Netgear NeoMediacast: a competitor of Chromecast

After Google and its key Chromecast, Netgear response during CES its own dongle NeoMediacast. The manufacturer is also not the only one who jumped on this niche: Belkin offers its Miracast Video Adapter, or Asus and Miracast Dongle Video. Common to all of these devices. The integration of Miracast protocol.

Remember that Miracast is a protocol developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance that allows wireless sharing of audio / video signals from a mobile device to a TV receiver. The idea is simple: plug in the HDMI dongle on your TV and Stream all your content from mobile devices, regardless of the OS which they are fitted.

However, Netgear goes further than Google with its key Chromecast. First, the Web giant is dragging its feet to get its SDK (which should not be long anyway). Result: barely fifteen applications are referenced, including Pandora, Google Play TV, Plex, YouTube, Netflix, Vevo and others. The idea is to implement directly Netgear Android in the key, while Chromecast runs on a modified version of Chrome OS.

NeoMediacast key should allow "access to the latest Android apps on your TV," according to the manufacturer. However, oddly, no reference to Google Play is made. Netgear does not specify how to make the control of one device to another, so it remains to be seen how NeoMediacast work in practice.

It will be possible to play content purchased on legal platforms, even those protected by DRM. In terms of technical specifications, here is what is there:

•       Android 4.2

•      1080p support (video decoding H.264/MPEG4)

•      HDMI 1.4 and HDCP 2.1

•      certified Miracast

•      802.11ac WiFi

•      + MicroUSB slot microSD

•      Bluetooth 4.0 

Regarding the availability, Seagate says that this dongle will not be sold directly to consumers but through partners. No price has been announced.