Mozilla is working on a small stick that you can plug into a TV to stream internet videos or other content while using the Firefox web browser on your phone or other device as a remote. Sound familiar? That’s because this is basically Mozilla’s answer to Google’s Chromecast.

But it could actually be much more than that.

mozilla netcast

Mozilla Evangelist Christan Heilmann posted a photo of the “open TV casting prototype device” on Twitter recently, saying that it’s running Firefox OS and features an open bootloader. Meanwhile GigaOm’s digital media specialist Janko Roettgers says he’s been following the project for a while, and has a video of an early prototype.

Mozilla already includes support for streaming videos from an Android phone running the Firefox web browser to a Roku set-top-box. So unlike Google’s Chromecast software, Mozilla isn’t limiting its media streaming to a single device.

The Firefox OS stick also supports some apps that are designed to work with Chromecast. Roettgers shows the YouTube app sending video to a TV using the Mozilla device. He says it also works with Google Play Music, but many other Chromecast-capable apps don’t yet work.

It’s not clear when Mozilla’s streaming stick will be available, what name or band it will have by the time it hits the streets, or how much it will cost. But for the right price, it could be an interesting alternative to the Chromecast… especially for folks interested in a more open platform.

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5 replies on “This is Mozilla’s answer to the Chromecast media streaming stick”

  1. And hopefully will the “Mozcast” be more open than Chromecast!
    Hopefully will the “Mozcast” also be cheaper than Chromecast.

  2. Mozilla could do something really amazing with this product. Firefox OS runs well on very basic hardware. Instead of just using it to mirror your tablet/smartphone, they could allow a more full OS experience. Add support for wireless keyboards & mice, allow access to the app marketplace, have a SD card slot, and you have an easy smart TV upgrade. Price it right, and make it a better experience than the android sticks from overseas (offer OS updates and bug fixes). I’d buy one.

    1. Sounds like the old “Stone Soup” parable. Just get a Roku and be all done.

  3. Sounds familiar, and just as dumb.

    While these may seem cute and clever to enthusiasts they mean nothing to the market at large except another “gotcha” product like the pocket garden hose or “RabbitTV” where your money goes down a rathole and you have to go back and pay for a real streaming media box after tossing this come-on device.
    Yawn.

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