What is streaming audio?

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Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a provider.

In a connected home, streaming audio can refer to one of two things:

• Internet Streaming Audio: Music and radio programming that is delivered over the Internet to a computer or network-connected device.
• In-Home Sharing: Audio distributed across your network from one device to another.

With Internet streaming audio, music and radio programming are delivered in a compressed format over the Web and can only be accessed when you are connected to the Internet. And unlike a file that you save to your hard drive from the Web (such as an MP3 file), streaming audio is not saved permanently to your device's storage memory. Rather, a Web browser or audio software decodes the audio file as it's being streamed to your computer or device, and then the data is discarded once you've played it.

With in-home sharing, you are transmitting audio from a central location (such as your computer) to a plethora of amplified possibilities: a home theater stereo, powered speakers, an HDTV, and more. The audio that is being served up through your home can either be the digital audio files stored on your computer's hard drive or audio streamed from an Internet radio station.