Google Chromecast(google.com)
google.com
Google Chromecast
http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/chromecast/#netflix
315 comments
I think people aren't understanding how awesome this technology is:
1. Every time someone shows you a YouTube video, you spend 10% of your time watching it and the other 90% thinking about that one video you know of that's funnier. With Chromecast, you can queue that sucker up for nexties right from your own phone, without interrupting the video that's currently playing.
2. Chromecast does NOT use the resources of the device used to control the TV for processing...its don't on the dongle itself. This will save battery power, minimize bandwidth consumption, and you can do other things with your phone while watching things on the TV.
3. If it can run Chrome, it can cast to Chromecast. Apple, Microsoft, and Google devices playing together in one ecosystem. No more throwing the babies out with the bathwater.
4. $35.00. Thirty-five dollars for a device that ups the WAF most HTPC nerds have dreamed of for years! I would have bought this at $100!
This is what the Nexus Q was meant to be, but hardware drove the price down dramatically.
I haven't been this excited about a new piece of hardware since the iPhone. This is a game changer.
1. Every time someone shows you a YouTube video, you spend 10% of your time watching it and the other 90% thinking about that one video you know of that's funnier. With Chromecast, you can queue that sucker up for nexties right from your own phone, without interrupting the video that's currently playing.
2. Chromecast does NOT use the resources of the device used to control the TV for processing...its don't on the dongle itself. This will save battery power, minimize bandwidth consumption, and you can do other things with your phone while watching things on the TV.
3. If it can run Chrome, it can cast to Chromecast. Apple, Microsoft, and Google devices playing together in one ecosystem. No more throwing the babies out with the bathwater.
4. $35.00. Thirty-five dollars for a device that ups the WAF most HTPC nerds have dreamed of for years! I would have bought this at $100!
This is what the Nexus Q was meant to be, but hardware drove the price down dramatically.
I haven't been this excited about a new piece of hardware since the iPhone. This is a game changer.
> Power cord required (not shown).
What the hell is this about a "power cord". The specs and details are totally not clear. Is this not powered by HDMI? If it requires a power cord, these images are deceptive marketing.
What the hell is this about a "power cord". The specs and details are totally not clear. Is this not powered by HDMI? If it requires a power cord, these images are deceptive marketing.
Worth noting- the $35 Chromecast dongle comes with three months of free Netflix membership (including for existing users), which makes the thing very cheap indeed.
"Sorry! Devices on Google Play is not available in your country yet.
We're working to bring devices to more countries as quickly as possible.
Please check back again soon."
I'm a little confused by this device, and I haven't been able to find the info from Google.
Is it that this device acts like an AirPlay receiver of sorts and accepts a video feed from an approved device or is it that the device simply acts as a remote and the device gets its own stream from Internet sources? The latter is much more intriguing than the former, although both have issues for sure, but hard to complain for the price.
It's an interesting concept either way. I don't see it as a huge threat to the Apple TV or Roku, as both do a lot more and have dedicated controllers. Using an Apple TV with an iPhone is nice in some respects, but the wifi connectivity isn't great. A Bluetooth pairing would be exponentially better. It doesn't appear this device uses Bluetooth either.
As I see it, I could envision having an Apple TV or Roku for a main TV and something like this for another TV or for a computer monitor than can support this.
Is it that this device acts like an AirPlay receiver of sorts and accepts a video feed from an approved device or is it that the device simply acts as a remote and the device gets its own stream from Internet sources? The latter is much more intriguing than the former, although both have issues for sure, but hard to complain for the price.
It's an interesting concept either way. I don't see it as a huge threat to the Apple TV or Roku, as both do a lot more and have dedicated controllers. Using an Apple TV with an iPhone is nice in some respects, but the wifi connectivity isn't great. A Bluetooth pairing would be exponentially better. It doesn't appear this device uses Bluetooth either.
As I see it, I could envision having an Apple TV or Roku for a main TV and something like this for another TV or for a computer monitor than can support this.
I'm curious to see what kind of Chromecast support they build into Google Hangouts.
Right now we have meetings on-site and usually have one person in the meeting running a Hangout on a laptop to communicate with the remote folks. Being able to have a "portal" to all the remote attendees would be awesome.
Right now we have meetings on-site and usually have one person in the meeting running a Hangout on a laptop to communicate with the remote folks. Being able to have a "portal" to all the remote attendees would be awesome.
If it works as advertised, this could be disruptive. They made it dead simple to stream content from any device to your TV. So anyone can use it, particularly the older generation.
Potential for number of apps that could be developed is endless. Apparently, Washington Post is building an app on top of it (http://t.co/dTWesNOoIC). So possibilities are endless. And good news - another step towards making cable TV irrelevant.
P.S. I just bought one. Can't wait to play with it's SDK.
Potential for number of apps that could be developed is endless. Apparently, Washington Post is building an app on top of it (http://t.co/dTWesNOoIC). So possibilities are endless. And good news - another step towards making cable TV irrelevant.
P.S. I just bought one. Can't wait to play with it's SDK.
Whats the privacy policy? Do I need a Google / Youtube account to use it? Just what data is shared with Google? E.g. Will all my viewing habits be stored? Will Google ads on my browser suddenly target me based upon my TV use?
It's $35, but it only offers the Airplay receiver functionality of the Apple TV (I don't think it will do display mirroring of computers and Android devices though).
From what I've read (please correct me if I'm wrong), the Chromecast doesn't function as a standalone device. In other words, you need a smartphone/tablet/computer to play things on it. It doesn't have its own interface where you can browse and play content like the Apple TV does.
From what I've read (please correct me if I'm wrong), the Chromecast doesn't function as a standalone device. In other words, you need a smartphone/tablet/computer to play things on it. It doesn't have its own interface where you can browse and play content like the Apple TV does.
Any word on if I can stream whatever is on my Android screen to this?
There are many times where I have pics on my phone (either via the phone's camera, or Picasa, G+, etc) that I want to show people at home - but there's no easy way to show them without having to pass around a tiny screen.
There are many times where I have pics on my phone (either via the phone's camera, or Picasa, G+, etc) that I want to show people at home - but there's no easy way to show them without having to pass around a tiny screen.
Will this bypass the need for a Hulu Plus subscription for TV watching? Hulu plus allows you to watch Hulu on a big screen device in addition to tablets.
Chromecast is not available in your country.
I live in Canada. Apple seems to be able to make this stuff work, why can't anyone else?
I live in Canada. Apple seems to be able to make this stuff work, why can't anyone else?
Does anyone know if you can stream non-online videos? Like if I have a video file on my computer and want to play it on my TV, does Chromecast allow for this?
Nice, since the Play store says "We are out of inventory. Check back soon." https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=chromecast&...
I'm confused about it being USB-powered. Does it need to be plugged to both HDMI and USB at the same time?
Edit: The Buy button forwards to the Play store, where it's "out of inventory". They could change the wording to "Sold Out!" and then brag about that.
Edit: The Buy button forwards to the Play store, where it's "out of inventory". They could change the wording to "Sold Out!" and then brag about that.
Chrome Cast on Amazon Now
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DR0PDNE/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DR0PDNE/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...
This is useful for educational purposes, too - wirelessly streaming from a chrome browser or chromebook to a projector (via hdmi to vga adapter).
(An alternative if you have a laptop connected to the projector is to run AirServer to act as a virtual Apple TV, and then either airplay from your ipad or run AirParrot from a windows tablet. Of course Chromecast will be the first solution to work from android tablets, too, since Miracast solutions still seem to be non-existent or not so great.)
(An alternative if you have a laptop connected to the projector is to run AirServer to act as a virtual Apple TV, and then either airplay from your ipad or run AirParrot from a windows tablet. Of course Chromecast will be the first solution to work from android tablets, too, since Miracast solutions still seem to be non-existent or not so great.)
I'm confused. Can it grab and process the stream itself? So, if I pull up netflix on my phone, start a video, then force close netflix, will it still be playing?
The Chrome and Android teams don't seem to be great bedfellows, it seems - it isn't clear to me what demarcates Chrome-branded products from products running Android in areas far from their original targets.
Well, just purchased mine. I was a little peeved that my nexus 7 didn't have HDMI-out, but this device looks perfect.
Makes much more sense as a product than last year's Nexus Q.
This doesn't seem much different from the MediaLink HD that HTC has had for over a year now. Although that ran Android and this runs Chrome. Both were capable of talking to NetFlix and other content URLs directly once they got the WiFi information from your device. This helps devices save battery since they don't have to download the data just to resend it, and don't have to transcode anything.
That said the MediaLink HD often had lag issues that kept it more in the realm of presentations and media and made it difficult for real time games. Even for presentations I'd often carry my own WiFi AP around with me or find ways to get it just to connect between the phone and device to avoid them. Home performance is probably better than conference and event performance.
I recently tried a Netgear Miracast adapter to send HDMI from an HTC One and the lag is completely gone. I haven't tried Google's implementation of Chromecast yet, but I'm suspicious it won't be nearly as lag and trouble free as a WiFi Direct only device like the Netgear, though. You have a whole extra OS running device in the chain to make things a pain. So I'm suspicious the extra complexity isn't worth it for this class of devices.
That said the MediaLink HD often had lag issues that kept it more in the realm of presentations and media and made it difficult for real time games. Even for presentations I'd often carry my own WiFi AP around with me or find ways to get it just to connect between the phone and device to avoid them. Home performance is probably better than conference and event performance.
I recently tried a Netgear Miracast adapter to send HDMI from an HTC One and the lag is completely gone. I haven't tried Google's implementation of Chromecast yet, but I'm suspicious it won't be nearly as lag and trouble free as a WiFi Direct only device like the Netgear, though. You have a whole extra OS running device in the chain to make things a pain. So I'm suspicious the extra complexity isn't worth it for this class of devices.
Okay maybe this is really obvious, but how do I tell a device with no input which wifi network to connect to and what the password for it is?
This is cool....the only thing that is a bit annoying is the fact that the audio won't be 5.1, it will likely be stereo.
I mean, for YouTube videos it doesn't matter.
But if you are streaming a movie or something, then that may be an annoyance.
But that could just be me.
This is assuming that you have a digital audio source plugged directly into your receiver ofcourse, as opposed to your TV.
I mean, for YouTube videos it doesn't matter.
But if you are streaming a movie or something, then that may be an annoyance.
But that could just be me.
This is assuming that you have a digital audio source plugged directly into your receiver ofcourse, as opposed to your TV.
It'd be epic if this supported ALL the "AirPlay" type tech...PlayTo, AirPlay, whatever "throw my video up there" formats exist.
I like the price and ordered one, but if it only supports Google's format, that'll be a bummer. I want this for AirPlay.
I like the price and ordered one, but if it only supports Google's format, that'll be a bummer. I want this for AirPlay.
This device is really appealing, but I am extremely disappointed that it can only mirror chrome tabs. I'd be much more interested in this device if they would throw out some native applications to mirror a whole screen like Apple's Airplay can.
I dont understand how you stream content from your device to the Chromecast.
My PC has Windows Media Player, my Windows 8 phone has XBox SmartGlass. Would these applications allow you to stream to the tv. I am abit lost...
I wonder how best to use this with a local Plex Media Server. I only really have one projector/ht directly attached to the media server right now, but in a future where I have N TVs throughout the house, it would be nice to have a $35 device on each to stream content. AppleTV support is pretty weak for PMS.
I'd really prefer wired gig-e, though. 802.11n is borderline for a busy network with several video streams. At that point I'd end up running a bunch of separate wifi APs, which raises the cost to where real wired devices start to be cheaper again.
I'd really prefer wired gig-e, though. 802.11n is borderline for a busy network with several video streams. At that point I'd end up running a bunch of separate wifi APs, which raises the cost to where real wired devices start to be cheaper again.
It's powerful, it's cheap ($35 vs $99 for Apple TV) in no time, this device will be on every other tv. Just imagine all that data...this is definitely a game changer. This is awesome.
Here's an article on the Difference Between Chromecast and Google TV (an Interview with Google's SVP of Android, Chome, and Apps: Sundar Pichai) http://allthingsd.com/20130724/sundar-pichai-on-the-differen...
Here's an article on the Difference Between Chromecast and Google TV (an Interview with Google's SVP of Android, Chome, and Apps: Sundar Pichai) http://allthingsd.com/20130724/sundar-pichai-on-the-differen...
They should make a cheaper audio only version for the speakers in your bedroom, etc. Kind of like the airport express. Maybe one with just a stereo jack and one with the same ports as the apple TV.
This is what the future of TV should be: people should just think of TV's the way they think of their jamboxes: a higher fidelity dumb pipe for their existing content. If Apple turned the Apple TV into an HDMI dongle that solely included AirPlay and included it for free with every iPad and iPhone they sold, it would truly disrupt TV. If I knew for a fact that every new iDevice owner was necessarily and AppleTV owner, I would immediately start making AppleTV-enabled experiences. Overnight the iPad would become a real competitor to game consoles as well.
It just seems so obvious that this is the right way to go. The apps should live on the brain (your device), and the TV should just be an auxiliary screen, nothing more (We certainly don't need YET ANOTHER SDK for writing TV apps). Here's a fun exercise: go to your local Apple Store and ask them what an Apple TV is for today. Then watch them fumble around mentioning "oh if you have Netflix" and "isn't cable hard to use" and just the sheer lack of vision for the product. If it was just AirPlay it would be as easy to explain as an iPod speaker. If they did this, then you could also imagine indie people shipping TV Shows as apps as a viable model for the first time, completely skirting Cable networks.