AirPlay

Google today pushed out a new update to its YouTube app for iOS that lets users push videos to game consoles, certain TV sets, and other set-top boxes.

A new "send to TV" feature lets users pair the mobile app with a compatible set-top box or TV set. Those videos then show up on the TV, and the controls and other information are displayed on the mobile device as a remote of sorts.

Google introduced the feature for Android and its Google TV devices last November. iOS users with the YouTube app (iTunes), and other video applications have … Read more

DoubleTwist, maker of the popular eponymous music player software, has teamed up with chip maker Qualcomm in an attempt to make wireless streaming easier for Android users. The fruit of their collaboration is dubbed MagicPlay, a new open-source wireless streaming platform that the two companies hope OEMs will integrate into present and future devices.

Built atop Qualcomm's already existing AllJoyn platform, DoubleTwist's MagicPlay can stream to wireless speakers, headphones, televisions, and other devices. Since MagicPlay is open-source, any number of devices or apps could potentially integrate its code and stream to hardware that has a Qualcomm chip and … Read more

HBO will now allow HBO Go subscribers to stream programing from their Apple mobile devices to their TVs over AirPlay.

Eric Kessler, HBO's chief operating officer, announced the news at an All Things D conference today, saying that HBO is adding the feature as part of an update to its iOS app today, according to All Things D.

AirPlay is a wireless technology that lets users stream content from one Apple device to another.

Kessler also said that the company plans to get HBO programming on Apple TV eventually. It's already available on other devices, including the Xbox … Read more

Apple's AirPlay feature is a convenient technology for sending audio to various devices. If you are on the same wireless network as the device then it will be available to your Mac, iPhone, or iPad to play music via iTunes, or even be used as a general audio appliance for system sounds.

In general, AirPlay devices are hardware accessories like routers such as Apple's AirPort, or media appliances like the AppleTV. However, if you are not willing to shell out about $100 or more for a new AirPlay and you have an old Mac lying around (especially a … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Panasonic takes to CES 2013 to announce an array of updates to its line of micro stereo systems, this year with an emphasis on streaming, though several of the products include a Lightning dock for fifth-generation iOS music players.

As users grow more comfortable with wireless audio standards like Bluetooth and Apple AirPlay, Panasonic banks on a new generation of devices that rely on a wireless connection to transmit music.

The company gives a full refresh to its HC home audio systems with the introduction of the SC-HC58, SC-HC38, and SC-HC28. The SC-HC28 relies on a Lightning dock and … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- The Audiophiliac's top music tracks for testing speakers and headphones.

- Pick up Steve's mixtape, Chesky Records' Ultimate Demonstration Disc.

- Before you buy a sound bar speaker, read this..

- Are the Beatles groovy again?.… Read more

This is a follow-up to last week's "Before you buy a sound bar speaker, read this" post, but this time I'm setting my sights on expensive, $400-plus iPod and Bluetooth speaker "docks." They have built-in limitations common to all single-speaker systems. They might have two sets of speaker drivers housed in a single cabinet, but when the drivers are just a few inches apart, "stereo" sounds more or less like mono. In the quest to make these speakers as sleek and lightweight as possible, bass and dynamic range capabilities are limited, compared … Read more

Google is again taking aim at Apple in the mobile space, setting its sites on developing an AirPlay challenger.

The Web giant is working on an alternative to Apple's wireless feature and hopes to attract the interest of device and software vendors with the effort, according to a GigaOm report. A Google representative declined to comment specifically on its plans for the features, saying "Stay tuned to see this feature coming to more devices and screens in the future."

Google offered an early taste of what it has planned with the debut last week of a new feature for YouTube … Read more