Streaming media around your home isn't a new idea, but the rise of internet-based on-demand services like Netflix and iPlayer means that it's becoming more and more popular as a way to watch TV.
Chromecast, then, is an inexpensive media streaming adapter that turns any HDMI-equipped television into an app-driven smart TV when paired with a phone, tablet or computer.
The total package is Google's answer to the likes of Apple TV, Roku 3 - devices designed to take your digital content and get it up on your big screen without fuss or fiddle.
It's a very simple setup that Google's offering: the Chromecast is a small HDMI dongle that plugs directly into your TV, and connects to your Wi-Fi network.
You choose what to watch on another device, and then Chromecast streams that content from the internet directly and displays it on your TV. Curiously, it has no real interface of its own, it just sits and waits for your other devices to tell it what to stream.
On its launch in the middle of last year in the US, the Chromecast wowed with its cheap price, and it's similarly bargainous in the UK: just £30 - less than a third of the Apple TV's RRP. That's awesome.
But it comes with an important caveat: while the Chromecast unit itself works well right now, the services that it needs to support it are very much a work in progress, even months after its US launch.
In the US, the Chromecast app list is now up to 23 including Netflix, YouTube, Hulu Plus, Pandora and HBO Go - most of the big hitters.
However, in the UK, we're looking at a much more limited range. BBC iPlayer already has support for Chromecast in both its iOS and Android apps, as does Netflix.
Google's YouTube app also supports it, on both iOS and Android. But as far as the other big UK streaming services go… you're currently out of luck.
There's no Now TV from Sky, no 40D, no ITV Player, no BT Sport, no Demand 5, no Blinkbox. Even Amazon's Instant Video Service isn't supporting it yet.
Music is really restricted for UK users, with even the lone Pandora app support no good for us, due to licensing restrictions. The key addition here would be Spotify, but there's a wide range of services that could become available.
We're sure that this will change (Google can be very persuasive…), but there are major limitations on built-in support at the moment.
Google's Chrome browser on Mac or PC lets you mirror a browser tab to your TV, meaning that you can theoretically send any of these services to your TV that way, but there are issues with this.
Chromecast is so small it could easily be mistaken for an oversized USB thumb drive with a little more heft to it.
That contrasts with Apple TV or Roku, which sit as separate boxes, and often have extra outputs, such as for audio. Nice if you want them, but not necessary for most people. Chromecast just is one big HDMI plug, with the exception of its power cable.
It's a simple black unit, likely to blend into the colour of most TVs (though if it ends up sticking out of the side noticeable, it'll be somewhat more intrusive).
If your TV is wall-mounted, Chromecast could be really awkward to implement depending on your TV's HDMI port positions. It might also not fit into the space for HDMI ports in some setups, so Google has included a short HDMI extender cable.
Chromecast finally gives Android owners an official media-relay option that broadcasts content from their smartphones and tablets to a TV in similar way to Apple's AirPlay technology. That it works across Android, iOS, PC and Mac is even better.
Chromecast also doesn't require an entire Apple TV device to sit in your entertainment console or force you to wire up with a lengthy power, HDMI and optional Ethernet cable.
Its plug-and-play nature means that it can be transported much more easily and fit into a backpack to carry to a school presentation or business meeting (we used Apple's iCloud version of Keynote to show a presentation from a Chrome tab), hotel room, or friend's TV. That flexibility may be worth its inexpensive price alone.
There is one potential of inflexibility, though. The total lack of built-in apps or direct method of control (such as a dedicated remote) means that if your device runs out of battery or is in another room, you can't play anything.
We had a few little niggles with apps as well, such as Netflix not running automatically from one show to another, and a photo-casting app that forgot the Chromecast after each use and had to hard quit and restarted.
Most of these are probably up to developers to fix, though, and as things mature, we expect they'll improve.
Chromecast is brilliantly easy to set up, gave us little hassle after the first few minutes, and then worked really well.
You quickly become accustomed to the idea of just reaching for your phone and beaming something over to it - just like the future should be.
The streaming quality is generally very good, and it's quite reliable, especially for a product that's still fairly early in its life. It's also impressive that it works so well on all platforms.
At £30, we definitely like the price. It's well into impulse-buy territory, and we do think it's worth picking one up just for its potential, even if you already have a way to stream the services it currently works with.