Air Video iPhone Review: Stream Videos to iPhone
Video Content On The Move
With all the applications, music, movies, photos and TV shows you’re going to download. Wouldn’t you like the ability to free up space on your iPhone to make way for more content? Well you’re in luck, the Air Video application from InMethod now provides you with the ability to stream all your video content from your PC/Mac straight to your iPhone, iPod and now iPad.
Since video files can take up a huge percentage of the space on your device Air Video is a very useful application because it allows you to stream videos to your iPhone. But in order for this application to be a must-have for any user it must be able to provide quality streaming and easy setup. Does InMethod manage to do this?
Setup (5 out of 5)
Now in order to stream any content from your PC/Mac you need to have a server. Once the application is downloaded to your device it will ask you to go download the server software for your PC/Mac. It will take you through a step by step process in order to configure the server to your router and make it compatible for streaming over LAN (Local Area Network such as your in house Wi-Fi) and WAN (Wide Area Network such as the internet).
Once the server is set up, go to the application on your device and add the server twice. Reason for adding it twice is so you can use it both locally and on the 3G network. To do this search for your network and then add the server number manually into the application.
Now within the server preferences you can tell where the server should look for video files. You can have multiple folder options so you will even be able to add a folder which has current videos downloading to it. Once completed they will be available for instant viewing. Air Video will pretty much convert all video types to the correct format for you, it will even allow for instant converting which will enable you to watch it while it is converting. A very handy feature.
Playback (4 out of 5)
The performance playback is superb. Videos are in good enough quality for viewing on all devices and there is very little slowdown or buffering to hinder the experience.
Performance on a local network is fantastic, if you have the ability to output your device to an HDTV you will get the same quality you would watching it on your PC/Mac with no slowdown. I have personally found myself using this option as it allows me to watch HD content direct on my HDTV rather than on my iMac.
When using the application over a 3G network there is a noticeable difference in the video quality but this is so you can get good streaming performance. To be fair its something that you can’t really complain about because you are able to select any content from your video collection and view it instantly. When conversion is enabled a smaller video file will be created on the server which can be accessed again in the future without having to convert again.
Final Thoughts (5 out of 5)
This is a fantastic application that enables you to free up disc space on your device and enjoy even more content at the same time, if you like watching your content on the move then this application is a no brainer. Air Video is a great way to stream videos to your iPhone.
Let’s hope they continue to add more features in the future. Maybe another application that supports music? Apple will most likely reject that idea though.
