Apple to License AirPlay to Television Manufacturers?

AirPlay is Apple’s simplistic audio and video sharing feature that streams video and audio to your Apple TV. The issue with this is that it requires the purchase of an Apple TV for AirPlay to stream onto your television–but what if AirPlay was built in?

Bloomberg reports that Apple has plans to license AirPlay directly to consumer electronics manufacturers, with AirPlay-ready devices to be available this year.

Under the plan, Apple would license its AirPlay software to consumer-electronics makers that could use it in devices for streaming movies, TV shows and other video content, said the people, who asked to remain anonymous because the plans haven’t been made public. Apple now only licenses AirPlay for streaming audio. Devices that could be used for video may be available this year, one of the people said.

I think the inclusion of AirPlay would be a smart move, considering the amount of iOS devices sold, which stands at over 160 million. iOS device owners would purchase more TVs with built in AirPlay, and sales of iOS devices would increase as first-time users would be eager to test out the feature.

Is Apple about to make an impact on the TV industry? Or could we possibly see…a ‘real’ Apple TV coming in the future too?

[Bloomberg]

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