AirVideo – Media Streaming for iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad

In anticipation of our iPads arriving on Friday (although I am predicting a Thursday release so Apple gets the hop on the media), I have been looking for a media streaming solution to counteract the 16GB capacity of our purchased iPads. If we are at home, having to sync media for an impulse viewing is not only inconvenient but time consuming. Also, if you are going on holiday for a while, trying to decide what you might want to watch could be a tough choice.

So what’s the solution?

Over the last couple of days, I have come across an app called AirVideo (which comes in a Lite version so you can test it out). You need to use it with a piece of server software to allow the magic to happen but what it allows you to do is to stream or transcode video over Wi-Fi or 3G in real-time straight to an iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad. On the server side, you just need to select the folders you want to expose to the network which will then become visible when browsing from the client. The server software is available for both Windows and MacOS X.

AirVideo (Streaming)

Now, there is a limitation on the Lite version of the software in that it will randomly pick four folders or videos while you are browsing through your library. If you want free reign on what you want to watch, you’ll need to shell out AU$3.99 for the full version (which I think is pretty reasonable). The latest version adds TV out support for the iPa.

There is also experimental support for Internet access to your videos which I will try over the coming days but so far I have been pleased with its performance. Having said that, I have been using an i7 desktop with a gigabit connection to my Windows Home Server for transcoding so your mileage will vary with older hardware and slower network speeds.

So if you have wanted to get around the issue of syncing media to satisfy sporadic viewing, give AirVideo a shot – you might be pleasantly surprised.