Rogue Amoeba Releases Airfoil 3

One device that nearly every Mac audiophile has (or should have) is Apple’s elegant Airport Express. Using AirTunes over your Airport Express streaming audio to a stereo is a piece of cake. The problem is that streaming audio can only be done from iTunes and video is a no-go.

The solution? Airfoil from Rogue Amoeba.

We’ve never reviewed Airfoil here and I always sort of wondered why. I know I couldn’t live without it now as the latest version released a couple of days ago is really a milestone. For starters with Airfoil 3 you can now stream music from any application (think Quicktime, VLC, or browser based last.fm or Pandora) on your Mac and send it to one or multiple Airport Express stations. And new in this version you can now stream to another Mac, or multiple Macs in sync , which I tested with my girlfriend this evening to waves of giddy girly laughter. By running Airfoil Speakers, a small new app included with Airfoil, the receiving Macs will stream what they are being sent, to just a slight delay depending on your network speeds. Oh and if you’re curious Airfoil Speakers.app wouldn’t work on my hacked AppleTV – I tried.

Also new in this version is video streaming. According to the guys at Rogue issues with Airfoil 2 that included problems with sync during video playback, have now been resolved. To do this Airfoil includes the Airfoil Video Player, which will keep the video locally in sync with remote audio. The player also has support for many of the most popular video formats, and includes early support for DVD streaming. From the testing I did here medium resolution h.264 podcasts, some medium resolution .AVIs, and even DVD all worked quite well over my 802.11G wireless network.

Airfoil 3 is also the programs Leopard update version with full support for 10.5.x featuring a refined interface and easier preference pane options. Overall Airfoil is a joy to run and it is almost a no brainer for any real music lover with an available Airport Express device. For $25 you really can’t go wrong. Upgrades for existing users is $10 unless you bought after 7/15/07 inwhich case it’s gratis. If you’re on the fence there is a limited trial version available to test the waters, but it only works for 10 minutes (boo!).

Check out our recent interview with Paul Kafafis, CEO of Rogue Amoeba or meet the company in person at this weeks MacWorld 2008 Expo (booth #2738 in the South Hall).

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