Netgear announces NeoMediacast to compete with Chromecast

In a move apparently inspired by the Google Chromecast, Netgear has announced the launch of its NeoMediacast HDMI dongle, a USB drive-sized device made to plug into your TV’s HDMI port and stream content. The NeoMediacast runs on Android 4.2, has 802.11ac connectivity, and is Miracast-enabled, allowing the user to stream movies and TV shows from their smartphone in much the same way as the Google competition (at 1080p naturally). Netgear hopes that providers develop “curated content stores” where users can download apps to access free and premium content. It’s unclear, however, if Google Play will be integrated.

Perhaps most notably, the NeoMediacast has Netgear striking out on its own in direct opposition to Google. Only last year, its NeoTV Prime worked with Google TV, a move Netgear may be smarting from. While the company’s previous forays into the set-top box space have been less than auspicious, it’s clear that the company is not done with trying to make current TVs smarter.