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Amazon won't support AirPlay or Chromecast, but will adopt Matter Casting instead
Amazon just announced its adopting the new Matter content casting standard at CES 2024. This is a similar technology to Apple AirPlay, allowing you to beam content from an app to an Amazon-branded device.
AirPods Adaptive Audio tunes ANC and transparency based on your environment
Although Apple didn’t upgrade AirPods hardware today, it announced new audio features in iOS 17 that will enhance the company’s earphones nonetheless. The standout feature is Adaptive Audio for the second-gen AirPods Pro. The feature will tune your device’s active noise cancelation (ANC) and transparency mode levels based on your environment. It “dynamically blends Transparency mode and Active Noise Cancellation together based on the conditions of a user’s environment to deliver the best experience in the moment.” Apple adds that Adaptive Audio “will seamlessly tailor the noise control experience while users move between environments and interactions that are constantly changing throughout the day.”
LG brings Apple TV and Apple Music apps to more third-party webOS TVs
Apple TV, Apple Music and other Apple services are coming to third-party webOS TVs.
Belkin's $100 Soundform Connect dongle adds AirPlay 2 to any speaker
The $100 Soundform Connect turns any traditional speaker into an AirPlay 2-compatible smart speaker you can cast audio to from an iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV.
Samsung's latest monitor is a smart TV with PC features
It’s the brand’s first smart TV with built-in WiFi, Bluetooth and Wireless DeX capability.
Roku OS 9.4 is rolling out now with AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support
Roku’s next platform update has arrived. Version 9.4 is rolling out to “select 4K Roku devices,” the company explained in a press release, including the Roku Ultra player, Roku Streambar, Roku Smart Soundbar, Roku Streaming Stick+ and Roku Premiere. Roku OS 9.4 plays nice with Apple’s AirPlay 2 standard, giving you another way to find and view your favourite content in the living room.
Quibi adds Chromecast support on iOS and Android
Quibi is built to serve up short videos for viewing on your phone or tablet, but now it's added support for Apple AirPlay and Google Chromecast tech so viewers can watch on their TVs too.
Quibi for iPhone can now use AirPlay to stream shows on big screens
Quibi’s latest update for iPhones gives the app the capability to play its bite-sized shows on TVs: according to Chief Product Officer Tom Conrad, the application now supports Apple AirPlay.
JBL's first Dolby Atmos soundbar has detachable speakers
Ahead of CES this week, JBL has unveiled its first Dolby Atmos-compatible soundbar. The JBL Bar 9.1 features four Dolby Atmos drivers that point upwards to bounce audio around the room.
Vizio begins updating its TVs with AirPlay 2 and HomeKit
After unveiling it at CES 2019, Vizio has announced that it's finally rolling out support for Apple's AirPlay 2 and HomeKit platforms. Coming via an update to its SmartCast 3.0 platform, it'll let users play videos, music and photos directly from iPhone, iPad and Mac devices. Best of all, it'll work not just on its recent 2019 TVs, but on Vizio SmartCast models dating all the way back to 2016.
LG's high-end 4K TVs get AirPlay 2 and HomeKit first in the US
You don't have to wonder when LG will roll out AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to its TVs in the US -- it's here. The Apple ecosystem support is now available to higher-end 2019 LG TVs in the country through a firmware update. The features are currently ready for OLED and NanoCell 4K LCD sets with ThinQ capabilities, excluding the SM8100 series. Other 4K sets will get their updates later in the year.
LG's 2019 TVs are ready to work with Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit
This year started with a slew of TV manufacturers showing off hardware ready to work with Apple's AirPlay 2 and HomeKit protocols, and now LG says its 2019 TVs are ready to support both features. That makes it, by its claim, the first global TV manufacturer with support for Apple's smart home control system (Apple doesn't have a list of supported TVs on its website yet) and one of few so far to support AirPlay 2. Samsung still has exclusive integration of Apple's new TV app, but with AirPlay 2 built-in, LG owners can use their iPhones, iPads and Macs to stream video, podcasts, images or music directly to the display. That will include Apple's TV+ originals when they launch later this year, and of course includes the ability to sync up with other AirPlay-ready hardware for multiroom audio. With HomeKit support, LG TVs can be controlled via Siri or the Home app in iOS, with control of power, volume and input selection. Plus, like other accessories, it can become a part of scenes and automations to prep things for movie night, or whatever else you have in mind. The update with Apple's features is "starting" this week, so even if you have a 2019 model TV, it could take a few weeks before it's actually available. LG 2019 TVs with AirPlay (from Apple's list): LG OLED LG NanoCell SM9X series LG NanoCell SM8X series LG UHD UM7X series
iOS 12.3 is out now with overhauled TV app
Just seven weeks after rolling out iOS 12.2, Apple has released iOS 12.3. The biggest update this time around is a major refresh of the TV app ahead of the Apple TV+ streaming service debuting later this year. Through the new-look app, you can subscribe to various TV networks through Apple TV Channels and watch their shows all in one place.
Netflix abruptly loses support for Apple AirPlay (updated)
Netflix has supported AirPlay streaming from iOS devices to Apple TV since 2013, and while it wasn't the world's most necessary feature it is odd to hear that this week users noticed it suddenly stopped working. As MacRumors and Apple Insider point out, a support page on Netflix's website now says "Airplay is no longer supported for use with Netflix due to technical limitations." Whatever those technical limitations might be -- arising at the same time Apple revealed a Netflix competitor with Apple TV+ and is making its AirPlay 2 protocol available on more devices -- they shouldn't interrupt your streaming by much. The Apple TV, and any other AirPlay-ready device, will certainly include a Netflix app built-in, and may even work with the Cast button as a fallback. Even if it doesn't, AirPlay Mirroring still works too, even if it's not as convenient. It could be annoying logging into Netflix with an awkward TV remote instead of just pressing one button on your phone or tablet, but for now that's what it will take.
Roku could add AirPlay 2 support soon
Apple wants as many people as possible to have access to its upcoming streaming video service -- even if they don't have Apple TV. It's been working with a number of TV makers on AirPlay 2 and iTunes compatibility, so they can easily watch Apple's original shows and movies on larger screens. Now, Apple is close to sealing a deal with Roku for AirPlay 2 support, according to MacRumors.
The new Pictionary has you drawing in thin air
It's not easy being a traditional board game manufacturer in these digital days, although some companies have taken pretty bold steps to bridge the gap between table-top and pixel-based play. Now Pictionary is doing the same with Pictionary Air, which takes your competitive sketching off the paper and puts it onto your phone, tablet or TV screen instead.
Everywhere we found AirPlay 2 at CES 2019
As is tradition, Apple was once again infamously absent at the biggest technology show of the year, CES. The company hasn't actually stayed out of the headlines over the past week, however. Apple didn't do any announcing of its own, but it was name-checked in practically all press conferences held by the biggest consumer tech brands at CES. The reason? AirPlay 2.
VLC reaches three billion downloads, will soon add AirPlay
VLC, the video player that'll crunch every format you've heard of, plus all the ones you haven't, is about to hit a huge milestone. Variety spotted an installation at VideoLan's CES booth that's counting ever-closer to the three billion download mark. The VideoLan team expects the (really) Big Three-Oh to be hit at some point on Friday, with around 25 percent of all downloads going to mobile devices.
Sony's new 8K and 4K TVs will have Apple AirPlay too
AirPlay is everywhere at CES 2019, at least when it comes to TVs, and Sony's latest TVs are no different. The company announced that its Z9G Series 8K LCDs, A9G Series OLEDs and X950G 4K LCD TVs will all add support for Apple's AirPlay 2 and HomeKit protocols later this year. Similar to what we've seen from others like LG and Vizio, that will let users easily integrate them with other smart home devices that are compatible with Apple's protocols, and use AirPlay 2 features like synchronized multiroom audio. On Sony's TVs, this means blending Apple's tech with the Android TV platform they're based on. There's no technical reason why that can't happen, but it's an interesting wrinkle, and means that, like Vizio, users will have a bevy of options to choose between Google's Cast protocol and the Apple tech. Of course, a full-on iTunes app is still exclusive to Samsung's smart TV platform for now, but this is a start. So far there's no word on exactly when the feature will appear, or if it will extend to any older models, but we'll update this post if we get any more information.
Sony's 'super-large' 8K TVs are coming home this year
This year at CES Sony is one of the TV makers jumping into 8K with two "super-large" Z9G displays that are big enough, at 98- and 85-inches, to make use of the format's 33-million pixel resolution. According to Sony, these screens have "completely new" full array LED backlighting, plus a Picture Processor X1 Ultimate to manage the signal and upscale any lower-res video, which is important since 8K content will be hard to find for a while. Sony didn't mention much about content, but they are ready for IMAX Enhanced content, which will be available via the Privilege 4K service in the spring, and all of its TVs have support for Netflix Calibrated Mode. Plus, like so many other TVs we're seeing this week, all of the Sony models announced here will get support for Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit later this year. That high-res screen is surrounded by four speakers, with two at the top and two at the bottom, which Sony says can deliver an experience similar to its OLED TVs that deliver "Sound-from-Picture"reality. Assuming you have a home theater speaker setup (and for TVs like these we'd expect you would), it can also make the TV a center channel. It didn't call out support for HDMI 2.1 in the press release, but with 8K, as well as home theater equipment supporting features like Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC), we'd bet on having it.
