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Google Is Pulling YouTube Off the Fire TV and Echo Show

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Re: Google Is Pulling YouTube Off the Fire TV and Echo Show

#71
post #6

You know what, good for Google. I hate to sound like a child, but Amazon fired the first salvo by dropping the Chromecast a few years back. This move only seems fair.

Didn't Google block the ability to stream to Chromecasts? I'm not justifying anyone's behavior here but this is why the "they started it" argument is considered childish. These are all anti-customer moves which will hurt both companies in the long term.

Re: Google Is Pulling YouTube Off the Fire TV and Echo Show

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What issues did you encounter? And how can you call a $35 device "expensive"?

My brother took his to uni and couldn't log into the Wifi - I assume he has to enter uni credentials for it and the Chromecast doesn't support that Wifi authentication model.

All the sibling posts are interesting – but ultimately wrong.

The Chromecast (or at least when I last tried it) doesn’t support WPA Enterprise, so it can’t use the user/password or user/certificate authentication required by university networks.

This is purely an issue with the Chromecast.

Re: Google Is Pulling YouTube Off the Fire TV and Echo Show

#73
post #6

You know what, good for Google. I hate to sound like a child, but Amazon fired the first salvo by dropping the Chromecast a few years back. This move only seems fair.

Agreed. The thing that pisses me off, is that Amazon video doesn't even support Chromecast for streaming, how hard would it be to code that in? I bought firefly from amazon thinking I could easily stream it to my chromecast, but nope.. -- I won't get amazon video, or support any of there video things till I can.

They need to let bygones be bygones and accept each others apps/gadget/technology to make it so each other is a success. They're more a symbiotic relationship than rivals imho.

Re: Google Is Pulling YouTube Off the Fire TV and Echo Show

#74
post #18
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, for me at least, amazon's copycat worked first time out of the box. Chromecast, alas, turned out to be an expensive plastic brick.

thank goodness that samsung TV's can play from both sources

Until one of them falls out with Samsung, presumably?

Re: Google Is Pulling YouTube Off the Fire TV and Echo Show

#75
post #50
post #6

You know what, good for Google. I hate to sound like a child, but Amazon fired the first salvo by dropping the Chromecast a few years back. This move only seems fair.

Yeah, normally I'd say two wrongs don't make a right, but if this move manages to convince Amazon to finally support Amazon Video on Chromecast, maybe it's worth it. Though on the other hand, this could just as easily result in a long-term standoff.

I thought that limitation was more on Google's side more than Amazon deciding not to develop an app.

Re: Google Is Pulling YouTube Off the Fire TV and Echo Show

#76
post #31
post #27

But how exactly can you pull a website off, i mean it is a web site..

User-agent tracking will work just fine. In a more non-corporate environment this would be the beginning of an arms race to try to figure out how to fiddle with headers to either block or not block the device, but since we're discussing corporate behemoths with legal teams larger than most companies, it'll stop here, because no legal team would sign off on the idea of fraudulently identifying yourself in a header in…

Can't I do this with my own home router? Or is this why Google pushed so hard for TLS everywhere?

Re: Google Is Pulling YouTube Off the Fire TV and Echo Show

#77
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really an app on the device that uses the YouTube HTML5 API. If you violate their TOS they can prevent access to those API's anytime they want.

Okay, but how is Amazon violating TOS; they are using it the way it is meant to be used.

Google has redefined the way it is meant to be used to include "not by Amazon".

Re: Google Is Pulling YouTube Off the Fire TV and Echo Show

#78
post #36
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>seamlessness that chromecast how is it seamless, I want a independent device to watch videos on, not a device that have to connect with my phone, tablet or pc then "cast" video to it. I want a self contained video streaming device with its own physical remote, processor and OS that does not need anything else but a internet connection Roku and FireTV are different classes of Devices than a ChromeCast

The cool thing about chromecast is that you can drag and drop a video file into chrome and it will play on your tv. I don't want to see ads on youtube, so instead of using the built in chromecast support i just stream the window to my tv with ublock origin installed -- no ads. That's actually all i want, a wireless hdmi cable. But I'm in a tiny minority.

Have you heard of YouTube Red?

Re: Google Is Pulling YouTube Off the Fire TV and Echo Show

#79
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, but how is Amazon violating TOS; they are using it the way it is meant to be used.

The first version was a tour de force in TOS violations. It was such an abuse that I'm surprised Amazon were brazen enough to release it considering Google would drop the hammer once they saw it. I guess they thought they could do whatever they wanted with other companies properties. I don't know if the revised version violates the TOS, but I'm guessing it's compliant. This seems to be all about reciprocity with Goog…

The linked article doesn't make this case. Can you provide some more detail of what terms the original and current apps violate?

e: Google's own explanation:

“​We’ve been trying to reach agreement with Amazon to give consumers access to each other's products and services. But Amazon doesn't carry Google products like Chromecast and Google Home, doesn't make Prime Video available for Google Cast users, and last month stopped selling some of Nest's latest products. Given this lack of reciprocity, we are no longer supporting YouTube on Echo Show and FireTV. We hope we can reach an agreement to resolve these issues soon.”

Sounds like this is Google trying to exert leverage on Amazon.

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