Update: Video upload site Vimeo has added Chromecast support via its iOS app. Original Chromecast review written in August 2013.

Streaming media around your home isn't a new idea, but the rise of internet-based on-demand services like Netflix, Sling TV and Amazon Prime Instant Video means that it's becoming more and more popular as a way to watch TV.

Chromecast 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 products like Apple TV, Roku 3 and the Amazon Fire TV all of which are designed to take your digital content and get it up on your big screen without fuss or fiddle.

Google's offering streaming in its simplest form: the Chromecast is a small HDMI dongle that plugs directly into your TV and connects to your Wi-Fi network.

From there, you choose what to watch on another device and then Chromecast streams that content directly and displays it on your TV. But that means unlike the competition, 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 can now be had for as little as $32. It's similarly bargainous in the UK: just 30 - less than a third of the Apple TV's RRP. That's awesome.

Chromecast is easy to set up and easy to use

On launch, the services that tied in with Chromecast were limited and very much a work in progress. But 15 months on, the list of compatible apps is impressive.

Most of the big hitting services are now compatible, with Netflix, YouTube, Hulu Plus, Pandora, HBO Go, Starz and Showtime Anytime etc... all ready and waiting in the US, and BT Sport, BBC iPlayer and more in the UK. You can find a complete list of Chromecast-compatible apps on the Google Chrome Store.

Go here to see the original:

Review: Updated: Chromecast