Abitcool Developing Chromecast-Like Open Source Firefox OS Streaming Stick
Low cost and convenient streaming solutions are become pretty plentiful these days. One of our favorites in this category is Google's Chromecast dongle, which we liked at the outset (see our review) and has continued to improve with feature updates ever since. Perhaps inspired by what Google has done, Mozilla is said to be working on a streaming device of its own, only it will be powered by its own Firefox OS.
Mozilla is mostly hush-hush on the project, though there is a prototype making the rounds to a select (and small) group of developers. Janko Roettgers over at Gigaom claims to gotten his hands on a prototype and notes that there are still a bunch of unanswered questions that need to be addressed before this device will be ready for prime time. Pricing is one of them, and Mozilla -- along with the unnamed partner it's working with on this project -- still have to give the device a name.
Those details aside, Roettgers says Mozilla's streaming stick will be less restrictive than Google's. Developers will be free to add casting abilities to Windows Phone or Fire Phone apps, as well as add to desktop apps. They will even be allowed to build their own cast-enabled hardware without much interference from Mozilla.
A Mozilla spokesperson got in contact with HotHardware and offer the following clarification/information:
Mozilla is mostly hush-hush on the project, though there is a prototype making the rounds to a select (and small) group of developers. Janko Roettgers over at Gigaom claims to gotten his hands on a prototype and notes that there are still a bunch of unanswered questions that need to be addressed before this device will be ready for prime time. Pricing is one of them, and Mozilla -- along with the unnamed partner it's working with on this project -- still have to give the device a name.
Those details aside, Roettgers says Mozilla's streaming stick will be less restrictive than Google's. Developers will be free to add casting abilities to Windows Phone or Fire Phone apps, as well as add to desktop apps. They will even be allowed to build their own cast-enabled hardware without much interference from Mozilla.
Like Chromecast, Mozilla's dongle can beam things from a mobile device and (eventually) from a Firefox browser. What's also neat is that it works with some existing Chromecast apps -- you can see a demo of that functionality in the the embedded video above.
It's not clear when this device will be announced and/or brought to market, but given that a prototype exists, we're hoping to see a shipping product by the end of the year.
It's not clear when this device will be announced and/or brought to market, but given that a prototype exists, we're hoping to see a shipping product by the end of the year.
Update
A Mozilla spokesperson got in contact with HotHardware and offer the following clarification/information:
- The device is an HDMI-streaming stick that allows the user to fling content from compatible mobile or Web apps to an HDTV.
- The device is manufactured by Abitcool and will be available later this year with global distribution.
- The name of the product has not been released and will be made public in the upcoming months.
- Mozilla has been providing engineering support to Abitcool to help them deploy Firefox OS for this new category of device.
- The device will be available later this year and will ship globally.
- Market details will be available from Abitcool closer to launch.
- The device is powered by Firefox OS with a user interface designed by Abitcool.
- No pricing is available at this time.
