Australians will be able to enjoy watching more online content that is normally confined to the small screens of their smartphones, tablets or PCs on their TVs screens after Google today launched Chromecast in Australia.
Chromecast is a thumb-sized dongle that plugs into the HDMI port of a TV to wirelessly deliver or ‘cast’ online audio or video from the smartphone, tablet or laptop directly to the TV. Once casting, you can put the smartphone to sleep, use it as a remote or continue to use it to browse the internet.
It is compatible with Android, iOS, Windows, Mac and ChromeOS devices and is available in Australia from today for RRP $49 from select JB Hi-Fi and Dick Smith stores, or online from the Google Play store.
Affordability and an easy and quick set-up process are key selling points, however not everything you watch on your smartphone can be transported to the TV using Chromecast. So far in Australia, Chromecast currently supports YouTube, Google Play Movies and Google Play Music and it has also partnered with music streaming service Pandora.
Rick Gleave, director of business development for Pandora ANZ said they are continually innovating and investing in new platforms to “seamlessly deliver access to Pandora across a broad range of connected devices.”
“Pandora is playing in living rooms whilst listeners are carrying out a multitude of tasks simultaneously around the home. Our partnership with Google Chromecast now means users have another easy access point to a better listening experience direct from their TV,” he said.
TV and movie streaming service Quickflix said it has been working on a Chromecast compatible app for the past five months and expects its service to be available on Chromecast “within weeks”.
Stephen Langsford QuickFlix founder and CEO said the moment they heard about Google Chromecast they had to be on it. “I’ve had a demonstration of QuickFlix streaming on Chromecast in our labs and it’s a wonderful way to enjoy movies and TV shows on the big screen.
“We see our Google Chromecast initiative as another step by Quickflix to deliver on its commitment to make access to the best the world has to offer in movie and TV streaming simple and easy, providing even more compelling alternatives to traditional television and pay TV,” Langsford said.
While Foxtel has announced its rival movie streaming service Presto will make its way to TV screens via Chromecast in July 2014.
Shaun James, director of Presto and VOD said since the launch of Presto it has received a great response from customers who have taken up subscriptions.
“Today that offer is even more compelling as we announce plans to bring Presto to the big screen in our customers’ living rooms via Google Chromecast.”
Foxtel will also make Presto available on selected Android tablets in July, 2014.
Google says any developer can make content from their app or website available on Chromecast with an open software development kit. “Since launching in the US over 5,000 developers worldwide have signed up to bring their apps and websites to Chromecast and we’re looking forward to seeing the range of great TV shows, movies, music and more from local content creators which will soon be available for Aussie audiences,” said Raunaq Shah, Chromecast Product Manager.