Google has opened the development doors to the Chromecast dongle so that any app maker can get their app on your TV. The Google Cast Software Development Kit (SDK) allows app developers to give their users the option to stream their apps or Web sites to the Chromecast, which acts like a receiver that you plug into your TV's HDMI port.

The Cast SDK has been available previously only companies such as HBO, Pandora, and Netflix. Now that it's open to all, developers will be able to register devices and apps for testing and publishing.

"With the Chromecast, we're resetting consumer applications," said Rishi Chandra, Chromecast's director of product management. People, he said, "should expect their phones or tablet applications to just work on the television."