Orange planning to launch its own HDMI dongle

Orange plans to launch an internet-connected HDMI dongle in France, following trials of the product in the Romanian market, according to French press reports.

According to financial daily Les Echos, Orange will launch product in France in April. However, unlike the Chromecast HDMI stick, which enables users to mirror content on other devices such as tablets and smartphones, the Orange product will primarily function as a mini set-top box, enabling users to receive the OCS suite of channels and Orange’s video-on-demand offering, as well as about 50 free-to-air channels and Orange’s YouTube rival Dailymotion.

According to Les Echos, Orange would also like to include pay TV services from Canal+ and BeIN Sports on the device ultimately.

According to the paper, Orange will use the device to push its TV content to subscribers of its Sosh low-cost mobile and Open quad-play offerings, whose subscribers are looking primarily for mobile-centric products. Les Echos says that Orange aims to sign up a few tens of thousands of subscribers in the course of the first year.

Sosh could market the dongle under the Orangecast brand, according to ZDnet.