So you don’t own an advanced media player with seperate hard disc, but you have an Xbox 360 and a Mac? Well that’s currently my story and I’ve been looking around a bit for some proper ways to stream (high definition) media to my TV through UPnP software.
Here’s a list of what I’ve come across so far. Mind you, most of these are OSX-only for use with an iMac or MacBook. I’ll make sure to make a similar list for Windows software later on!
By the way, because these applications are essentially UPnP MediaServers, they work on Playstation 3 and any other UPnP client as well.
1. Connect360
I actually bought this one. It’s a great app and very easy to set up. One of the major down-sides, which I got to know now that I bought a proper FullHD Tv, is that Connect360 doesn’t support streaming movies in the awesome .MKV Container.
| Developer | Nullriver Software |
| Platform | OSX 10.4 or later |
| iTunes support |  |
| .MKV container support |  |
| Price | $20 (trial version available) |
2. PS3 Media Server
I know, I know, it says Playstation 3, but the creator of this app created Xbox 360 support as well. Other than the fact that this one is totally free of charge (you can donate and support the creator ofcourse), the very big advantage is that PS3 Media Server also plays .MKV files! I must say this works like a charm. Even over my wireless connection it streams without any trouble (after downgrading the video somewhat, which is real easy to do).
All I need now to stream FullHD movies is a wired connection.
Check out the Official Forums if you need help setting it up.
| Developer | ps3mediaserver |
| Platform | OSX, Windows or Linux |
| iTunes support | |
| .MKV container support |  |
| Price | Freeware |
3. Rivet
With the same kind of options menu as Connect360, it certainly looks and feels the same. Because of this, I haven’t actually tried it out that much. It seems one of the upsides is that it tells you it can see .MKV files, but I’ve tried to play some of them and it didn’t work. Maybe it’s me and I need to configure it some more.
Anyway, if you don’t care much for HD streaming and you’re looking for something one dollar and five cents cheaper than Connect360, Rivet is the way to go! Other than that they have the best looking site and you can even download this as an iPhone App to access your files by phone.
| Developer | The Little App Factory |
| Platform | OSX 10.5 or later |
| iTunes support | |
| .MKV container support |  |
| Price | $18,95 (trial version available) |
4 Majestic
This one appears to be new in town, launched the 26th of May. I never really heard of it before typing this post, but ofcourse I made sure to download it and try it out.
It actually doesn’t behave any different than Connect360 or Rivet. The settings are about the same, maybe even easier. A major upside to Majestic is the fact that it’s free!
No MKV though.
| Developer | Tim Gunn |
| Platform | OSX 10.5 or later |
| iTunes support | |
| .MKV container support | |
| Price | Freeware |