VIDEO: Four iPhone and iPads can connect to the same TV
Firemint, the EA-owned mobile games studio, has unveiled a breakthrough new technology for Apple TV: four-player split screen.
The Australian studio’s blockbuster app, Real Racing 2, now allows up to four iPhone or iPad devices to connect to the same television via an Apple TV puck.
All five devices sync though Apple’s AirPlay service and can play on the same game in real-time over local Wi-Fi. While the TV displays all four players’ viewpoints in split-screen, the devices themselves present additional information.
This process is distinctly similar to the upcoming Wii U system, yet Nintendo’s approach means that only one tablet device can work during multiplayer – Apple TV allows four times that amount.
A demonstration of the technology can be found below.
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The TV-to-tablet technology now supports iPad 2 and iPhone 4S devices, Firemint said.
“This takes AirPlay to the next level of iOS gaming,” Firemint said, “facilitating wireless local multiplayer for up to 4 players simultaneously in a split screen display output to your HD TV using an iPad 2 or iPhone 4S as the host.”
The studio added: “In addition to these great new features the update promises gorgeous graphical enhancements that make use of the iPad 2 & iPhone 4S A5 processor”.
And an absolute bargain at a mere £1500 for 4 iPads and an Apple TV! Nintendo must be bricking themselves.
It's not an absolute bargain. it might be useful if you have 4 friends with iphones. i expect this technology to be most useful as a digital tv remote rather than a gameplay device. unless the gameplay is controller-based, not using gyroscopes.
Looks cool, but we still don't know much about the Wii U so it's a little early to call a winner (for example I don't recall Nintendo confirming you can only use one tablet at a time?).
The funny part is that I blogged about something similar to this over a month ago: http://nemirc.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/my-take-on-mobile-gaming-and-portable-consoles/
I am currently a happy iPad 2 owner, it does many things well. But gaming is something that it generally cannot do well mainly because of the lack of buttons (some games that do not need buttons work very well) and the general premium gaming experience is not available on this platform. The overall price of the setup of Apple TV experience also concerns me. I have used Nintendo devices to game for a very long time and I still prefer them to other gaming solutions and the premium games on these consoles are generally full featured (if a bit more pricier), so for gaming I would rather stick with my Nintendo consoles and the next-gen Wii U.
wii U doesn't come with multiple controllers
Nor it supports more than one of the specific controllers. Also it is about supporting multiplayer on a TV with friends who own ipads or iphones, and not buying several ipads. the device that you need to stream your screen on the TV is really cheap.
This was only a matter of time to happen. And until Wii U comes out there might be even more news like that.
Again, as with the Vita and PS3 combo, devs aren't keen on making products for add ons that only a few might have. I can see how this might be fun, but how many will be able to make use of this facility? It's a niche market at best. Perhaps it points to the way things might be in the future, but this is no serious threat to the Wii U, or any other console yet.
looks kinda cool but still they are different markets - Wii U actually has buttons, dual analog, more hardcore plus I think it would still be cheaper than 4 iPads but it has potential. 173,
It HAS been confirmed that you can use more than one tablet at a time for the Wii U.
@Chard
He was being sarcastic you dunce!
If I remember correctly Nintendo stated that Wii U could support 4 tablet controllers but they'd all play in standard definition instead of HD.
Besides most games download from the Rotten Apple App store are free and have ads. Nintendo's games don't have any ads. The only way to avoid ads from app store games is to pay and last time I checked people like the cheap and free games that devs. usually stick ads into.
The Rotten Apple will never have a device that can come close to the true kings of innovation in gaming, Nintendo.
it's funny to me how everyone wants nintendo to fail. the reality is nintendo didnt show anything but demos. their president said they show 10% of what the controller can do. the console hasn't even launched yet... but apple has trumped what the Wii U can do. HA!
Zelda vs Angry birds, for me there is no contest. Apple is great but this setup is a complete fantasy compared to the Wii U. Even the comparison is
wrong. Isn't this another excuse to mention Apple again on the front page? And when its not Apple its unity..
I think many of you are underestimating just how many people actually own iPads and iPhones. Far and away more than the amount of people who own Wii U right now.
Nintendo has to face up to the fact that smartphones and tablets are here to stay in the gaming realm and they need to do something about it instead of just bad-mouthing them.
