Microsoft has announced a new peripheral today: the Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter. Boring name aside, the device is a lot like a Chromecast and easily allows you to turn nearly any display into a second screen.

To no surprise, the device will utilize Miracast to stream the content from your device to the dongle which will make it quite easy to share your content with the second screen. Some Windows Phones and proper tablets, like the Surface Pro 3, already support the protocol but its best to make sure your device does too before buying a Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter.

The device will cost around $60 when it becomes available in October and we can see how corporations will likely move towards these devices. If an enterprise has a fleet of Miracast-enabled devices, these dongles are much cheaper than a projector since most conference rooms these days have LCDs up on the wall. Or, even if they have projectors, these devices can be used to easily connect wirelessly to them and reduce the hassle of using cords.

You can check out the video in this post to get a better idea how the Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter works but if you are familiar with a Chromecast, the idea is very similar - although Google's iteration does cost about half the price of Microsoft's device.

And speaking of Google, Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc points out that the new Wireless Display Adapter "also works with Android devices too."

Source: Microsoft