When it comes to playing media files on your mobile you are left with two options. Firstly, convert the videos or music you would like to access into a format that can be played natively within Android, or stream media via a third-party solution.

Air Playit enables you, in conjunction with server software installed on your desktop computer, to stream almost any video or audio format to your Android device. This can be approached in two different ways. The first option is to live stream files stored on your computer – this includes AVI, WMV and MKV files – with the necessary conversion taking place on the fly.

The second option is to use the software to convert the footage in advance before saving the resulting file to your device so that it can be watched regardless of whether you have an internet connection. A similar method can be used to stream music from your computer to your mobile.

When it comes to watching videos, they can be organised into three different categories that can be used to control access to different types of video. If you have to break off from watching a video, Air Playit will remember where you stopped so you can easily pick up from where you left off. To help save power, when you have finished watching a streaming video, you can use the app to remotely shut down your computer.

Air Playit is incredibly simple to set up, despite the complex work that is going on in the background. There are various other apps that do a very similar job to this one, by Air Playit is a nicely polished app that benefits from being completely free of charge.

Note: this is a beta version and is currently unavailable through the Android market: the link above is a direct download from the AirPlay it website.