What is Airplay?

AirPlay (previously called AirTunes when it was for audio only) developed by Apple, allows wireless streaming of audio, video and photos. When it was first released, Airplay was only able to be received within Apple devices, but now third party manufacturers have been licensed to include the technology within their devices, including Onkyo receivers.

There are two types of AirPlay devices, those that send audiovisual content, and those capable of receiving the content and rendering it on displays and speakers. Senders include any device running iTunes, such as iPhones, iPods, iPads or Mac computers running iOS 4.2 or greater. Receiver mode has been built into many devices such as Apple TV, third party speaker docks, AV receivers and stereo systems, including some Onkyo amplifiers available from Selby.

If you also have Apple TV (Apple’s digital media receiver, connected through iTunes), AirPlay lets you wirelessly stream what’s on your iOS device to your HDTV and speakers via your Apple TV. You can even mirror exactly what’s on your mobile display to the big screen. Holiday photos, your favourite movies, the latest football games — AirPlay and Apple TV put it all on your TV.

AirPlay Mirroring lets you show exactly what’s on your Mac, iPhone, iPad or iPod touch screen to everyone in the room. Show web pages, games, photos, videos, spreadsheets, presentations and more on your HDTV via Apple TV. You can zoom in and out, rotate from portrait to landscape and your audience sees that too. AirPlay does it all wirelessly, so if you see it, so can they.

Another feature of AirPlay allows you to hear your favourite songs through several speakers throughout your home. By selecting the “Multiple Speaker” option from the menu you can have your tunes playing in the bedroom, kitchen and lounge room or anywhere you have speakers installed, and because it works over Wi-Fi, you can stream music directly from you home network. Simply connect to your home network, and you’ll be streaming tunes throughout your room — or entire house — instantly.