Chromecast
 

http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/chromecast

If Apple TV didn't exist I'd have one of these. Thy don't show the power cord which is a bit naughty.

Like always it's a fraction the cost of an apple product

Why? Do Apple show the power cord for their Apple TV box on their website?

I don't know, but the Apple TV doesn't look like a USB key in promo photos then a meccano kit when you get it home.

Also, this hardly compares to an Apple TV. The Apple TV is a stand alone product, this just displays what's on other devices on your TV. Don't get me wrong it's great and I may even buy one if the 3 months free Netflix deal counts in the UK.

The Amazon buyer comments seem to indicate that it will pull power from a HDMI 1.4 socket.

Also, if it's micro-USB powered as it seems to be from the picture,even if you don't have 1.4 but you do have unused USB sockets on your TV you may well be able to power it that way with a short micro-USB cable.

Not quite I believe - the chromecast starts streaming whatever it is directly; the device in your hand simply controls it, so you can use it to do other things.

Good info, I really hope it does get power from the TV.

I don't think you're right on the streaming though, needs another device to do anything, they're listed on the web site with more coming later.

The Register article on the subject is here:

http://goo.gl/mcFU9V

While it definitely needs another device to start doing something, I don't believe it needs that device to keep doing something - basically content isn't taking the path internet->phone->chromecast, instead it's taking the path internet->chromecast, with the phone being the device that told it to start streaming.

Could be wrong though, I imagine there will be plenty of real-world info coming out on it over the next few days.

There's a thread on reddit here from someone who has one:

http://goo.gl/MzxQ4c

Looks like some content is directly streamed and some can be mirrored from a Chrome tab.

What I didn't know is that Chrome has a file explorer, so you can open a tab in chrome, go to a local file system (or mapped network drive), open content and stream that to the chromecast.

Just had a read and it seems you can trigger a Youtube stream that will keep playing after the fact, but I still don't see how it can do anything independently.

I think we're saying the same thing; I don't believe it does anything without another device (phone, tab, laptop, etc) telling it to. I'm just saying the data flow in some cases goes directly to the dongle, not via the controlling device.

We're saying the same thing.

The "other device" (in simple terms) hands a resource URL to the Chromecast stick. Decoding is done on the ChromeOS based stick itself, which reduces the communication between the "other device" and the stick to control commands. Hence you can use your "other device" for anything you want while the stick plays something but on the other hand -as already mentioned from you guys- the stick won't do much without the "other/control device".
Implications are, that the resource you want to display has to be on some kind of network. It's aimed at web-content (e.g. images you have on Google+ or Youtube videos) but with a local webserver, it should also be possible to stream in an intranet setup. So no direct playback of mobile phone content (apps, music, videos, images etc.) on the TV as it is possible with Miracast or AirPlay
The stick is also powered via micro USB but I have no information on the power consumption, so it could be a bit of a gamble powering it via an USB port of the TV. Rasberry Pis usually don't like being powered from a PC when a wireless dongle is connected, so this could apply here, too.
Hope this helps.