Today there are multiple solutions to carry out this streaming of an audio stream or audio-video to another device connected to the same local network. Just to name a few, we mention Google Cast (Chromecast), Apple AirPlay, DLNA, Miracast. There are proprietary options and more open approaches.
Starting from the Matter protocol, a unified standard that finally brings together devices from different manufacturers for the smart home and the Internet of Things (IoT), Amazon has decided to bring an open solution for multimedia streaming to its smart devices: Matter Casting.
Matter Casting: what it is, how it works and what it is used for
At the 2024 edition of CES in Las Vegas, Amazon revealed that Matter Casting it becomes immediately available for those who use the Prime Video app and, above all, have an Echo Show 15 display. This is only the beginning because support for Matter Casting will evidently be extended to all devices with the Amazon logo.
Not only. Manufacturers and third parties who want to configure their devices as Matter Casting “receivers” can do so because the protocol is the result of Matter’s open approach. In short, Matter Casting is not tied to a specific operating system or a single platform: it can rather be freely embraced and used.
For its part, Amazon has confirmed that support will soon be extended to Fire TV and to all smart TVs that support this technology, starting with the models Panasonic. Furthermore, alongside Prime Video, Matter Casting can be used to stream multimedia streams from various platforms, Plex included.
The operation of Matter Casting, in practice, follows that of Google Cast and Apple AirPlay: just touch the appropriate icon shown in the app Prime Video then let the search for devices on the network procedure complete.
It’s unlikely that Google and Apple will be on board
Although Google and Apple are among the many supporters of the Matter protocol, the two companies are unlikely to adopt Matter Casting. Both use the respective solutions, already repeatedly mentioned previously. The use of Matter Casting alongside Cast and AirPlay would be an extremely welcome “change of direction” by users but also an epochal turning point for the companies led, respectively, by Sundar Pichai and Tim Cook. Too important a change, a real revolution which – at least at present – still seems far away.
Instead, for its part, Amazon rides the Matter wave and states, through the words of Chris DeCenzo, one of the company’s main engineers: “we believe in open standards. They make things easier for developers“.
In any case, the Prime Video app and the smart display Echo Show 15 they therefore represent only the beginning of the journey. The desire to bring some order to the solutions for the is appreciable streaming multimediale veering towards a pattern open.
The opening image is from Amazon and is taken from the post on the news presented at CES 2024.