After the success of the Chromecast, upon popular request Google has announced ““Google Cast for audio,” which will work similarly to Chromecast but with audio devices like speakers, sound bars and receivers.

The excitement sparked by the announcement simmered down when users asked if Spotify will support Google Cast. The answer was disappointing to fans, as the service reportedly said that they will not be supporting Google Cast anytime soon.

The music streaming company said that they will instead focus on their own “Spotify Connect” service. Spotify has invested in their own service which already beholds a large collection of supported devices.

Spotify has since back-pedalled on their original statement and say that while they won’t support Google Cast, plans on support for Chromecast isn’t off the table either.

The last statement by Spotify is as below:
“Our recent statement around Google Cast for audio should not be confused with our position on the Chromecast device. Our goal has always been to bring listeners the right music for every moment, making it easily accessible whenever and wherever they might be.

This means that in order to keep improving Spotify, we’re continuously exploring new and better ways of listening, which may include Chromecast as well as other platforms and devices.”

If you happen to be an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch user and you have been wanting to be able to use the AllCast casting app on your mobile Apple device, your wait is finally over. The AllCast local media streaming service is now available on iOS and all mobile Apple operating system users can now beam pictures, music and video content from any of their Apple mobile devices straight to any television screen.

The AllCast service, which is now compatible with Google Chromecast, is capable of streaming to Roku devices, Google TV, Apple TV, both the Xbox 360 and the Xbox One video game consoles, as well as Panasonic, LG, Samsung and Smart TV hardware.

Koushik Dutta is the original developer of AllCast, a service that was previously called Aircast in the past. Dutta created the AllCast service in order to make the process of sharing local files that are stored on a handset a much simpler and easier one. Apple iOS mobile device users can now perform a slideshow of their pictures in high-definition right from any HD television screen. No longer will a group of people have to crowd around a small-screened iOS gadget to try and view the pictures and videos that are saved on it.

The AllCast streaming service was first introduced by Dutta in Autumn of 2013. Back then, Google Chromecast initially blocked the service and even when the December 2013 Android version of the AllCast app was finally released, it still did not have access to the Google Chromecast dongle device.

In early 2014, AllCast was supported by Google Chromecast, which meant that its users would be able to tap into their smartphone, tablet, and/or computer content and be capable of sharing that content with any of their friends and family located anywhere in the world.

In May of 2014, an even better updated and redesigned version of the AllCast service was launched by Dutta, and this new and improved version of the service promised improved syncing with other media-streaming gadgets.

Apple iOS users had been waiting for the infamous AllCast service to come to the Apple iOS mobile platform for over a year, and as of this past Tuesday, the wait is finally over.

Apple TV has not been updated in over two years now. Which may be the reason why its competitors has gained some ground.

Parks Associates reports that Chromecast is now more popular than the Apple TV. In the first three quarters of the year, streaming media players are at its popularity peak. Almost ten percent of US households bought at least one streaming device this year.

According to rumours Apple TV does have an update ready for release but is pending the resolution of negotiation problems with content providers.

Google, Amazon and other competitors have taken advantage of the update gap and offer more diverse content at cheaper prices.

Google may be the biggest benefactor in the set-top box purchases becoming the second most popular device in households with a broadband connection this year. Last year it was only a minor player in the industry.

Roku still ranks at the top but market share has dropped to almost half in the last year from 46% to 29% in 2014.

Amazon Fire TV was only announced in April 2014, but is already a serious contender having captured 10% the market.

Google has decided to follow in the footsteps of global intelligence agencies and put the mythical Santa Claus under surveillance. Google’s Santa Tracker allows kids to keep track on their favourite magical persona while learning new technical coding skills.

The program is set in an interactive town, which we would assume is in or near the North Pole. Each day new games and challenges are unlocked, along with child-friendly music and videos.

Google promises to keep it educational by integrating small coding projects which will teach basic javascript. By clicking on the globe kids can learn about different Christmas traditions in the world. As the month progresses, users will also learn how to Santa in different languages.

Old features of the Santa Tracker from last year also return like the option to for your loved ones to receive a call from Santa himself.

The Google Chromecast can also prove useful here by streaming Santa’s journey around the world on your TV on Christmas Eve. The journey tracking can also be viewed through an android app on your phone or tablet.

Last year, Google built the tracker by teaming up with NORAD but this year turned to Microsoft to set the program in motion.

The Google Chromecast has held for a while the status of being the only major competitor to have made a decent impact (therefore the market leader) of the smart TV dongle world, but they could soon have some high-profile and equally-budgeted competition  to worry about, as Amazon are the centre of confirmed recent rumours that they will soon be launching such a device.

The confirmed rumours are that Amazon are to launch their own HDMI-based branded media streaming dongle, to be known as the ‘Fire TV Stick’ to keep in line with their technological range.

The product is set for a 19 November initial release in the USA with plans for an unspecified future roll-out around the world, but most importantly for consumers it is noted that the Amazon product will be strongly competitive with Google’s Chromecast effort on pricing, with a $39 price for the stick but reduced to $19 should you be an Amazon Prime member that pre-orders the device over the next two days.

Set to offer a selection of streaming apps such as Netflix, YouTube, Hulu Plus, and of course their own brands such as Amazon Instant Video and Amazon Music, along with other network catch-up services and third-party content such as games, the Fire TV Stick is promoted hardware-wise by Amazon as carrying 8GB of internal storage space, 4 times greater than Chromecast’s abilities, with 1GB RAM, dual-band Wi-Fi and a dual-core processor.

Control of the product will come via either a dedicated tablet/smartphone app with voice control, or by using the ‘Amazon Fire TV Remote’ already available for Amazon Fire TV set-top boxes (a brand which recently pushed beyond the 600 apps hosted barrier), something which at $29.99 sold separately and by the scaled picture, is bigger and potentially more expensive than the thing it is trying to control. Will such a novelty help it sell, or will the dongle product be good enough in its own right to make a memory stick-sized impact?