Google Chromecast

Google has announced a brand new streaming accessory — the Chromecast — that makes it easy to bring web content to the TV.

At first blush, the Chromecast looks like the spiritual successor to the ill-fated Nexus Q. The Chromecast is an HDMI dongle that communicates with video and audio apps — including YouTube, Netflix and Pandora — running on Android or iOS, and transfers that content to your big screen HDTV.

Users can then control content on the big screen using apps on their phones or tablets. Users can also "cast" content from the Chrome browser to the Chromecast. There's also beta support for bringing any Chrome tab to the Chromecast.

Right now, the Chromecast will support:

• YouTube
• Netflix
• Google Play
• Google Music
• Chrome for Windows, Mac and Chroembook Pixel

The implementation seems extremely similar to what Apple offers with AirPlay and the Apple TV. Like Chromecast, AirPlay apps let users stream content — often at a higher resolution — directly to the Apple TV, while still maintaining the ability to do other things on the phone or tablet and also offering control for the playback via a Mac, iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. OS X Mountain Lion offers AirPlay mirroring and the upcoming version of OS X Mavericks users AirPlay to create a second or third monitor for users.

The biggest difference with Chromecast is that it is cross-platform. Google is also launching a new Google Cast SDK to make it easy for iOS, Android and Chrome devs to add Chrome Cast support to their existing apps.

"Our goal is to partner to create an ecosystem of apps as well as devices," Google said. "While the Chromecast device is the first instantiation of Google Cast, we expect the technology to be embedded in a range of devices from our partners."

Chromecast will sell for $35 at Amazon, Best Buy and the Google Play store and will include three free months of Netflix for a limited time.

Source: Mashable.com