My iPad has just been updated to the latest iOS, so I've been playing with AirPlay for audio. In short - love it! It's not quite Sonos, but it ain't too bad for what you're paying. Pretty much any audio playback can be streamed to AirPlay receivers. I'm listening to holiday music from KOIT as I type, with the ooTunes app on my iPad streaming in the background to my Airport Express. Apparently, this works for the Rhapsody app too, I intend to upgrade my account so I can experience it soon!
My old AppleTV won't show up in the Airplay device list on the iPad though. Here's why this drives me nuts. Both the AppleTV and the Airport Express haven't had any firmware updates in a while. On the Mac, both the AppleTV and Airport Express show up in the Airplay device list on iTunes. Its clear that the audio portion of Airplay is nothing but AirTunes. It's also clear that Apple deliberately excluded the old AppleTV from supporting AirPlay audio on iOS devices but included this functionality on the Mac's iTunes. They didn't cut existing functionality but they made sure no new functionality was available for the old hardware that was sold as recently as 4 months ago. Way to go Apple, you took extra effort to screw the most loyal of your customers. Oh well, serves us right for having invested in the first version of your hobby device.
