14 DAY TRIAL // If you thought Phil Schiller would steal Steve Jobs’ spotlight with his activity on Twitter, think again. The Apple CEO, who notoriously answers fans’ emails, is at it again, confirming (more or less) that Safari and third-party iOS applications are getting AirPlay support in 2011.
AirPlay, an iOS 4 feature that facilitates streaming digital media wirelessly from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 4 to the Apple TV and AirPlay-enabled speakers, is on its way to Safari (Apple’s web browser for iOS and Mac OS X) and third party applications, according to a purported email reply by Steve Jobs, chief executive officer at Apple.
Asked by a fan whether AirPlay streaming would work for videos in Safari and other apps, Jobs reportedly indicated that Apple was working on bringing this functionality to iOS next year.
The email conversation in question is reproduced below, based on a screenshot published by 9to5mac:
Apple fan: “Hi, I recently updated both my iPhone 4 and iPad to iOS 4.2. I think my favorite feature is airplay. This is seriously amazing and makes sharing content seamless. I just purchased Apple TV and was wondering are you ever going to make airplay video work for videos in safari and 3rd party apps? I hope to get a response :)
Steve Jobs: “Yep, hope to add these features to Airplay in 2011.”
On the official Apple web site, the Cupertino giant explains that “AirPlay lets you stream digital media wirelessly from your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch to your Apple TV and AirPlay-enabled speakers. So you can watch movies and photos on your widescreen TV and play music through the best speakers in the house.”
AirPlay arrived in iOS alongside AirPrint which, as its name implies, facilitates wireless printing from iOS devices. Only some scanners and printers work with the feature, but the list of supported devices grows constantly.