Microsoft has unveiled its own HDMI media streaming dongle to take on Google’s Chromecast and Roku’s Streaming stick. Unlike its competition though, Microsoft is calling its streaming stick a very vague Wireless Display Adapter.

Functionality wise, Microsoft’s display adapter works a lot like Chromecast. It will allow you to stream content from your smartphone, tablet, PC to your TV or even projectors provided they have an HDMI slot.

Unlike Chromecast though, Microsoft’s adapter relies on the Miracast protocol, so your smartphone or tablet must have support for it as well. The benefit of this approach is that developers don’t need to bake in support for Miracast in their apps, and the adapter itself does not require an actual Wi-Fi enabled internet connection to work properly.

The Wireless Display Adapter goes on sale next month in Best Buy in the United States for $59.99, which is probably going to be a big deterrent to its success.

• SourceMicrosoft