normally supports playing music back to any device that supports DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance). In a rarity, however, it also has the option of sending music to systems that use AirPlay, Apple's in-house media streaming method.
European speaker maker Libratone has introduced two new speaker systems, the Live and Lounge, that are designed to work with Apple's AirPlay standard. The Lounge system is the larger of the two, offering Scandinavian aesthetics and a combination of ribbon-based tweeters and midrange drivers that are designed to disperse sound in different directions.
An as yet unverified rumor asserts that Apple's "Back to the Mac" philosophy will continue with two more key additions. A 9to5 tip had both AirPlay Mirroring and iMessage in development. Although code references have alluded to iMessage coming to iChat, Apple was supposedly working on both a stand-alone app and an integrated client to determine which was better, possibly the same strategy used for FaceTime.
Logitech will soon be releasing its Air Speakers, a new sound system that features Apple's AirPlay. An inadvertent pre-release listing on Amazon UK has shown the Air Speaker, its own bookshelf-sized option. The Air Speaker incorporates a drawer that hides a dock and can take audio both over Wi-Fi from any iOS 4.2 device or later as well as over a physical link from an iPod classic or nano.
A further excerpt from the imminent Walter Isaacson biography of Steve Jobs has revealed that the late CEO did have hopes for a full TV set. The design would be "completely easy to use" and sync with iCloud to eliminate the trouble of moving content to the TV, the Apple co-founder said in the Washington Post passage. Similar to what he had done with the Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad, Jobs said he had found a solution to the interface problem that would scrap the traditional remote but, by implication, wouldn't use something Apple had done before.
Audyssey took its high-end iOS audio wireless Wednesday through the Lower East Side Audio Dock Air. The monolithic design borrows the same unusually bass-rich technology from the South of Market speakers and adds AirPlay for iPads, iPhones, iPods, and iTunes-equipped computers to share their audio over Wi-Fi. Controls are kept to a minimum on the device itself, which relies on a passive bass radiator, two mid-range drivers, and two tweeters to produce a sound that's theoretically balanced and deep without using a subwoofer.
Marc Hoyois, who created the popular ClickToFlash and ClickToPlugin extensions for Safari to selectively block Flash and other plug-ins from appearing on webpages, using HTML5 to deliver the content if possible, has taken a user suggestion and released an update to ClickToFlash (v2.5.2) as well as an all-new extension called Media Center 1.0. The new tool allows embedded videos to be sent to an Apple TV or other device using Apple's AirPlay technology.
