Amazon Fling SDK brings iOS and Android media casting to Fire TV

Now for those who lacked the Google Chromecast but just so happen to own an Amazon Fire TV then this Amazon Fling SDK announcement will bring some good news.

Amazon said the SDK is designed to simplify the process of dealing with underlying network discovery and communication technologies that connect apps to televisions. As long as the Fire TV is on the same Wi-Fi network as the phone or tablet, users can press the Fling button in any supported app to view its audio and video content on the big screen.

The new functionality puts Amazon Fire TV on par with Google’s Chromecast. The company recently released developer tools that will allow app makers to build support into their apps for sharing content direct from a mobile device to the Amazon Fire TV. Already a few applications have hit the market that were built with this SDK, one of which is known as Karaoke Party, an application that displays video, audio and text onto the television screen while consumers can use their smartphone as the microphone. Tap it and the media will star to play on the Fire TV. Digital news broadcaster Rivet Radio is also using it to lets listeners tune-in on the TV. Customers can start the experience from mobile and then later control the playback with both your app and their Amazon Fire TV remote – whichever is most convenient.

Amazon also pointed out how simple it would be for devs already using Google Cast to add Fling compatibility to their apps. Amazon launched the Amazing Fling software toolkit for developers on 10 July, with the goal of making photos, music, or videos running on Android, iOS, or FireOS apps sharable with Amazon’s set-top box.

But the Amazon Fling SDK makes it easier now for mobile developers to implement “flinging” support for their apps as well as take advantage of two-way communication between the media player and smartphone.