Edge Browser to allow Chromecast style beaming videos and images on your Smart TV
Microsoft’s Edge browser has been a no show upto now. Many Internet users and developers may have been turned off with the Microsoft announcement that its Edge browser wont support extensions till next year. In fact, according to the stats, Edge has failed to take off in the manner Microsoft expected it to. Now there is some good news for Edge users. Yes, with the latest Edge browser available with Windows 10 technical preview version, you can cast your videos and photos to a Smart TV like Chromecast or Roku.
The feature is already available to testers as part of the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview build, the ‘Cast media to device‘ feature lets you send YouTube videos, Facebook photo albums and music from Pandora to any device on your network that supports Miracast or DLNA. The procedure is also simple, you have to right click on the media you want to cast and select the cast option if you have a DLNA or Miracast supporting Smart TV.
The feature offers similar functionality to Google’s Cast extension for Chrome, but doesn’t require additional hardware like a Chromecast, Roku or similar streaming device — so you end up saving a few bucks and an HDMI port on your TV.
Though you can cast any media stored on your computer, however, this version of Edge doesn’t support casting protected content. Therefore content from services like Netflix and Hulu cannot be cast with the new Edge browser. Hopefully Microsoft will address this issue in a future release.
If you want to give the Edge casting a try, sign up for the Windows Insider Program to try it now — but be prepared to install buggy versions of the OS that are still being tested.
