CNET

Apple's AirPlay, which wirelessly streams movies and music between devices, has a new competitor.

The Wi-Fi Alliance today announced the launch of Miracast, an industry-standard technology that will let users wirelessly transmit video and images from one device to another. As with Apple's AirPlay, users will be able to send the multimedia from, say, a mobile device to a big-screen television.

According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, a not-for-profit industry association of hundreds of companies, all Miracast products come with Wi-Fi Direct, meaning users won't need a wireless network to transfer the data. In addition, the technology automatically comes with WPA2 encryption to ensure the multimedia transfer is kept private.

In order for the technology to succeed, however, it needs some support. According to Wi-Fi Alliance, it's getting that support from both LG and Samsung. LG's Optimus G smartphone and the Samsung Galaxy S3 will both support the technology. Samsung's Echo-P Series TV will also use Miracast.

However, they won't be alone. The Wi-Fi Alliance expects to have 1.5 billion devices using Miracast in 2016. The organization hasn't yet said which companies will be doubling down on the technology, but given the sheer number of firms that support the Wi-Fi Alliance -- and want to take on Apple -- it might not be hard to recruit supporters.