AirPlay--a technology built into the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch--brings wireless media streaming from your iOS device to your home theater. Although it has limitations, it's one of the most seamless ways to get your favorite YouTube videos, music, and home videos onto the big screen.
Watch the video and follow the instructions below to get started.
At a recent airshow, I used my iPhone to shoot some mighty nice footage of the Blue Angels doing their thing. Later I wanted to show the videos to my kids--not on my tiny iPhone screen, but on my computer's nice big monitor. Just one problem: how?
If you're new to capturing video with your iPhone, iPad 2, or fourth-gen iPod Touch, you may have discovered there's no obvious way to copy those mini-movies from your device to your PC. (Note: For purposes of this tutorial, I'm focusing squarely on Windows-powered PCs.)
With the plethora of apps available, your iPad can address most of your needs when you're on the go. But sometimes the tablet is simply not enough--you might want access to your desktop computer instead.
TeamViewer, a free iOS app, lets you remotely access your computer with your iPad. With the steps below, you can use it to send yourself a file or control a friend's computer for hands-on tech support. Your friend will see you moving the mouse and controlling the screen from your iPad, no matter where you are.
Finally, Apple has given users a way to sync their purchased music, apps, and books wirelessly. With iCloud, whatever you download on one device--your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or computer--can be set to automatically download on all other devices.
For example, when you purchase a song from iTunes using your computer, it'll immediately be downloaded onto your iPad also. Or, if you purchase a book on your iPhone, it'll be downloaded to your computer and your iPad as well.
More iCloud features, including calendar syncing and Photo Stream, will launch in the fall. Until then, you can use the iCloud beta for free to sync your music, apps, and books. Here's how:
Note: iCloud syncing is not yet available for Verizon subscribers.
Lately I've noticed that the photos I've snapped with my iPhone 4 have looked less than sharp. Fuzzy, even. I tried a couple different photo apps, as well as some video recording; same result.
I checked the lens to make sure it didn't have any dust or other flotsam on it, and it seemed fine. But on closer inspection, with the light hitting it at just the right angle, I discovered the problem: a fingerprint.
Somewhere along the way (probably while pulling the phone out of my pocket), I'd managed to muck up the lens with … Read more
As the iPhone 4 approaches its first birthday (and previous models approach their second, third, etc.), it's time to start looking at ways to improve battery life. After all, it's around the one-year mark that most batteries start to lose some capacity, meaning your phone simply won't run as long as it used to between charges.
New York Times tech columnist David Pogue recently got four iPhone battery tips from an Apple store Genius--some of them obvious, some not-so-obvious. Here's an overview of the advice, along with my thoughts and two additional tips from yours truly.… Read more
(Editors' note: This is a primer for people who are unfamiliar with screen technology. If you're already well-versed, you might be more interested in my colleague Eric Franklin's screen tests, like this one between the iPhone 4, Morotola Droid X, HTC Incredible, and the Samsung Epic 4G.)
I don't know anyone who doesn't want their smartphone screen crystal clear, with saturated colors leaping off the display. But unless you're a screen tech buff, it isn't always easy knowing the difference between premium screens with fancy names like LCD Plus, Super AMOLED Plus, and Retina … Read more
Google launched its own cloud music service today, Music Beta, allowing users to access and edit their music collections across multiple Android devices and computers without burdening their storage--everything is stored on Google's servers.
Android users can download and install the Music app on their phones immediately, but won't be able to access all the features, including the Music manager desktop app, until Google grants them an invitation.
Now, what about iOS users?
When Amazon launched Cloud Player, iOS users were also ignored, but the interWebs quickly found workaround. In the same spirit, here's how to use Google Music on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch.
Get a Google Music account: To request an invitation, go to music.google.com/music/.
Open Safari: Point your browser to music.google.com/music/ and enter your Google account information. Interestingly, this page is mobile-friendly.
Navigate as usual: Now the interface can be used in the same manner as the desktop browser version. Tapping play will play the music within the browser. (On Amazon Cloud Player, songs would open in the QuickTime Player.) To play a song, tap it, and press "Play" in the navigation bar at the bottom, or click the triangle to the right of a song name and select "Play Song."
Scrolling. To scroll through your music list, drag up or down with two fingers. Be patient--there's some lag.
When Amazon launched its Cloud Drive and Cloud Player, only Android users celebrated the ability to stream, download, and edit their cloud music on the go. iOS users groaned and quickly found workarounds, but there's still no graceful way for iPhone, iPad, or iPod users to stream music from their Amazon cloud.
Right now, the only way for iOS users to stream music from Cloud Player is by manually selecting songs one-by-one--that is, there's no skipping, shuffling, or repeat options. But if you suddenly crave "Don't Stop Believin'" while waiting for the bus, and it happens to be stored in your Amazon Cloud Drive, I'll show you how to use Amazon Cloud Player with an iOS device (in the video below).
While this is a new endeavor for Amazon, other cloud storage and streaming services, like Dropbox and Sugarsync, figured this out years ago. What's more, the services offer dedicated iOS apps, letting you stream music you've stored in your personal cloud. Check out the video below to learn how to store and stream music in the cloud to your iOS device.
What's the #1 music streaming-app for iOS? Who wins in an iPhone v. S4 faceoff? We've got it covered with iPhone news, rumors, app recommendations, and more.
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