What is "Universal Plug and Play" (UPnP)?

What is "Universal Plug and Play" (UPnP)?

TJ McClearin (Business Manager, Infinity Wireless, LLC) gives expert video advice on: What is a "digital video streaming device"?; What is "Universal Plug and Play" (UPnP)?; What is a "Digital Video Recorder" (DVR) and "TiVoToGo"? and more...

Universal Plug and Play is a service that allows devices to connect to other devices, whether it be a computer, a media centre pc, or an apple tv, and share the media contents without any configuration. Typically, you plug in a device and you have to insert a software CD, install software and drivers and configure it so they know how to talk to each other. With Universal Plug and Play the device already knows what it's supposed to do once you plug it in.