If AirPlay becomes a standard for streaming audio to multiple brands of devices in the home, it will be a killer app for Apple. If it also becomes a standard for streaming video to TV sets and Blu-ray players, as we reported last week, it would make it very hard for Apple rivals to compete in tablets, smartphones and smart TV adapters like the Apple TV.
BridgeCo, a venture capital-backed company, reportedly helped Apple develop the AirPlay technology for third-party devices that allows PCs, iPads, and iPhones to send audio streams to non-Apple devices that have AirPlay technology embedded. Currently, surround sound receivers from Pioneer, Denon, Marantz, B&W, JBL and iHome have the AirPlay technology.
However, only the $99 Apple TV can receive AirPlay videos and then only from apps that are AirPlay-enabled. Apple has said it is working to make all apps work with AirPlay.
BridgeCo uses an AirPlay-enabled version of its JukeBlox technology, which is a software stack and a network media processor that can be integrated into a Wi-Fi network media module from a Wi-Fi chipmaker. Potentially Apple’s iOS products could transmit audio to any Wi-Fi-capable receiver in the home that has the AirPlay technology.
BridgeCo CEO Gene Sheridan told the CNBC pay-TV network that the two companies “worked together to establish a set of API’s” (a software protocol to communicate) so that their two platforms could “implement the AirPlay technology.” He said the deal has an “immense” upside, what with 120 million AirPlay-compatible Apple products already in use. AirPlay could generate more than half of BridgeCo’s revenues, he said.
BridgeCo’s Web page asks CE makers to inquire about embedding the AirPlay technology in their audio products. The cost is reportedly $4 per device for audio. Apple may want a higher license fee for technology that receives videos.
Despite Intel and Microsoft’s attempts, no one has taken control of TV sets and Blu-ray players as the two did for PCs. As with smartphones and tablets, they have left the door open for Apple in the living room.
Last week we reported that two TV set makers were reportedly working with Apple to embed AirPlay into their sets.
If AirPlay is built into TV sets in a big way, it will ensure that Apple has a large number of devices that play content from its iTunes service just as the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch have done for the iTunes music service. That could eventually include a streaming music subscription, which would stream a consumer’s music from the cloud and Netflix’ movie/TV subscription service, or perhaps Apple’s own video subscription service.
It is rumored that Apple is developing its own TV sets. So why would it bother when its streaming technology is in every TV set?
Apple, which is quietly increasing its presence in video games, could also allow users to show on the TV set a game that’s played on an Apple device.
Other BridgeCo solutions for audio device makers include streaming Pandora, Rhapsody and about 12,000 online radio stations.
The company’s headquarters are in El Segundo, California, with a development group in Bangalore, India.
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