Previously you could only view things on your HDTV from other devices like your computer if it had WiFi and was DLNA compatible. This also meant you had to have a DLNA compatible server, NAS or device to stream from and you'd still have to use the HDTV's remote control and interface to navigate all the media you'd like shown on your big screen. Now, Google have released Chromecast, a rooted Android-based HDMI dongle that plugs into your HDTV and lets you stream media from practically any device that can connect to the Internet.
How does it Work?
Basically, if your tablet, smartphone, notebook computer, desktop or any other device can play Netflix, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV and Google Play Music, then it can stream to your HDTV the moment you plug-in the Chromecast dongle. After it has been set up, you can then use your tablet, smartphone, notebook computer or desktop as a remote. However, you can also leave it and do other stuff as most of the processing load is done by the Chromecast servers and not your device. The Chromecast dongle can be used with any HDTV with a HDMI port and works with Android, iOS and Windows with plans to offer more support soon. Oh, and the Chromecast dongle only costs $35 (RM112).
While Chromecast has been officially introduced, it is still not available globally and is actually launching in beta so there may still be a few quirks here and there. Technically, there should be no reason why Chromecast wouldn't work here in Malaysia, but the only problem would be availability. This isn't such a big obstacle though as this can easily be solved by those travelling abroad or having US mailboxes. Chromecast runs off of the Google Cast SDK which can be downloaded by developers at the Google Developers blog. We expect not so well known brands to pick this up as soon as possible to embed Chromecast capability for their devices as soon as possible. For now, check out the video of Chromecast in action below:
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