Miracast - wireless multimedia streaming

Aiming to speed up adoption of wireless multimedia streaming, the Wi-Fi Alliance on Wednesday introduced Miracast. The new specification allows for the transmission of content between two compatible devices, even without the presence of a wireless router/access point.

The Wi-Fi Alliance’s specification joins Intel’s Wireless Display, otherwise known as WiDi, and Apple’s AirPlay as platforms to stream multimedia wirelessly. 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.