Image of alleged Chromecast competitor from Microsoft appears online

An image and information has surfaced online of a Miracast dongle from Microsoft. The dongle, which could be inserted into the TV, is called Surface, just like the tablets of the Redmond company. Google has had an HDMI dongle with the Chromecast for some time.

The dongle would work with Miracast, a standard for streaming content to TVs, writes the German site DrWindows. This makes the device work differently than the Chromecast; Miracast lets users stream videos directly, while the Chromecast picks up the stream from the internet through its own Wi-Fi connection.

Like the Chromecast, the Surface dongle would plug into a TV’s HDMI port, and it would get its power from a USB port. According to the German site, Microsoft wants to offer the HDMI dongle as an accessory with the Surface Pro 3 tablet.

When Microsoft would like to announce the accessory and what the price would be is unknown. Microsoft does not currently have such a product on the market.