HomeShare

Sony swallows its pride, supports both HomeShare and AirPlay on new speakers

LAS VEGAS--Unsurprisingly, Sony's HomeShare platform didn't take off in 2011, having most of its thunder stolen by a rival wireless audio solution: AirPlay.

Give credit to Sony making a quick adjustment. Sony introduced two new HomeShare speakers today at CES 2012, both including HomeShare (which works with DLNA) and AirPlay support. That puts the speakers in the position of being able to stream music from both Android and Apple mobile devices. There are also dedicated apps for both iOS and Android letting you control the speakers.

The support of both wireless audio platforms isn't exactly new for … Read more

Q&A: MacFixIt Answers

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers. This week we had questions on how the iTunes Home Sharing feature works, different approaches for upgrading to OS X Lion, how to list open network ports in OS X, and identifying whether or not you installed the Adobe Flash Trojan. We continually answer e-mail questions, and though we present a few answers here, we welcome alternative approaches and views from readers and encourage you to post your suggestions in the comments.

Question: How the iTunes home-sharing feature works MacFixIt reader "Kski" asks: … Read more

New MacBook Pros having issues with iTunes Home Sharing

Despite Home Sharing's more prominent role in Apple's iOS and iTunes, some users that purchased the newest line of MacBook Pros aren't thrilled with the feature. An Apple Support Discussions thread has ballooned to over 213 comments since the end of February, filled with users trying to find a solution to the Home Sharing bug.

ASD forum user themacbear writes:

"Although the Apple TV could see the name of my iTunes library, it wouldn't connect to it, or sometimes, would report that 'There are no movies in this library'."

ASD user sftobos concurs, writing:… Read more

How to fix Apple's Time Capsule (and how it will make the iPad 2 even better)

Sure, the iPad's fun. It's thin, it's addictive, it can handle a wide variety of apps and media files. There's only one problem: it still needs to sync to a PC.

If "magical" was the catchphrase most repeated at last year's iPad unveiling, "post-PC" was this year's equivalent for the iPad 2. I had hoped that, along with the iPad 2, Apple would find a way access media libraries wirelessly. They have, in a way, with iOS 4.3's new Home Sharing capability--but it needs a Mac or PC … Read more

How to use Home Sharing on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod

Before iOS 4.3, Home Sharing was only for PCs, but now you can share any computer's iTunes library with your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch over your Wi-Fi network. This allows you to access more music, movies, or podcasts from multiple computers without burdening your device's storage.

Once you set up your Home Sharing account on your computers and devices, sharing is easy. Here's how to do it:

Set up your Home Sharing account To do this, you'll need iTunes 10.2 or later. Go to the "Advanced" menu, select "Turn on … Read more

Sony unveils 2011 midrange AV receiver line

Sony announced its new 2011 line of midrange AV receivers this morning, adding lots of new iPhone/iPod connectivity features throughout the line. The $500 STR-DN1020 is also getting support (via an Ethernet port) for Sony's new streaming audio platform HomeShare, which we were impressed with back at CES 2011. There are a lot of changes from last year's models, and here are the key details announced so far.… Read more

CES: Sony's new HomeShare streaming-audio platform takes on AirPlay

LAS VEGAS--Along with the roll-out of its typical home theater products, Sony has also announced a new wireless audio-streaming platform known as HomeShare. Sony kicked off the launch with five new products that use HomeShare, as well as an iPhone/Android app that can be used to control all of the HomeShare devices on your network.

While Sony has tried its hand at wireless music streaming before (Altus and its related platform, S-Air), HomeShare is an interesting, surprisingly nonproprietary new take. It's built around the DLNA standard, which means that HomeShare products can stream digital music from any DLNA-compliant … Read more

Apple TV 2 sharing not working? Check firewalls and iTunes version.

The second-generation Apple TV is now shipping, and a few owners who have received their units are having difficulties with sharing and streaming from their Macs. Even though iTunes is set up to share home folders or libraries, the Apple TV is not seeing them on the network even though the previous AppleTV was able to do so on the same network.

Apple does have a few knowledgebase articles available that discuss how to set up and troubleshoot various features of the second-generation Apple TV, so if you are having problems you may wish to read through those. These articles … Read more

Apple Byte: MacBook Pro line getting a refresh?

CNET TV's Brian Tong discusses evidence that Apple is about to update its line of MacBook Pros. Also discussed in this edition: the Mobile World Congress gives Steve Jobs the Person of the Year in Mobile; Microsoft introduces the Windows 7 Series Phone; and a how-to tip for syncing your iTunes Library with multiple computers.

Be sure to check us out on Twitter and the CNET Mac forums. Do you have questions, issues, or stories you would like to see on MacFixIt? E-mail Us.

How to set up iTunes Home Sharing

Editor's note: This guide was written about an older version of iTunes. For details on linking your iOS devices with newer versions of iTunes, see our story here: How to use home sharing on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod.

I have no idea how many MP3s I own. It's not that I'm too lazy to look--the problem is that my collection is scattered between all the computers in my life. I have a few albums on my personal laptop, a few more on my work laptop, and the bulk of my collection on an ancient Apple G4 … Read more