Apple hasn't done this - YET. With developers already touching the edges, expect something like it to appear in the next version of iOS. Lots of details to work out, but a pretty cool demo of the possibilities. In short, it is possible to serve video downstream from an OS X computer to local wifi connected iDevices without need for a connection to an internet backbone. With a little planning, it is possible to save tons of bandwidth by serving popular videos on local wifi. A coincidental benefit is that the videos are served at the speed and reliability of local wifi.
Snow Leopard to iDevice video and display sharing on a local wifi network. AppleTV, without an AppleTV box. When you already have a computer with far more power than an appleTV box, use it!
Fantastic job by Clement Vasseur and the AirView app to give a decent idea of how it will work.
With AirView on the iDevice:
- Fire up the video in iTunes on the Snow Leopard machine.
- Note in the video controls an AirView icon
- Drop down the list of potential targets by clicking the AirView icon
- Select the target which must be actively running AirView
- The video replaces the AirView icon on the remote screen display
In pictures:
Viewing video on Macbook iTunes, Note AirView icon to lower right, click it to drop down available targets
AirView, drop down and select Device
When target is acquired and receiving, an icon displays in the iTunes source window.
AirView Target Device Takes over iTunes window on Source
It is possible to view the video in local iTunes, even while it is running at a different location in the video track on the remote iDevice display
Note the AirView icon to lower right of display on local
while target device is viewing the video, note the AT&T in upper left corner.
The view of the Video on the iPad, slight scaling difference
General info:
--the videos are not synchronized
--presumably getting decent performance for a large number of connected iDevices is limited by wifi bandwidth?
iDevice to iDevice sharing also.
Full video available in apfeltouch channel on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/user/apfeltouchNET#p/a/u/2/UER_yQGXyV8
Impromptu capture of Command Line Session or parts thereof in OS X
I was checking out a great new app from the app store, airview by Clement Vasseur.
The basic concept is use of Apple airplay technology to display content from OS X computers or iDevices on other iDevices connected to the same local wireless network.
How cool would it be if when I have video on my macbook, iPad, Touch, or iPhone4 that I want to show somebody, they can view it right on their own iDevice?
If anyone is going to use this app, IT MUST BE SIMPLE, essentially zero config like the iDevice to AppleTV connection. Here is how it works:
- Your device notifies the network of availability, just like AppleTV
- I load a video on my Macbook or iDevice
- I click in the video controls to summon a list of push targets
- I click your device in the list
- The video appears on your device. <link to more on that >
It works very well.
I was curious how Clement implemented this at the tcp/ip level. That means a packet dump. I didn't have time for thorough investigation at that moment, so I needed to save the results.
The classic way is open a terminal window, sudo to an account with admin privileges, run tcpdump with a pipe out to a file, make a new airview connection, close the cli, make note of the file.
As I was already in the middle of an admin command line session, why start a new one from scratch? There is no need.
In OS X, I just ran the tcpdump in the current session, then did a cut and paste of the relevant information from the terminal window to a text file. From the Terminal window:
- Command-A to copy entire cli session to clipboard.
- Open textedit
- Command-V to paste the cli session into the textedit window
- Save the textedit file for later review of the specifics of the tcpdump
A relevant line from the packet dump --
-08:01:40.423780 IP6 (hlim 255, next-header UDP (17) payload length: 367) doug-brethowers-ipad.local.mdns > ff02::fb.mdns: [udp sum ok] 0*- [0q] 5/0/4 Doug BrethowerM-bM-^@M-^Ys iPad._airplay._tcp.local. (Cache flush) TXT "deviceid=D8:30:62:8E:56:BC" "features=0x7" "model=iPad1,1", _services._dns-sd._udp.local. PTR _airplay._tcp.local., _airplay._tcp.local. PTR Doug BrethowerM-bM-^@M-^Ys iPad._airplay._tcp.local., Doug BrethowerM-bM-^@M-^Ys iPad._device-info._tcp.local. TXT "model=K48AP", Doug BrethowerM-bM-^@M-^Ys iPad._airplay._tcp.local. (Cache flush) SRV Doug-Brethowers-iPad.local.:50726 0 0 ar: Doug-Brethowers-iPad.local. (Cache flush) AAAA fe80::da30:62ff:fe8e:56bc, Doug-Brethowers-iPad.local. (Cache flush) A 192.168.1.101, Doug-Brethowers-iPad.local. (Cache flush) NSEC, Doug BrethowerM-bM-^@M-^Ys iPad._airplay._tcp.local. (Cache flush) NSEC (359) --
If "by your command" sounds vaguely familiar, it was the oft recited mechanical communication of Cylon warriors to their imperious leader(s) in the Battlestar Galactica TV series.