Do you have a video or snapshot on your phone that you’d like to see on the big screen? How about some music you’d like to play for your friends but don’t have the cable to connect it to the stereo system?
One of the new features of iOS and Apple TV is the AirPlay feature, which allows one to stream music, photos, or videos wirelessly to Apple TV. This is a relatively new feature to iOS, but has been available to iTunes users for quite a while now.
So what do you need to get started? Any iOS device (iPad, iPod touch, or iPhone) running iOS 4.2 or later will have the AirPlay feature included on it. In order to stream to an Apple TV, you’ll have to be connected to the same wireless network the Apple TV is on.
Once both devices are on the same network, select what you’d like to stream or “AirPlay” from your iOS device to the TV from either the Photo, iPod, or third party application. Then, press the AirPlay button to select your output source.
Hitting the AirPlay button will open a new menu, and from it select the Apple TV as the output source. Videos may require a minute or two to cache or load the information, but music and photos will begin streaming instantly.
Right now AirPlay is limited to photos, videos and music, but is being expanded to support other third party applications all of the time. For example, you can currently stream Pandora from an iOS device to Apple TV, which is nice since Pandora is not yet offered from the Apple TV menu.
Impress your friends and show off your cool new Apple hardware with AirPlay!