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back to article Hello Miracast vid-beaming: ANOTHER thing the iPhone 5 hasn't got

The Wi-Fi Alliance has formally launched Miracast, the 5GHz peer-to-peer wireless connection for echoing a phone onto a TV, with a test suite and the first devices supporting the protocol. Those devices are the Samsung Galaxy SIII and Echo-P Series TVs, with support promised for the Note range of tablets. Less-specific …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The iPhone hasn't got what?

    Quote: "ANOTHER THING THE IPHONE 5 HASN'T GOT [...] being able to throw a YouTube clip to the living-room TV and see the quality improve is like science fiction to most of us"

    You mean the way we've been doing for years with every AirPlay-enabled device, including the iPhone?

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    1. Mark .
      Reply Icon

      Re: The iPhone hasn't got what?

      And I can already share and transmit media between all my devices and my LG TV. Because it uses an open standard (DLNA) rather than AppleBuzzword, it Just Works with all my devices no matter who makes them - Windows and Android working fine with a completely different OS on the TV; Samsung and Clevo hardware happily talking to an LG TV. If the thing talked about in the article is an open standard, then that's good too.

      On that note, I found it sad that the entire audio industry seems to be obsessed with only catering to the minority of Apple users - speakers that plug into Iphones and Ipads (now incompatible!), and support for AppleSpeak that I have no idea what it is, but is presumably some Apple wireless thingy. The upshot is, because the TV industry hasn't go themselves obsessed with Apple, my LG TV works much better as a central hub even for just music - I can play music from any device in the house through the TV (either pulling it from the TV, or pushing it from the device), and it works fine.

      2 0
    2. Alan_Peery
      Reply Icon

      Re: The iPhone hasn't got what?

      Yes, if you like to use *limited to Apple* technologies. I myself want to be able to send from all my devices, not just the ones from Cupertino/Foxconn...

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      1. Steve Todd
        Reply Icon
        Stop

        Re: The iPhone hasn't got what?

        Many Android media players are AirPlay compatible. Next.

        0 1
  2. James 51

    @Ralph5

    I think they mean without another piece of kit that costs over £100 (that via apple tv, right?).

    14 4
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: @Ralph5

      Given many of us would have to replace their TV, to get DNLA (and I only bought my TV in early 2010) adding another box isn't a big deal.

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    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: @Ralph5

      @James 51: "I think they mean without another piece of kit that costs over £100"

      Are you implying that's a big expense? Given that any TV has been able to act as an extension for every device in the house, that seems a real bargain. It's also eliminated other bits of kit from our lineup, e.g. DVD/BlueRay player ( and the need to handle disks) and all connections to TV/cable services (everything we need is streamed from our devices or from the Internet - the router is now the primary hub). It's hilarious that so many people (including the author of this article) find this development exciting or even newsworthy - it's already in common use. Samsung et al are just playing catch-up (as usual).

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      1. Badvok
        Reply Icon
        FAIL

        Re: @Ralph5

        "Samsung et al are just playing catch-up (as usual)."

        Outside of Apple's closed eco-system and its associated fan base, DLNA (supported by 'Samsung et al' was around many years before AirPlay.

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        1. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: @Ralph5

          As the article points out DNLA doesn't always work, especially since most implantation are pure garbage.

          2 4
          1. Mark .
            Reply Icon

            Re: @Ralph5

            Works fine with my LG TV, but then I bought a TV that wasn't garbage. If you're saying "Apple are better than garbage" then sure, but that's not a higher standard, there's plenty of choice that works fine.

            And how well does AppleThing work to share between Windows/Android and my LG TV? Oh wait, not at all.

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            1. A. Nervosa
              Reply Icon
              Thumb Down

              Re: @Ralph5

              What works fine with your LG TV exactly? XBMC? Serviio? TVMobili? PS3? Every single one of the multitude of DLNA servers out there?

              I don't mean to be rude but you're talking shit, mate. Do some research, look around on some forums after searching for "DLNA", "Sony", "LG", "Toshiba" and "Samsung" and you'll soon realise that DLNA is an absolute world of pain.

              I mean thumbs up for them at least trying to put the spec together but don't kid yourself for one second that it's all peaches and cream.

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      2. Mark .
        Reply Icon

        Re: @Ralph5

        You're probably one of those people thinking at "Apple TV" is some kind of special device where there's nothing else quite like it.

        In fact, there are loads of boxes that stream media, as well as download content from the Internet. These kind of things are standard in many TVs too, but if you just want a add-on box, there are loads, starting from around £50, of which Apple are just one of many manufacturers. Even Tesco have them - http://www.tesco.com/direct/gifts-jewellery/digital-tv-boxes-media-streamers/cat10680007.cat .

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    3. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      FAIL

      @James 51

      And how much does a Miracast receiver cost?

      1 0
  3. PassiveSmoking
    FAIL

    (To the tune of Beethoven's fifth)

    NOBODY CARES!

    NOBODY CARES!

    Nobody cares, nobody cares, nobody cares!

    Nobody cares, nobody cares, nobody cares!

    Nobody cares! (nobody cares)

    Nobody cares! (nobody cares)

    Nobody GIVES! A! SHIT!

    (etc)

    3 1
  4. Adrian Harvey
    FAIL

    Not knowing about AirPlay fail

    iPhone hasn't got?! How can you be so unaware of AirPlay as to not even bother to compare it in the article?! If you mean it's not as free, or as standard as this might perhaps become, then say so. Or if the special wifi band negotiation is really miraculous then say that (it sounds complicated and failure-prone as well as requiring a very specific set up that may not be present when you want it)

    That said I do wish Apple would open up or license AirPlay. It works great on my mythbox but it's not exactly official...

    6 7
    1. Helena Handcart
      Reply Icon
      Happy

      Re: Not knowing about AirPlay fail

      Calm down dear.

      3 2

  5. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. Steve Todd
      Reply Icon
      Stop

      Re: AirPlay?

      AirPlay video is already encrypted and DRM safe. You get the choice of screen mirroring or video streaming (which is the scale to fit bit). You also get the choice to steam the audio to external speakers or HiFi which this seems to lack. Other than the ability to negotiate a separate 5GHz channel with a suitably equipped TV (which almost no one has) this offers nothing new or extra, it's just an attempt to catch up.

      4 3
  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Wifi Direct is not Airplay.

    so fail...

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  7. Gordon 11

    Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

    (with apologies for the missing accents - I have a UK keyboard. May be incorrect words too - I have an old brain.)

    "using standard Wi-Fi communications and separating devices into "Source" and "Display" categories."

    I hope they don't try to patent that. Sounds like the X Window System Protocol to me.

    0 0
  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Clueless article with a troll bait title. Is Anna Leach ghostwriting for Bill Ray now?

    2 1
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      I don't think she's a real person

      It's just a pseudonym they use when they want to publish some complete rubbish.

      0 0
  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why would...

    .....I want to view anything from my phone on my TV? Is it just me? I don't get it.

    I can watch things fine on my PC (connected to monitor and TV...or whatever) . Or Laptop. Or TV.... If I want to make a phone call I use my phone... not my TV... Why does everything have to connect to everything? Baffled.

    0 0
  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why would...

    Anyone want to view stuff from their phone on their TV? I just dont get it. What, you want to see a massive HD contacts list? I make phone calls on my phone, and watch porn and movies on TV and or laptop/PC. That works out just fine for me.

    I guess I'm just a little old fashioned.

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  11. asdf072

    This will suck

    DNLA implementations suck. Also want to take this time to mention the iPhone 5 beating the crap out of Galaxy SIII in SunSpider. Suck it Galaxy fanbois!

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    1. TeeCee Gold badge
      Reply Icon
      Mushroom

      Re: This will suck

      I had the pleasure of trying Airplay last weekend. A friend had an iPod and a high-end (B&O) Airplay enabled speaker system. A few minutes of squirreling later and I had Airplay capability on my Android device.

      Streams from both the iPod and the Droid were repeatedly cut out by other WiFi activity in the area, a problem I have never seen with DLNA streaming from my device which is something I do fairly regularly. Devices tested were within a couple of feet of the speaker system at the time.

      I suppose they had to do something different to make it "novel" and "innovative", but I'm not sure that inserting pregnant pauses in your music stream is a killer feature.

      I guess that those claiming that DLNA sucks compared to Airplay have just never actually compared the two in anger.....

      1 1
      1. Steve Todd
        Reply Icon

        Re: This will suck

        No, that's just really crap wifi setup. Download a WiFi analyser app for your Android and find out (1) what other networks are running on the same channel number and (2) which is the quietest channel in his area. Channel numbers you should consider are 1, 6 and 11 as there is normally quite a lot of overlap. Better yet if the hardware supports it switch to 5GHz 802.11a/n as that will find a free channel for its self and there are more of them.

        1 1
        1. Steve Todd
          Reply Icon
          Stop

          Re: This will suck

          My, it looks like I've got me a hater/stalker. I provide helpful advice on how to solve a WiFi problem, including how Android is useful in doing that, and it gets down voted?

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