Great discussion...I still wonder why the Squeezebox Touch could not also be an Airplay device - so you could select it as a receiver and use Airplay to stream to the SB. This would be the best of both worlds: a superior networked 'open' audio solution (Squeezebox) and the convenience of Airplay. .
BTW, I noticed that the D-Link Boxee is doing this now - via a recent firmware update. I believe there software is also open. Curiously, they don't call it Airplay but "Enable Streaming from iOS device." One other point seems to be missing in the broader discussion - the SB products are perfect for multi-room setups: you can have one (or more) music libraries and stream virtually any music source to individual players - either synched or individual (different) streams You can then also control all rooms via one pretty good web-interface on any networked computer, or via an App (iPeng, etc.). There is also pretty much no limitation on the type of source (local music of most formats, radio, numerous services) and all can be played back from one interface. The Apple stuff does not do this well - the best way I can think of to achieve multi-room/multiple streams with Apple is to have multiple Apple TVs and then use Apple Remote App for local music (iTunes libraries) and then Airplay for other Apps. Conceptually this is not much different from multiple networked SBs, except that it can also do Airplay. And it has downsides compared to an SB solution: you can't sync multiple Apple TVs, limitations on music formats for local music, no wired streaming of services like Pandora etc (only Airplay), and inferior management (you have to switch back and forth with the Apple Remote app to control different apple TVs). In any case, I think Airplay on the SB would be a great feature and make good business sense. Logitech should figure out a way to do it! _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss
