Of course it's not important to everyone...
But think of the potential when using PlugPlayer as a convenient bridge from DLNA to AirPlay!
There are lots of good full featured DLNA servers everybody can chose from. But there are only
a few DLNA renderers with full features. Most of them support only basic features (Play/Stop and
even that with hiccups...), only very few support seamless seeking in tracks. Unfortunately a DLNA
certificate does not mean much...
With AirPlay, these functions usually work seamless. The number of AirPlay renderers is growing.
A lot of iTunes users (on PC and Apple(!)) have noticed, how limited the possibilities of iTunes as
a server are and would like to use a more extensive DLNA solution.
As an example: I have a Marantz NR1602 AV receiver. Great device, supports DLNA (but without seeking)
and AirPlay (seeking is seamless). Using it with iPad and PlugPlayer as a remote really is fun. Not being able
to set a track position (even with AirPlay) is frustrating. When using AirPlay with the iOS Remote app,
seeking is possible, but then the iTunes/Remote combination is so frustrating for a owner of a bigger library...
I guess most of the Marantz/Denon devices with DLNA/AirPlay support will behave like that (they seem to
share largely the same software, but maybe someone can correct me here). Will there ever be a new fimware
with support for DLNA seeking? This question also arises for a lot of other DLNA renderers!
Using PlugPlayer to not control the sound device as renderer but the library player is also not a solution in
this case. Unfortunately only very few NAS will support AirPlay and their library players usually will not be able
to act as a renderer. Using a library player on PC (for example J.River Media Center as server and renderer),
you can then use AirFoil to connect with AirPlay sound renderers and seeking will work. But this will be hard
to set up for most people and there is another big disadvantage of this solution:
Using AirPlay from a NAS or computer to connect to your sound renderer will block this renderer for other AirPlay
streams. Using an iPhone/iPad to connect to your renderer will make it much more convenient to switch from one
AirPlay source to another. As an example: Listen to music with PlugPlayer, then watch something with the YouTube
app, then listen to some internet radio app, then return to PlugPlayer. The sound is always transfered to your devices
by AirPlay, there is no need to first stop and then restart AirPlay on the NAS or computer.
Now if PlugPlayer would fully support AirPlay on iOS, the DLNA-iPhone/iPad-AirPlay chain would be more simple
to set up and better to use than ever before! I guess a lot of people will see the benefit of this
