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I’ve mentioned before that my main desktop is connected to my living room TV for streaming media. Clearly, I’m a huge geek but that still doesn’t change the fact that I’ve done something rather unconventional. Not many people use the same type of setup in their living room. These days there are game consoles, set-top boxes, and HDMI outputs on smartphones and tablets that serve the same purpose.
Internet based content is nothing new. Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and even Amazon’s streaming service have been around for a while. Many folks don’t have a setup to watch streaming content in their living room unless they have a SmartTV, or internet ready TV. PLAiR aims to change that fact with their new product, a small device designed to connect right to a TVs HDMI port and stream content wirelessly from your computer to TV.
What sets PLAiR apart from rival products is that it’s designed for individuals who are not tech-savvy. To use it, all you have to do is connect it to a TVs HDMI port, connect to a local Wi-Fi access point, and download the Chrome, iOS or Android application to control the device. Then, you just beam videos and content to the PLAiR unit from a connected device, which subsequently plays it back on the TV. The connected device can be your computer, smartphone, or tablet.
Keep in mind the device will not beam the connected device display, but instead only beams videos. This means you cannot use it to connect your computer to a living room TV remotely, but rather only stream videos from your computer to TV. In other words, you won’t stream your computer’s screen — only files.
PLAiR supports HTML5, which means any related content can be beamed. Most major websites use HTML5 including YouTube, Hulu, Netflix and more. In fact, HTML5 is the new standard so there are tons of streaming services that will work with PLAiR.
Currently, the company has limited stock available so the PLAiR is on backorder. They do expect to have more units in stock soon, though. PLAiR is priced at a reasonable $99, and for anyone that’s not an adept with tech it certainly seems like it’s worth it.
I’ve included a video from the PLAiR developers below that shows it in action.
