iPad 2 & iOS 5 AirPlay Become a TV Gaming Console

The iOS line is gearing up to be a viable contendor in the video game console world, thanks largely to the new wireless AirPlay video mirroring feature coming in iOS 5.

It works like this: an Apple TV2 becomes a wireless receiver that an iOS 5 equipped iPad 2 can then export it’s screen to, the TV can then either mirror the iPad 2 display, or if an supports it, the TV can display different images than what is on the iPad 2, turning the iPad 2 into a controller. Yes, that means the feature is currently limited to iPad 2 in beta 1 of iOS 5, but I suspect that will broaden to the rumored A5 equipped iPhone and possibly other iOS hardware through some jailbreak tweaks.

Watch these videos to see the potential here:

This first video shows the iPad 2 exporting Real Racing 2 at full screen to an Apple TV2, there is a mention of some lag here and there, but for beta software it looks amazing. The brief lag could also just be the result of network interference, poor wifi reception, or not using an 802.11n network.

The next video comes from AppleNApps Channel on YouTube, skip the beginning (unless you want to see how generic apps like Twitter run in AirPlay) and jump to about halfway through at 5:00 to see the good stuff, the iPad 2 exporting several full resolution games to a TV via AirPlay to an Apple TV 2:

Next up is a video from Engadget/AOL, showing Angry Birds and again Real Racing 2 on a TV through the same AirPlay beta feature:

As of now, not many games support the full wide-screen video export, which is why games like Angry Birds show the black bars on the sides. This isn’t shocking when you remember that the release date of iOS 5 isn’t scheduled until sometime this Fall, but I suspect many games will offer full AirPlay support by then. Finally, don’t forget that iOS 5 supports 1080p playback too, which makes the console potential even greater.