Entertain Yourself from the Couch - iConnected: Use AirPlay, iCloud, Apps, and More to Bring Your Apple Devices Together - page 72

Chapter 4
Entertain Yourself from the Couch
As well as display photos and music, AirPlay can enhance how you use your iOS devices for entertain-
ment, such as for movies, TV shows, and games. An Apple TV is essential if you want the ultimate per-
formance from your AirPlay network. If you haven't bought one yet, you can pick up one for about
$100.
The latest model, released in early 2012, allows full HD streaming and includes enhanced Wi-Fi.
There have been three iterations of Apple TV: The first one looked like a flattened Mac Mini, whereas
the second and third looked more like ice hockey pucks. You want a puck, because the first-generation
model doesn't provide the same level of connectivity and control as the newer devices. There's little
reason to bother with the second-generation model, either, unless you get a big price break, because
the third-generation model costs the same and provides better Wi-Fi performance and supports 1080p
HD video (versus 720p HD for the second-generation model).
With an Apple TV connected to your network, you can boost how you use your TV. For a start, you
can use your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch to play games on the big screen, using your device as a con-
troller. Mirroring from an iOS device also makes a difference in how you watch sports. (In Chapter 5 , I
describe several amazing apps that improve your viewing options.)
You can use AirPlay to send video from apps that support AirPlay from any iPad, from an iPhone 4
or later model, or from a late-2010 or later model of the iPod Touch, as Chapter 3 explains. To mirror
the device's screen via AirPlay, you need an iPhone 4S or later, fifth-generation (late 2012) model of
the iPod Touch, or any iPad but the first model.
If it's running OS X Mountain Lion, you can even mirror the display of a recent-model (2011 or
later), so you can send the display from your Mac to your HDTV via an Apple TV for an easy way to
make presentations, watch Internet videos, and so on, as Chapter 3 explains.
More traditional features in the Apple TV include accessing media on your computer via iTunes
and playing it on your TV via an Apple TV. This saves you having to move between rooms to set videos
playing or rent movies and TV shows.
If you don't have an Apple TV, you can send video to a TV via physical cables. Apple sells cables
that have an adapter to connect to an HDTV or other presentation device via an HDMI cable. It also
sells cables that connect to a TV or other presentation device via a VGA cable; you'll need to connect
the audio separately from the device's audio jack to an audio input on the TV. Likewise, there are sim-
ilar adapters for the Mac. Prices range from $30 to $60.
Such physical connections are great for making presentations on the road when you can't be sure
there's an Apple TV available, but at home they're inconvenient, as you have to have your devices close
to your TV — that can work for playing movies but not so well when playing games. With the cost of an
Apple TV so low, it just makes sense to make it your streaming center.