What is Matter Casting? New AirPlay rival explained
What is Matter Casting? The new and inclusive smart home standard Matter includes the ability to cast media and it’ll allow users to cast content to an Amazon Fire TV.
While Google has Chromecast and Apple has AirPlay – standards that now appear within television sets from many third-party manufacturers – there’s still no effective way to cast content from a mobile device to a Fire TV.
However, Amazon is about to plug that shortcoming using Matter to improve the Prime Video application. That will enable content to be beamed to a Fire TV or Echo Show device.
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It’s available in the Prime Video app for iOS and Android today with the Echo Show 15 the first destination device to receive compatibility.
Amazon is among the founders of the open Matter standard, so it’s no surprise to see the company leverage the technology to improve the experience for Fire TV owners.
“Amazon is a long-time supporter of using open technology standards to give customers more choice over the devices and services they use in their homes,” the company said in a blog post from CES.
“That’s also why Amazon is a founding member and key contributor to the Matter Standard. At CES, Amazon announced Matter Casting, which enables customers to cast content to Fire TV and Echo Show 15 devices directly from supported streaming apps on iOS and Android. Customers can begin watching a movie or browse for their next favorite show from Prime Video on their phone, and cast it to their compatible Fire TV device or Echo Show 15. This is an industry-first demonstration of implementing Matter Casting.
Matter’s casting capabilities were first brought to light a couple of years ago as part of a lesser-known portion of the Matter specificiation.
While Amazon’s Prime Video will be the first app to benefit from ability to cast to Amazon’s hardware, it won’t be the last. The company says services like Plex, Pluto TV, Sling TV, Starz, and ZDF will introduce support later this year.
Because Matter Casting is open, there’s no need for any specific hardware, only for the source and destination device to support the protocol. This means there could be a little more interoperability across the spectrum if Matter Casting gathers pace.