Microsoft outlines Play To for Windows 8 developers, shows media sharing just a heartbeat away

Microsoft outlines Play To for Windows 8 developers, shows media sharing just a heartbeat away

Play To is often an unsung advantage of Windows 8; it's the key to spreading media throughout the home without jumping through hoops, much like Apple's AirPlay or the more universal Miracast. Microsoft wants those quieter Windows advocates to pipe up a bit. It just posted a sweeping developer overview of Play To support that addresses the basics and dives into the nitty-gritty details. The biggest takeaway may be that programmers sometimes don't have to do anything -- unprotected music and video in common formats are usually shareable as a matter of course, and it's only with photos or complicated conditions like playlists that a "contract" is needed to reach another screen or speaker. The document does have some warnings for developers, however, both official and otherwise. There's a (fairly evasive) explanation as to why copy-protected media won't work, while commenters remind us that hardware compatibility isn't as surefire as we'd always like. Any developers who want their media apps to shine on an XPS 12, however, could still find the guide to be just what they need.

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Microsoft outlines Play To for Windows 8 developers, shows media sharing just a heartbeat away originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Nov 2012 06:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Airtime testing new video post features, improved buddy list

Airtime testing new video post features, improved buddy list

Remember Airtime, the Facebook-integrated video calling / media sharing service with a Chatroulette flavor? Well if not, we don't blame you -- usage stats suggest it hasn't quite taken off, but maybe the new features it's testing will secure a few more fans. No longer is the service restricted to the here and now, as the major change is all about video posts. Use Airtime to record a message and you can post it to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or via a traditional email to get the conversation started. Friends can then reply to your message through Airtime with a video post of their own, and so on. Its buddy list has also been given a little love, so now it shows friends as online, idle or offline, and details your interaction timeline. Whether the features are enough to inspire wider uptake is questionable, but for the few that actively use Airtime, the updates are out in the wild now on a "limited public release."

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Airtime testing new video post features, improved buddy list originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 14:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bang & Olufsen unveils Playmaker wireless audio bridge, makes sure AirPlay and DLNA speak Danish

Bang & Olufsen unveils Playmaker wireless audio bridge, makes sure AirPlay and DLNA speak Danish

Bang & Olufsen has been slowly but surely adapting to a wireless world. Its new Playmaker (shown at center) brings that evolution to audio: with the receiver linked up, any AirPlay- or DLNA-friendly audio device can beam its sound to a set of the Danish firm's designer speakers. Wireless audio bridging isn't anything new by itself -- we know at least one rival that might say it's old hat -- but the company is promising clean and powerful sound through a built-in DAC that can drive even the beefiest of BeoLabs, like the 2,500-watt BeoLab 5. We can look forward to the Playmaker reaching stores before the end of the month, but we'll pay a premium for all that theoretical power. The bridge by itself costs $425, while a special bundle with BeoLab 3 speakers will set listeners back an eyewatering (if ear-melting) $4,310.

Continue reading Bang & Olufsen unveils Playmaker wireless audio bridge, makes sure AirPlay and DLNA speak Danish

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Bang & Olufsen unveils Playmaker wireless audio bridge, makes sure AirPlay and DLNA speak Danish originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SugarSync to ship with many Samsung mobile devices, make Galaxy S III a home away from home

Galaxy S III Sprint - top half

Samsung and SugarSync are already cozy with each other, having struck a deal to put SugarSync's cloud file sharing on Samsung's AllShare Play-equipped TVs. That relationship just got a lot closer: SugarSync will now be a mainstay for Samsung's rather successful mobile devices. Starting with the Galaxy S III, any Samsung phone or tablet that supports AllShare Play will have SugarSync built-in, whether it's for looking at files and media from back home or just to upload the phone's own photos and videos for sharing later on. The service still offers a free 5GB of storage as a baseline and will scale up to 500GB if you're willing to fork over up to $40 a month. Between this and a Dropbox deal for most carriers, Samsung has the cloud largely sewn up on its handhelds -- if you can't access it, it probably doesn't exist.

Continue reading SugarSync to ship with many Samsung mobile devices, make Galaxy S III a home away from home

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SugarSync to ship with many Samsung mobile devices, make Galaxy S III a home away from home originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Plex for iOS 2.4 lets you get social with video, tie into Facebook

Plex for iOS 24 lets you get social with video, tie into Facebook

It's been awhile since we last saw a big Plex update for mobile apps, so it's with some relief that version 2.4 has just crossed the path of iOS users. The upgrade is all about socializing and introduces a friend system both to get viewing ideas as well as to recommend favorite videos to others. Those especially eager to make the link can go on to bind a myPlex account with Facebook. Even if social networking is furthest from viewers' minds, they can still remotely delete content from a supporting Plex media server, launch the app from the browser and regain the adaptive video quality that they'd lost in an earlier iteration. More fixes are in place, so head on over to the source link to feed that iPad or iPhone as soon as you're willing; other platforms will get the social aspects before too long.

Plex for iOS 2.4 lets you get social with video, tie into Facebook originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 02:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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