Tupil has today released Beamer 3.0, a major upgrade to their Mac OS X video streaming app that allows users to stream any video file from a Mac to any Apple TV, Chromecast or Google Cast-supported HDTV. Version 3.0 brings a redesigned interface, improved playlist controls, new sound playback and subtitle options, quick selection of playback options and support for Chromecast devices.

The app also allows users to fast-forward, reverse, or completely skip to the next movie using the Apple TV Remote.

Beamer is a ‘drag, drop & watch’ solution, which means that you don’t need to convert files to the “right” fileformat – the app handles it for you on the fly. Simply drag and drop a movie file and start watching immediately.

Beamer is compatible with the new Apple TV and does not require any app to be installed on the Apple TV.

Here’s the complete list of new features in Beamer 3.0:

* Now supports playback to Google Cast devices, such as Chromecast
* Supports the fourth-generation Apple TV
* Use the Apple TV Remote to skip to the next movie by double-clicking the play button
* Modern, redesigned interface
* More controls are available from the playback window
* Options to automatically select subtitles and audio tracks of a certain language
* Option to set Beamer to automatically use a surround soundtrack when available
* Set a playlist or a movie to repeat automatically
* Improved automatic subtitle selection
* Improved color accuracy for movies using the bt709 color matrix
* Detects more subtitle tracks in VOB files
* Updated transcoding backend
* Numerous performance and stability improvements

Beamer requires OS X Yosemite or later and is compatible with Apple TV 2/3/4 and Chromcast 1st/2nd generation.

Beamer 3.0 is sold at $19.99 USD  and is available through the Beamer website. Existing Beamer 2 owners can upgrade via Beamer’s unique “Pay What You Want” upgrade program.

Also read:

• AirParrot 2: the ultimate companion app for Apple TV 4
• MAME emulator running on Apple TV 4
• Official Plex app for Apple TV released
• How Apple is fixing what’s wrong with console gaming today

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

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Beamer, a popular AirPlay video player for Mac, has been updated to version 3.0 (public beta) that features a brand new interface, sub/idx file support, option to skip movies with the Apple TV remote and support for Chromecast.

Here’s what’s new in Beamer 3:

• Chromecast support

Beamer 3.0 supports streaming directly to Chromecast.

This includes subtitle support for all formats supported by Beamer: external files, embedded in movies, text based, picture based.

• Redesigned interface

A new, modern interface that makes commonly accessed options such as selecting the audio track or subtitles easier.

Integrated in the player window is a queue. The queue also includes a history when you scroll up, so it’s easy to see what you watched previously and put it back into the queue.

• Skip movies with the Apple TV remote

Skip to the next movie in the queue by double-clicking the play button on the Apple remote. Just like skipping a track with the Apple headphones clicker.

• Improved subtitle support

In addition to subtitle files such as SubRip (.srt) and MPL, Beamer 3.0 also supports BluRay (.sup) and DVD (.sub/.idx) subtitles as external files.

Beamer is a ‘drag, drop & watch’ solution. You don’t need to convert files to the “right” file format – the app handles it for you on the fly. Simply drag and drop a movie file and start watching immediately.

Beamer 3 also supports HQ streaming (1080p, 5.1 Surround Sound). The app streams video directly so it will be played natively on Apple TV and Chromecast. The developers promise no glitches, clicks, pops or other shenanigans.

The video looks just as good as it would on your desktop.

Read our review of Beamer.

For existing Beamer 2 customers, Beamer 3 is a free upgrade. Beamer 3 will cost $19.99, but during the beta it can be purchased for only $15.

Beamer requires OS X Yosemite (10.10) or later.

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

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Beamer is a Mac app that brings AirPlay mirroring to Macs, but is specially optimized for (and tops the native OS X mirroring in) streaming movies to your Apple TV (read our full review of Beamer 1.0 and about their 2.0 update, which brought a great interface and some cool new features). Recently, Beamer 2.1 was pushed out dealing with some of the most demanded features.

The most prominent one is how Beamer 2.1 will interact with keyboards. The media buttons on the Apple keyboard will now work directly with Beamer and the following Mac shortcuts makes it more powerful than ever:

Keyboard shortcuts for opening the playlist (Shift-Command (⌘)-P) and
The device list (Shift-Command (⌘)-D).

Keyboard shortcuts for skipping back and forward:
Shift-Command (⌘)-Left Arrow : Skip back to beginning
Shift-Command (⌘)-Right Arrow : Skip forward to end
Option-Command (⌘)-Left Arrow : Skip back 30 seconds
Option-Command (⌘)-Right Arrow : Skip forward 30 seconds
Shift-Option-Command (⌘)-Left Arrow : Skip back 5 minutes
Shift-Option-Command (⌘)-Right Arrow : Skip forward 5 minutes

Beamer 2.1 brings scripting support for Apple’s Open Source Architecture. You can right click Beamer icon from the dock and use the playback controls directly. Also the audio, video and subtitle tracks can now be selected from the context menu.

Besides, Beamer 2.1 brings a wide array of performance improvements and bug fixes:

Improved audio quality of stereo output.
Starting and skipping is now significantly faster for some MKV files.
Some SRT files would show overlapping subtitles.
AirPlay password or pin were often not recognized at the first attempt.
A dialog sheet would sometimes not disappear, causing the app to hang.
Playlist selection changed when deleting items from the playlist.
The video snapshot would sometimes not update to the selected movie.

Beamer 2.1 is sold at $15.00 and you can get it from here. A free trial (limited to the first 15 minutes of each video) is also available (the full fersion can be unlocked using in-app purchase).

For current users, Beamer 2.1 is a free upgrade.

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

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Even though you can stream any content from your Mac to the Apple TV with a native OS X (Mountain Lion or later) AirPlay Mirroring feature or by using third-party software like AirParrot, Beamer was able to grab much attention with their particular focus on just one thing – broadcasting movies from Mac to an Apple TV, in the best audio and video quality possible. With 5.1 surround sound and support for almost all common formats and codecs, Beamer is a fast and simple solution for streaming movies from your Mac directly to Apple TV. You can read our full review of Beamer here.

The developers behind Beamer have recently rolled out their biggest update yet – Beamer 2.0. The completely revamped interface is the major highlight. Besides, they’ve also worked on a few of their most demanded features, including video playlists for continuous playback. Here is the complete changelog:

What’s new in version 2.0

• Completely redesigned user interface.
• Use playlists to AirPlay many movie files in a row.
• Start where you left off, because Beamer remembered playback position.
• It works with even more movie files: supports DVD & BluRay subtitles, improved
• support for high bit-rate video.
• Visual feedback while fast-forwarding / rewinding.

Beamer 2.0 needs Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks and an Apple TV 2nd or 3rd generation.

It is available from the official website as a free trial and then the full version can be unlocked for $15 as an in-app purchase.

Previous users who have purchased Beamer 1 later than October last year can avail a free upgrade, while earlier users can upgrade to 2.0 with a special discounted pricing.

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

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A few weeks ago, in collaboration with Squirrels (maker of AirParrot and Reflector) and Beamer, we started a contest inviting you to share with us (and the rest of the world) your vision of a perfect Apple TV – the Apple TV of your dreams. The participation was amazing (thanks!), we got tons of submissions and a lot of great ideas. Here is a short résumé:

Almost all of you think of a new Apple TV as a standalone TV set that features:

• a big, 3D, ultra HD display (Retina?)
• a built-in Kinect-like camera (FaceTime/Skype calls, gaming, face recognition)
• Siri
• App Store (yes, you want apps!!!)
• social network integration
• DVR functionality

All the above features seem to be a MUST for the future Apple HDTV.

Other ideas we liked:

• NFC
• push notifications
• multiuser personalized profiles
• gesture interaction with social media
• a full TV experience available everywhere (on the go!)
• wireless charging (in the fuuuuuture)

Interestingly, a lot of you want your TV to become… a phone.

Though these are all great ideas, we think we are still missing something here, a truly revolutionary, game-changing, killer future that could reinvent a TV and it seems that we will have to leave it to Apple to figure out what it is.

Here are some of your ideas:

Sean O’Neill

• My vision for the perfect Apple TV would require one simple interface addition: voice.  A few simple words should be all it takes to communicate with your TV, across all devices and services.
  Examples:
  “Hi TV. Change channel, CNN.”
  “Hi TV. Netflix, House of Cards. Episode 2.”
  “Hi TV. Search TV, Next Daily Show, New Episodes.”A minor hardware challenge would be including a small microphone in the remote, which would transmit voice commands to the box.An alternate approach to voice control would be to simply hold the current center button for a few seconds, which would trigger a high-gain microphone on the Apple TV itself. An animated speech waveform could be displayed on the TV to entertain the user & confirm actuation.Another interesting twist on this would be to provide multi-service search results, as Roku has done with the latest version of their Roku 3 player. e.g. “Hi TV. Iron Man 2. Anywhere.” might return a list of results on screen that list comparative pricing spanning multiple services, so users can select the best offering.

• Another “killer” feature would be Push Notifications. Users can register their favorite programs (via an Apple TV app, for instance, that could resemble a supercharged Remote app) using their Apple ID. They could then be notified about various events: when a favorite show is about to be broadcast, when a podcast they’ve subscribed to has a new episode, or when a movie they’re watching becomes available on Netflix, Amazon VOD, Vudu, etc. On acknowledging the notification, users could either select the content for immediate viewing, “Add to Queue”, or Record, depending upon the source.

G J P R Verasdonck

My Apple TV should be:

• any “computer” from which I can access the content from anywhere in the world (if I am on holidays in “Timbuktu” I do not want my screen to say that I am not authorized to view my content due to geographic restrictions)
• suitable for views on the go (e.g. iPad/iPhone) or at home (e.g. large screen)
• be “low-key interactive”: if I like the holiday program on Fiji Islands, I want to be able to look at booking options or in reverse: if i consider a holiday to the Inca ruins I want to be able to look for a travel program on the region I am interested in and see booking possibilities
• my TV should also be my phone; I like to see the people I’m talking with.

Mark Villapando

• Deals with all the premium channels for their on demand content
• Access to the NFL Network, or better yet, RedZone
• Deals with more sports networks to make pay subscription apps (to combat Internet piracy through illegal streaming sites)
• Easy ability to share viewed programs through social networks
• A VNC-like app to access the screens of computers on the network (from TV)
• Make iOS hackable again to allow programs like Plex, XBMC, or Media Player to stream local media (wishful thinking)

Alejandro Timpanaro

• A laser pointer (Wii-style)
• Google Chrome browser
• Google maps
• Access to Google Drive and other cloud services
• A download manager like Jdownloader.
• Backup config of the Apple TV in iCloud

Nicholas Chan

• Every single broadcast gets relayed to the billion-dollar data center for recording. This includes news broadcasts, morning/late night talk shows, etc. Everything gets recorded. A user with an Apple TV can then jump back in time to a specific hour to watch his/her favorite program from any channel, streaming directly from the data center. User does not have to worry about local storage. Program list can be sorted and presented in many ways. Programs can stream to iPhone/iPad/Macs. Premium channels are available to those that are paying for it currently.
• The Archive: for stuff that predates the Apple TV (stuff that didn’t get recorded at the data center), becomes available for on-demand streaming. Basically – Netflix. Score some deals Mr. Cook!
• Three ways to control the TV: 1) everyone has their phones with them, make that the remote (people would buy iPod touches dedicated for this). Very similar to the current Apple TV’s iOS remote. 2) if the phone isn’t in the room, use Siri, an obvious choice. 3) if all else fails, a multitouch display directly on a TV. Tap on screen to bring up a menu. Swipe to switch channels. Third party apps can utilize this. Apps can be educational and ask children to select things on screen, etc…(classrooms desperately need this feature available).
• Killer GPU for competition against consoles
• iSight -> direct all phone/FaceTime calls to the TV rather than your phone if your identity is detected in the room

Mike Bowen

• I’d like to see the TV have full touchscreen compatibility (you can’t play Angry Birds without a touchscreen)
• PIP of course that would support watching TV while checking apps
• Built in 4g & LTE support so you can actually make and receive phone calls from the TV set itself

Adrian Büsselmann

• I dream of gesturing from my couch to control the Apple TV. No more searching for the small controller. Apple TV could get a “Kinect” plugin to realize this
• Even a virtual keyboard can be shown on the TV and the Apple TV would see my gesture and get the right input

Eric Dykstra

• A monthly iTunes subscription (be able to watch everything on iTunes for a monthly cost; the cost would be high, $150+ per month)
• Control interface for cable and satellite (run the Cable signal through Apple TV, and change channels with ATV)

Eric Olson

• The Apple TV should be able to mirror to another apple TVs and support a “party-mode” where all apple TVs on the local network display and control the same media
• Open the “remote” IP port for 3rd party display of meta-data & control. This will make it easy to integrate an Apple TV into high & mid-range entertainment systems

Rik Moedt

• The Genius function that Apple uses to show you things you might like is going to be integrated. It will offer you playlist with things you might like to watch. In the playlist live television, on demand video and internet content can all be combined.

And the winners are:

1. Maria Panagi – for the brilliant idea of using simple gestures to interact with social media:

The Apple TV of my dreams would have highly developed gesture recognition, that would be used not only for playing games (bringing all the Wii feauteres) but the whole controlling of the TV would be based on gestures.

When it comes to social media, the gesture recognition would be highly integrated with the biggest social media platforms. On the above picture there is an example of Facbook ´Like`- the gesture of thumb-up would be recognized and would make it possible to give a like only using a gesture. Other gestures would be recognized as “share” and reading the news feed would be possible with a hand swing.

On the below picture there is an example of how the gesture control system could work with Apple TV menu. I believe that the main menu should have only 6 icons, so that it can be easily navigated with gestures (it would recognize moves: left top, right top, center top, left down, right down, center down). One hand swing would  bring another screen with the next set of 6 icons.

Prize: iPad mini

2. Cristhian Flores – for an idea of a fingerprint (on the remote)/face detection to recognize users and update the TV with their personalized profiles (channels, apps, movies, music, etc.)

Other ideas of Cristhian:

• Led notification for personal mail, Skype calls, or iMessage
• A built in mic on the touch remote to allow the user to communicate with TV without making too much noise around
• NFC chip, to allow smartphones and tablets to transfer information with a tap on the TV’s stand. When tapped to a laptop will also transfer information.
• All Corning Gorilla Glass with plasma like refresh rate 600HZ
• Has built in set-top box, way to activate is to call Apple and with their deal with Direct TV/Dish will transmit signal to the television to allow channel viewing
• Special coating on the television that activates when people (in a meeting) are trying to show their products can write on the screen with a stylus. This information is saved on the flash and can be transmitted to devices via NFC.
• Quad-core processor to allow heavy intensive applications to run, the visual would match the graphics of the Playstation 3
• 4GB RAM: allows applications to run at ease, also streaming any content while also doing iWork (multitasking.) It would allow either side-by-side or Top-bottom screen to be able to run two applications.

Prize: iPad mini

Runner-up: Leo Hellberg – for a futuristic idea of The Plug (wireless power) and professionally designed Apple-style graphic (below.)

Prize: free copies of AirParrot, Reflector and Beamer.

Big thanks to all for participation! Stay tuned for more contest and giveaways!

The contest was sponsored by Squirrels (maker of AirParrot and Reflector) and Beamer.

The post “Apple TV of your dreams” contest: winners announced! appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

Beamer

What’s new in Beamer 1.6.2?

• Fixed an issue where audio would sometimes be muted for the remainder of the movie.
• Fixed an issue where some subtitles would be parsed incorrectly.
• Fixed an issue where some movie files would not open (since version 1.6).
• Added the ability to report movie files that cannot be opened.
• Added support for MPL2 subtitles.
• Added support for audio-only movie files.
• Various performance, stability and cosmetic improvements.

Read our review of Beamer.

Beamer for Mac is sold at $15.00 and you can get it from here. A free trial (limited to the first 15 minutes of each video) is available from here. The app is currently on sale on MacUpdate Promo (25% off).

Beamer requires a Mac (2007 and up), OS X 10.6+ (Snow Leopard, Lion or Mountain Lion) and Apple TV (2^nd or 3^rd generation).

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There is 1080p, there is AirPlay and AirPlay Mirroring, there are some content deals, there are apps like AirParrot and Beamer, there is XBMC, Plex and aTV Flash on jailbroken devices, but it’s still not even close to what we think a perfect TV solution from Apple could look like. And now we have learned that the next Apple TV will probably come with a slightly improved processor and a new antenna/chip. Oh, come on Apple, you know you can do better!

But there is no doubt there will be a bloody battle for our living rooms and Apple will take part in it. We have no doubts that Apple will come out with something big: a revolutionary TV solution, whether it will be a standalone TV set or next generation set-top box. But since we are not hearing anything from Apple on this matter, we hope to hear something from you.

We are giving you a chance to share with the world your vision of a perfect Apple TV. The Apple TV of your dreams. The king of your living room. A standalone TV set or a redesigned set-top box? Apps, games, Siri, Facetime, gesture control, 3D, social networks? And what about the content?

You tell us how the next Apple TV’s hardware, software and/or interface should look like!

If you have graphic skills, mockups, renderings and all other kinds of concept designs will be more than welcome. If Photoshop is really not your thing, just write down your ideas and send them to us in a text file. During the contest, we will be regularly posting the best ideas on our website, Facebook, Twitter and Google+. The authors of the best works in both “graphics” and “text” categories will be awarded an iPad mini 16 GB, courtesy of Squirrels (maker of AirParrot and Reflector) and Beamer.

Rules:
–       The contest starts right now and ends on Sunday, March 17^th at 11.59 PM EST.
–       Submissions should be sent to editor@appletvhacks.net; the subject line should read “Contest: Apple TV of your dreams”.
–       All graphic and text file formats are allowed.
–       If you are submitting a graphic work, please include a short description of it.
–       Submission of work that has already been published elsewhere is not allowed.
–       Two winners (one in each category) will be selected by Apple TV Hacks editorial team and announced not later than on March 29^th.
–       The contest is open internationally.

The contest is sponsored by Squirrels and Beamer.

UPDATE: We got tons of submissions and we’re reviewing them now. The winners will be announced by the end of the week. We are sorry for the delay!

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The Apple TV 2, Apple TV 3, iPad 2-4, iPhone 4-5, and some iPod touches have all shared one thing in common over the past few years and that one thing is AirPlay. Well, as of this year Apple has decided to updated its latest Mac OS X, Mountain Lion build, with support for the mirroring functionality as well. There is no arguing that AirPlay is one of the strongest growing features in Apple’s multimedia arsenal. For those of us who have the distinct pleasure of utilizing AirPlay to the fullest, we know that it is something everyone needs in their lives. That said, there is a large segment of the globe that is unable to take advantage of these features.

What about those of us who haven’t done the upgrade to the newest Operating System? What about those of us who have upgraded, but want to use AirPlay while still working on your Mac? What about those of us who have an amazing surround sound system and discover that the Mac’s AirPlay functionality only supports stereo? Well… your answer just may be in a tool for Macs known only as Beamer!

Beamer App For Mac (by Tupil) – Straight From The Source

Now you can play any movie from your Mac on Apple TV.

Features include:

• Drag, Drop, Watch

Drag any movie file onto Beamer and it will start streaming wirelessly to your TV with Apple TV instantly. No jailbreak required.

• No Conversion Needed

Beamer plays all (OK, almost all) movie files, so you don’t need to convert your videos. AVI, MOV, MKV, MP4, WMV and FLV files will play just fine.

• Wondering if it will support another File Format?

You can easily download the trial to test any obscure file format you may have. We strive to support as many movie files as possible. If you have a video that doesn’t work, we’d love to hear about it.

THE GOOD

Beamer could not be any easier to use or set up! It is important to note that I say this because there is NO SETUP! Users need only download the app and turn on their Apple TV. Yes, that is it. Now, in order to play a movie from your Mac to your Apple TV 2, or 3, you need only drag the file from your Mac and drop it in the window that appears when opening the Beamer application. Within seconds your Apple TV will be streaming your movie.

There are many benefits to Beamer that Mountain Lion’s implementation of AirPlay Mirroring does not account for:

1. With Beamer you can user your Apple TV Remote to control your movie. This includes all remote functionality such as Play, Pause, Skip, Fast-forward, and Rewind;
2. With Beamer you can continue to work on your Mac, as the Beamer app is “just another window” on your desktop;
3. With Beamer you can user your Apple TV’s complete audio setup. This means if you have a great surround sound system connected to your Apple TV, you can utilize it with your movie streaming;
4. With Beamer you can download and test the app before deciding to make the purchase.

THE BAD

I did have a somewhat poor experience with the app in two situations.

1. While the app handled all of the video formats I sent to it, I found that if I used larger .mkv files I wound up with very slow navigation.
   • As an example, when I played the 1080p release of BRAVE, by Pixar, I found that as I attempted to skip forward in the movie, my Apple TV would hang for a good 5 minutes or more while the App and the TV communicated.
2. In one instance (and only one) I found an .MP4 formatted video that would only play in intervals of 10 seconds, or so, at a time. Now, the app handled 3 other movies formatted in the exact same way so we can be sure it is not entirely and issue with its ability to read codecs. That said, the video does play via my Mac and AirPlay using Mountain Lion.

While I did have these two problems it is important to note that I did all of my testing while working on a 3MB connection speed, over a DSL line. This is not very good. So the fact is, this issue was likely caused by my internet connect more than the Beamer app itself. I would go as far as saying if you have at least a 6MB connection, this app will be smooth as butter… spread over your Apple TV.

THE UGLY TRUTH

In the end this app did exactly what it said it would do. Though the team behind the Beamer app is not trying to reinvent the wheel, they did find a way to do AirPlay without Apple’s supported method. To quote their reasoning for not being available in the App Store:

“It was turned down for using undocumented Apple technology. We use an undocumented way to talk to the Apple TV with AirPlay. While this is unsupported by Apple, it works well in practice.”

That aside, I was not disappointed with this app at all. There are many players in this field right now, but Beamer is by far the easiest option for users who have video content on their hard drive, or other local storage, and want to be able to share it on their Apple Televisions. All in all, if your set up is missing any of the features we have mentioned in this review, you should seriously consider Beamer. After all it is free to download and try.

Beamer for Mac is sold at $15.00 and you can get it from here. A free trial (limited to the first
15 minutes of each video) is available from here.

Beamer requires a Mac (2007 and up), OS X 10.6+ (Snow Leopard, Lion or Mountain Lion) and Apple TV (2^nd or 3^rd generation).

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