Wireless sharing your smartphone’s display and audio is something a lot of people would like to be able to do, and we are now one step closer to seeing that materialize as the Wi-Fi Alliance has announced the launch of the Wi-Fi Certified Miracast certification program, and the LG Optimus G and Samsung Galaxy S3 are the first two consumer products to be certified (though they will need a software update to enable support).

Using Wi-Fi Direct, something which Android 4.x supports, Miracast allows displaying of audio and video content from one device to another “without cables or a network connection”. Wi-Fi Direct is something whose potential has remained untapped as of yet but with Miracast things might change soon. HDTVs and other displays available today will be able to directly connect to Miracast devices through the use of a small dongle that plugs into an HDMI port.

Annual shipments of Miracast-certified devices is expected to exceed one billion units within the next four years according to industry analysts, with some products such as the Samsung Echo-P Series TVs already coming with Miracast Certification.

Let’s hope that more and more manufacturers hop on the Miracast bandwagon so that it can become a norm and make life easier, free of cables and forego the need of a network connection. It would be great if Google would add native support for Miracast in the next major Android update (Key Lime Pie), something which Samsung and other manufacturers could take further by adding their own customized implementations in their Android devices.

Check out Miracast in action in the videos below.