Josh OngBridgeCo, a software company that embeds chips for streaming media, gained unprecedented access to Apple's in-development AirPlay technology as a trusted partner, according to a new report by CNBC.
Prior to the partnership, Apple had never "opened up their eco-system," said BridgeCo CEO Gene Sheridan. "We've always been knocking on the door to work with them on this."
The El Segundo, Calif., company had worked with Apple before on iPod dock products, but a year ago, Apple invited BridgeCo to work with them even more closely as a launch partner for AirPlay, Apple's new wireless media streaming technology.
Sheridan and his team were given a rare opportunity to look at Apple's code. "There is a magic to Apple that sounds simple," he said. "They know how to take a complex and feature-rich technology and narrow it."
Afterward, BridgeCo sent Apple a "long list" of what it had to offer. The Cupertino, Calif., company chose three items.
Whereas previous third-party iTunes streaming options were "reverse engineering workarounds," BridgeCo's partnership with Apple means consumers won't have to worry that Apple's next software update will disable the streaming functionality of a third-party device.
The first stereo equipment with BridgeCo's new JukeBlox software, which will allow users to take advantage of AirPlay and "mix and match" equipment, should be out by the holidays.
BridgeCo isn't profitable yet, but the Apple partnership could quickly turn things around. According to the report, the deal could provide as much as "half the company's revenues."
On its website, Apple promotes Denon, Marantz, Bowers&Wilkins, JBL, and iHome as "featured partners" of AirPlay. Of these brands, only Denon is cross-listed on the BridgeCo website as a "Top Brand Connecting with BridgeCo."
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46 Comments
I'm sorry, it's late and I may have missed it- just what is bridgeco bringing to the table? What 3 things? How are they ensuring airplay is update proof to 3rd party products? Is airplay an open standard? Meh, maybe I'll figure it out in the morning, sorry for the wasted post.
This can be absolutely huge! It would be fantastic if Apple allows third parties to tie their hardware into Airplay. This could be Sonos for the rest of us ... But really, if there are sound boxes with integrated Airplay that you just plug into a socket somewhere in you flat and can then stream music to it from any iDevice you want, even your friends, this would be fantastic!
I'm sorry, it's late and I may have missed it- just what is bridgeco bringing to the table? What 3 things? How are they ensuring airplay is update proof to 3rd party products? Is airplay an open standard? Meh, maybe I'll figure it out in the morning, sorry for the wasted post.
As far as I can tell, BridgeCo built JukeBlox, a "connectivity platform," that they're offering to manufacturers to help them enable AirPlay in their consumer entertainment devices.
Since BridgeCo has Apple's "blessing," their chips and software should have a tight integration with AirPlay and iTunes.
To my knowledge, AirPlay is not an open standard.
Sheridan and his team were given a rare opportunity to look at Apple's code. "There is a magic to Apple that sounds simple," he said. "They know how to take a complex and feature-rich technology and narrow it."
Hey.. hey..
AirPlay is the most intrigue feature demonstrated a week ago. It'll allow iDevices to act like a portable movie & music server, right there in your hands. The only shortcoming I found is you need to play the content first before you airplay it. If you could just select a song or a video and airplay it directly it would be golden.