Mozilla takes aim at Chromecast with $25 dongle

Looking for a streaming stick but unimpressed by Chromecast or Roku? Mozilla may have the answer.

The company is collaborating with a San Jose startup named Matchstick, which was founded by a “group of coders, gadgeteers and enterpeneurs”. They decided they wanted to make a “more open” alternative to Chromecast, which led them to use Firefox OS to develop their own device.

While the HDMI dongle, also named Matchstick, will eventually be available for $25, the companies have initially turned to Kickstarter to get the project moving.

The first 500 people who pledge $12 will get one of the dongles for the reduced price. After that, it will cost a pledge of $18 through the Kickstarter campaign, which lasts for another 29 days. Google’s Chromecast currently retails for $35 in the US.

And, if you’re feeling really flush, a pledge of $10,000 or more will get you four Matchsticks, “a bunch of Matchstick swag”, a trip for you and a guest to CES 2015 in Las Vegas, where you will be put up in the Venetian, $200 daily spending money (which works out at $800 total), dinner with the team and a show on one of the nights.

Specs and availability

Matchstick will be powered by a dual-core processor, with 1GB of RAM and 4GB of storage.

As it’s running on an open OS, developers are also being encouraged to create apps for the device. They can apply to Mozilla right now for a dongle, although it’ll be sent out “ASAP”, rather than immediately.

Mozilla will also be hosing an invitation-only Firefox OS app workshop for Matchstick at its San Francisco office on 18 November. Qualified developers can apply for a free place here.

A CES option will be available at the trade show in January, according to The Next Web.

Those of us who aren’t developers, don’t manage to contribute to the Kickstarter campaign in time, and can’t make it to CES, will have to wait until at least February to get our hands on one.