Along with Chromecast support, the pay TV giant's Foxtel Now high-def revamp includes a tiny streaming media player to bring Game of Thrones into more Aussie lounge rooms.

Foxtel is the media behemoth which many Australians love to hate but, to be fair, it's done a better job of moving with the times than many local media outlets. Through Foxtel Play it's responded to calls to offer easier access to premium content like Game of Thrones – via new devices and at more reasonable prices – in a shift which was unthinkable only five years ago.

As part of this week's Foxtel Now rebranding (a nod to HBO Now), Foxtel is embracing high definition streaming to help its online service rival the picture quality of its traditional cable/satellite service. Of course that's assuming your broadband connection is up to the task, with Foxtel recommending a minimum download speed of 7Mbps.

Coming to Chromecast

You could already watch high-def streaming Foxtel via the Telstra TV set-top box, but now high-def Foxtel is coming to Windows and Mac via the Chrome desktop browser. With it comes support for Chromecast streaming, letting you send high-def video from your browser to Google's tiny Chromecast dongle plugged into your television.

Chromecast support is also coming to the Foxtel Now mobile apps, but unfortunately they're still limited to standard-def video. The good news is that you still get an HD picture when streaming to a Chromecast player from a mobile device. Support for AirPlay streaming from iGadgets to the Apple TV is also on Foxtel's roadmap, although it remains to be seen whether the actual Foxtel Now app comes to the Apple TV app store.

Foxtel Now will continue to work with the Foxtel Play apps available for games consoles and smart TVs, which will also support HD streaming once they eventually receive a Foxtel Now update.

New play for the lounge room

Between all these streaming options many Australian lounge rooms would already have a way to get Foxtel Now onto their television, but Foxtel also offered a glimpse at its upcoming puck-style streaming box to rival Telstra TV, Apple TV and Chromecast players.

It's coming later this year and we're still waiting on pricing, but the sneak peek certainly looked promising. Rather than reinventing the wheel, the new box is based on Google's slick Android TV platform. Better yet, you should be able to install other apps from the Android TV section of the Google Play store, unlike Telstra's efforts to knobble the Roku-based Telstra TV so you can't take advantage of the wider Roku ecosystem.

Building on a solid foundation like Android TV is a smart move by Foxtel, meaning we hopefully won't see a repeat of the Foxtel iQ3 debacle where it rushed out its new set-top box without ironing out the bugs, simply to counter the arrival of Netflix.

Old school

The biggest TV surprise is that the new Foxtel streaming box will also include a free-to-air tuner, so it can double as a digital set-top box – putting it in direct competition with the Fetch TV Mini.

While some people will scoff at the idea of watching free-to-air television, its inclusion makes the new box an easier sell to less tech-savvy homes still attached to traditional broadcasting – including those frustrated at the loss of a TV tuner when Telstra switched from the T-Box to the Telstra TV.

Open access to the Google Play store means you should also be able to install Netflix, Stan (co-owned by Fairfax Media) and the local free-to-air Catch Up apps, along with media players like Plex.

Foxtel Now retains Foxtel's revamped pricing which lets you to watch premium HBO content like Game of Thrones in a $15 p/m basic Drama or Pop package. The dreaded bundle kicks in if you're a sports fan – with the need to sign up for a $10/$15 basic package before you can sign up for the $29 p/m sports package in order to watch AFL and NRL.

Winter is coming – Foxtel has seen the writing on the wall and tried to move with the times. Is it enough for you to turn your back on Game of Thrones piracy this season?