Here’s a new one for PBS: The public broadcasting entity announced its own TV streaming device Wednesday, with a twist. PBS Kids Plug & Play, as the streaming dongle is officially called, is competing with the likes of Chromecast and the Roku Streaming Stick by offering offline access to PBS Kids shows. Also, it’s cuter than any of the competition.
The race car-shaped streaming adapter plugs into a TV’s HDMI port, and the included kid-friendly remote control can be used to immediately start playing more than 100 hours of videos, games and more, even without a Wifi connection — which should make it an ideal travel companion that will work with most hotel room TV sets.
Connected to a Wifi network, the streaming adapter offers access to additional PBS Kids on-demand content, as well as a 24/7 PBS Kids live stream, all without any commercials.
The device is going on sale this week for $49.99 on Walmart.com, and will come to physical Walmart stores later this month. In the coming months, it is also supposed to make its way onto other retailers’ shelves.