Just this morning I was sitting on the can — with my feet on a stool thanks to a life tip from Greg — and was staring at a Moto Xoom while fantasizing about how awesome my life would be if it supported Airplay. After all, my house is filled with A/V receivers and Android devices. But alas, Airplay is akin to a fancy waterfall feature if you subscribe to the Apple walled garden point of view. It’s just not something as an Android user I’ll be able to enjoy. But not anymore! The technology has been cracked wide open, allowing will eventually allow for all sorts of fun during my morning routine.
Developer and probably all-around nice guy James Laird reversed engineered an Airport Express by physically taking it apart and search the ROM for the private key. Once found it was only a hop, skip and jump to crack the key and open it up for third party development. Soon, with ShairPort 0.01 software, non-apple devices can get in on the Airtunes fun with the ability to receive content directly from iTunes. A person could stream content to an Xbox 360. Or from one Mac to another. The only thing standing in the way is, well, the right software or hardware.
Chances are software will come before hardware as manufacturers are likely not going to implant technology based on cracked Apple intellectual property. The possibilities are hopefully as promising as they sound. Until then I’m stuck play my music through the RDIO app on the Xoom — which works fine anyway. [via http://www.macrumors.com/2011/04/11/apple-airplay-private-key-exposed-opening-door-to-airport-express-emulators/]