Google aims to create an integrated experience that makes use of the Chromecast dongle and the Google Chrome tabs, so you can enjoy streaming at its best.
Current features oblige you to enable the Google Cast Chrome extension on your Google Chrome browser in order to send videos, webpages or music to your Chromecast-equipped TV set.
François Beaufort points out in a Google+ post that the feature was developed in such a way that it could be embedded directly into the browser. What this means is that you will simply click on a "Cast" option on your computer or notebook display, and the content will seamlessly migrate to a nearby Chromecast-featured TV. With two clicks, you will be able to enjoy endless hours of Internet entertainment right on your living room's big screen TV.
Beaufort, who has been working at Google since 2013, calls himself a "happiness evangelist." Before getting recruited by the Mountain View-based company, Beaufort was one prominent supporter of Chrome's new direction, and as such, he was responsible for a number of leaks concerning Google Now and Chromebook Pixel, among others.
Beaufort explains that the team behind Chromium offers the feature in Beta Channel, which means that only beta users have access to the early functionality. They can use the new Media Router to cast tabs from Google Chrome without needing the Google Cast extension.
It is fairly simple to do it, too. If you are a beta user, simply open your Google Chrome and type
"chrome://flags/#media-router" in the address bar, without the inverted commas.
Once there, read the warning from Google, and then search for "Media Router." Enabling its flag will ensure that the Google Cast extension is inactive. Now, you should be able to see a "Cast ..." menu option when you right click on a page in Google Chrome.
If you want your Google Cast extension back, you can do so by switching off the flag.
There is no certainty whether or not the feature will go live in the consumer version of the browser.
Seeing how easy it is to start streaming from a computer to a Chromecast TV, we sure hope it does. It would certainly give Chromecast an edge over its competition, which is quite fierce.
