Google is reportedly developing an open-source alternative to Apple’s AirPlay

Google is said to be hard at work putting together a viable open-source alternative to Apple’s AirPlay. 

Google eventually plans to roll-out the service on a cross-platform basis with multiple hardware partners, according to reports. 

The search giant introduced the first phase of this new technology on YouTube last week, enabling users to Beam content from their Android smartphones to Google TV-connected HDTVs. But this is just the first step along the road to a bespoke open-source wireless streaming client. 

Google product manager Timbo Drayson told Gigom that Google plans on moving the ‘whole industry forward.’ No doubt Google will be making use of some of the technology it used in creating its ill-fated Nexus Q, which was shelved before it went on sale. 

One of the big USPs of Apple’s AirPlay and Apple TV is its auto-detect function – if you’re logged in to the same network as the Apple TV hub you can share content with it. There’s no signing in to Apple’s services. No passwords. You just connect and share. Simple. 

Importantly, Google’s Nexus Q had this technology also so expect the company to put it to good use inside its upcoming new wireless streaming technology, providing it actually releases hardware. The service could be a purely software-based solution. 

Google’s ‘protocol makes it possible for data to flow in both directions,’ said Drayson.

He added:‘which would enable developers to build second-screen experiences that correspond to what’s happening on live TV as well. Also on the roadmap: beaming content from your laptop to your TV screen.’

Call me pedantic, but that sounds a hell of a lot like what Microsoft’s newly launched cross-platform SmartGlass technology already does? Perhaps it is Microsoft that Google is going after here, and not Apple? 

Sure, AirPlay is more well known that SmartGlass at present but that could all change in the coming months as Microsoft’s Windows 8/Phone 8/RT campaign shifts up a gear. Then there's the fact that SmartGlass is available on iOS and Android – yet another boon for Microsoft's service. 

AirPlay is an excellent service but it is very limited in its remit. I’ve been using it for the past year and can say unequivocally that Apple's platform, while perfectly functional and easy-to-use, is just too locked down to be useful to 99.9 per cent of people as it's geared solely towards Apple users and no one else.

It does work with Android in some instances – but it's no way near as good. 

Microsoft and Google's solutions are a lot more open and, therefore, useful to the vast majority of consumers – myself included. 

Want to know more about AirPlay and SmartGlass? Check out my Mobile Talk piece on why I’m dumping AirPlay in favour of SmartGlass.