Is the Firefox-based Chromecast Competitor to Be Called Matchstick?

Google has made quite a splash with its Chromecast dongle, which performs many of the tasks that set-top boxes do, but Chromecast may be headed for some competition. Android Police has reported that Firefox for Android has gained support in nightly builds for Chromecast, and GigaOM reports that Mozilla is continuing to work on a Chromecast competitor possibly called Matchstick.

The details were unclear back in late June, but it looked like Mozilla may have been playing some role in delivering a competitor to Google's popular Chromecast dongle, with Mozilla's based on the Firefox OS platform. The rumors abated shortly after they arose, but some people missed the fact that Mozilla confirmed the news in a recent blog post, noting the following: "Mozilla is working with Panasonic to develop next generation SmartTVs running Firefox OS, and Abitcool will launch an HDMI streaming device later this year that allows the user to fling content from compatible mobile or Web apps to an HDTV."

Now, GigaOM reports:

"Meanwhile, there seems to be some development around the Firefox-OS powered Chromecast competitor that we first wrote about in June. The streaming stick, which is being manufactured by a new hardware startup called Abitcool with help from Mozilla, doesn’t actually have an official name yet. But on Monday, the Abitcool.com website began to mention something called “Matchstick,” which may well be the branding for the streaming stick."

It will be interesting to see Mozilla--already used to competing with Google in the browser market--competing with Google's Chromecast. If you haven't used these devices, they actually are quite useful, and the more you use your phone for interacting with content and information, the more useful they are.

As for Firefox for Android gaining support for Chromecast, it looks like users will be able to cast svideos straight from their browsers to Chromecast streaming sticks.

We're likely to hear more from Mozilla about the new dongle shortly. Here's the photo that has been heavily tweeted: