$35 Google Chromecast device beams music and movies to your TV from your smartphone, tablet or laptop

by Shy Mukerjee

Chromecast is a little device you plug into your TV that allows you to seamlessly connect video and audio from your smartphone, tablet or even laptop to your television and home stereo system. And you can buy one for just $35, a price affordable enough to connect up every TV in your home. You can order it today at Amazon, Best Buy, and play.google.com. It will also come with 3 months free of Netflix.

So, for example, if you want to queue up a YouTube video on your phone, but watch it on your TV, you can press two buttons to select the Chromecast option straight from your YouTube app and then choose which device in your house you want to cast it to.

The best part is that you can continue to do anything you want on your phone on your phone, so you browse other apps without disrupting your watching on the TV. Videos continue to play even if your phone is asleep.

This works for iOS and Android devices. And on mobile, its not just available for the YouTube app, but Netflix, Google Play Music, Movies and TV as well. And it’s coming soon to Pandora as well.

But it’s not just for tablets and smartphones. It works with Laptops running the Chrome browser as well.

While the experience with YouTube is seamless when using your browser, ther content on the web as well, in Beta. You can beam any Chrome tab from your laptop to the TV, and its designed in a way so that you can continue using your laptop and other tabs without disrupting what’s playing on your TV.

The best part? It works with most Windows, Mac and Chromebook laptops.

If you’re already a Netflix subscriber, or were planning to subscribe anyway, the device is practically free. Check out the legalese from the Play Store:

Once your Chromecast ships, you will recieve an email with a promotional code for 3 months of Netflix. Offer valid for previous, new and existing Netflix members, one per Netflix account. Offer expires 12/31/13. For full promotion details, visit google.com/chromecast/offer.

With Netflix streaming costing 7.99 a month, you’re getting $24 of Netflix free with the device, bringing your actual cost down to about $11. Now that’s a deal!