Airplay is from a computer or iOS device to an appletv or enabled speaker system
At no time has apple said, printed or implied anywhere that you could stream from an iOS device to a computer.
That doesn't make it any less disappointing, Johnathan. There is absolutely no good reason not to allow streaming to a mac mini, or any other os x based device. Aside from possibly punishing people who are unsatisfied with the limitations of the Apple TV and therefore choose to use a full blown OS X machine for their home entertainment center.
it's a joke. if it can send it can receive. makes no sense why i cant view one of my movies stored on my xServe on my iPad without syncing. Airplay is a completely and totally worthless technology. it was much hyped and DOA as far as i am concerned. i can stream movies FROM my 32 Gb device but i can't stream TO my device from 24Tb??? am i the only one that sees what's wrong with this model??? a joke. a complete and total joke.....
Have you considered using Air Video running on your xServe and then run an app on the iPad to stream video from it. Works great on a regular dual core mac and up. This is stream on demand with live transcoding. If your xServe does run regular Mac OSX software and has a dual core, it would be a powerhouse video server.
Btw, Air Video can stream off your net too! You can watch video from your iPhone using 3G. Air Play can't do that..
Perhaps, you need to evaluate what you know or don't know before you post.
If you want to push video out to an iPhone or iPad, use Air Video. Air Play only pushes media from iOS devices to Air Play devices like speakers or ATV 2. The concept is very similar to the SlingMedia Sling Catcher using the Sling Projector software or SlingBox or the new WIFI media project from Intel. Your Mac Mini can run server software for video as well as printing services for your iPhone or iPad.
With Air Video, you can stream video outside of your home to your iPhone or iPad. There is nothing similar to this with Air Play. AirPlay, you're stuck streaming at home! What fun is that? That's not the ultimate media server if it can't stream outside your network.
Zumocast is a free app in the app store and a free application for your Mac. It allows you to access certain folders on your Mac and play them on your iPhone, iPad, or any computer with an Internet connection. It also automatically converts the file so it will play on your device. I have found this better than converting and then syncing to my device every time I want media content on my iPad that's already on my computer.
Airfoil makes a program that allows you to send audio to any device including another computer. Does anyone know of a program that you can install on your computer to trick airplay into thinking it is an apple TV or maybe at least a airplay speaker.
If not I hope someone make a program that I can install on my other computer to trick airplay soon.
Come on guys get to work. I am sure you will have a lot of buyers.
I also have a Mac Mini set up as an HTPC. I have all my media stored on drives hanging off my iMac i7. I stream it from there to Plex running on the Mini without any issues and its a wonderful setup for watching my bluray rips.
HOWEVER, I agree with the OP in that I should be able to turn any iTunes running Mac into a remote speaker with AirPlay. The reason... and this is also my complaint using Airtunes... I have 3 Macs usually running at the same time... wouldnt it be nice to have EVERY speaker in my house playing the same tunes, not just the speaker docks or Airport express speakers? And use your iPhone to control it all?
I got around this limitation by going on ebay and buying another Airport Express unit for like 40 bucks, connect that to another input on my Denon and poof, I now have my home theater speakers ready to rock! The only thing this leaves out is my Mac Mini for music, I pretty much use it only for blurays lately. Which is slightly disappointing.
Airfoil doesnt solve any problems for me since that cant be controlled with Apple's Remote app.
