MSFT equivalent to Apple TV?

[naeem151287]

IMO, this is probably the best thing you can get for your TV - Archos' Windows 10 device is the cheapest PC on a stick yet | PCWorld

 

[jmshub]

I have a Roku, I think it's a 3, but I'm not sure. It does a great job of streaming web, Netflix, Amazon video, Youtube, etc. I wish it did a better job with streaming media on my LAN, but for the price, I'm happy with it.

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

I have seriously considered that Mini for that purpose, I would love to play Mario cart 64 again...

Mario Cart, Metroid, Punch Out...ha ha

 

[michail71]

IMO, this is probably the best thing you can get for your TV - Archos' Windows 10 device is the cheapest PC on a stick yet | PCWorld

That is promising but I don't know if the software would be there yet to give an apple tv experience. Even then apple and android phones would still be able to work better with it.

 

[RumoredNow]

Sadly Miracast is nowhere near in the same class. It's archaic and not terribly useful compared to apple TV. You can't even stream audio from a phone to it. As soon as the lockscreen kicks in the Miracast connection is terminated and must be completely repaired.

I've never tried an Xbox One but I have my doubts it would give the same experience. Apple TV allows audio and video on your phone to treat the apple TV as an independent system device, which is a very powerful thing as it's not app dependent.

Apple must hold some patents because everything else I've tried sucks in comparison. Chromecast comes in a distant 2nd place if you have an android phone.

I've got iPhone users and android users in my house. I just can't do the things they can as far as media streaming and sharing.

FWIW my Sony BDP-S3200 Smart Blu-Ray box has no problems interacting with anything else on my home's WiFi network, including my Windows Phone. I can select screen mirroring on the box, open Project My Screen on my 1520 and they connect easily over WiFi. I then can project everything on my phone to my TV via the box. Including games/video/audio/apps/settings/photos/even active camera... Everything shows up.




That's a shot of Camera360 Sight creating an infinite loop on the TV when aimed at it...

It's NOT an Apple exclusive for things to just work.

 

[michail71]

I have that Sony player too. It's just not in the same class as an apple TV, that's all I'm saying. With a windows phone all it can do is simple mirroring.

The OP was asking about Apple TV. There is nothing in the MS ecosystem that comes close to linking the phone and a STB like it does.

The Blue-ray player actually works better paired with an android phone.

 

[Kevin Rush]

The way I used Plex was to enable other devices on my home network to view whatever was in a "Share" folder. Therefore the content in the folder was only what I placed there. I never "subscribed" to any content. I curated the folder myself ripping DVD's from my collection and placing them there in a streamable format.

https://forums.windowscentral.com/e...l=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.plex.tv%2F&token=Qf8xGwgs

Wow. That sounds like alot of work. You are missing the advantages of Windows Media Center. You probably like doing that work?

 

[RumoredNow]

Nah... I don't like subscribing.

 

[BenJAMIN_2009]

Um Microsoft already has something to compete with apple tv and it plays games its called a Xbox one lol

 

[michail71]

Um Microsoft already has something to compete with apple tv and it plays games its called a Xbox one lol

Perhaps, but what I'm talking about is the way an apple tv becomes part of an iPhone, or any iPhone on the home network. Audio and video can be treated as devices at the iOS devices system level. So any app or web site's content can be sent directly to the apple tv.

You can have 3, 4 or more people sharing media (photos, music, video that is either on the device or streamed from the internet) to an apple tv at the same time. It only takes a split second to project anything to the device. No pairing and no logins required if so configured.

I haven't used the xbox one with a windows phone yet but everything I've read doesn't seem to indicate it can do that. I'm going to get one by the end of the year to try it out.

 

[BenJAMIN_2009]

Perhaps, but what I'm talking about is the way an apple tv becomes part of an iPhone, or any iPhone on the home network. Audio and video can be treated as devices at the iOS devices system level. So any app or web site's content can be sent directly to the apple tv.

You can have 3, 4 or more people sharing media (photos, music, video that is either on the device or streamed from the internet) to an apple tv at the same time. It only takes a split second to project anything to the device. No pairing and no logins required if so configured.

I haven't used the xbox one with a windows phone yet but everything I've read doesn't seem to indicate it can do that. I'm going to get one by the end of the year to try it out.

True maybe Microsoft can update the Xbox one with this functionality but for all devices not just windows phone it would give them a leg up in that space

 

[Blacklac]

They probably need a dedicated media streaming box to complete the "ecosystem".

The Xbox One is great, but people who want a Roku, Fire TV or Apple TV arent even considering an Xbox One based on price alone.

I really don't think they'd market it well enough or get good enough content deals for it to flourish though, sadly.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[michail71]

And windows phone just lacks the media streaming abilities the other phones have. Screen mirroring just isn't the same thing. Otherwise it's limited to some apps but then they only work with local content or their own specific content.