Wi-Fi Alliance Announces Miracast Spec for Wireless Media Streaming

By Karla Robinson
September 21, 2012

The Wi-Fi Alliance has introduced a new specification for wireless multimedia streaming called Miracast that allows devices to transmit content without a wireless router.
Miracast uses the Alliance’s Wi-Fi Direct standard for enabling peer-to-peer ad-hoc wireless connections. This allows devices to communicate directly without access to Wi-Fi or much, if any configuration.
“Speed-wise, Miracast is based on 802.11, so connections will be limited to the slowest device in the network,” ExtremeTech reports. “Good news for content owners too: Miracast has built in content protection, using wireless versions of the same security measures used in HDMI and DisplayPort.”
Intel and Apple already have their own technology — Wireless Display (WiDi) and Airplay — for wireless multimedia streaming.
“Miracast may have the advantage here where others have failed: it is not a proprietary solution unlike AirPlay, and that it seems to be targeted towards portable devices as it is far more power efficient — one of WiDi’s biggest downfalls,” the article suggests.
Intel has already updated its WiDi pages to include support for Miracast, which “likely indicates that the industry is ready to settle on a single specification,” notes the article.
Many consumer products are already compatible with the standard. By 2016, an estimated 1.5+ billion devices will be Miracast-enabled, according to an iSuppli analyst.

No Comments Yet