Live data from Hacker News

Google Chromecast

google.com

101–110 of 326 posts

Re: Google Chromecast

#101

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 th…

Agreed! The one thing that worries me about this is underpowered hardware. If they made the UI not suck (read: not take seconds to respond to button presses) then I'll be all over this. It'll end up being what Google TV should have been.

Re: Google Chromecast

#102

> 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.

Lots of Smart TVs also have USB -- how much power does this draw? Could it not have a USB power-slurper that you could plug into the USB port of the TV fr power?

Re: Google Chromecast

#103

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 th…

> 3. If it can run Chrome, it can cast to Chromecast.

That's probably the long-term goal, but currently the list of "Can run Chrome" overlaps, but does not subsume, the list of "can cast to Chromecast". Particularly, Linux and ChromeOS devices can run Chrome, but (with the exception of the Chromebook Pixel) cannot cast to Chromecast.

Re: Google Chromecast

#104
post #80

Has anyone seen thing regarding how setup works? That is, how would I choose a SSID and enter my wifi password since my 'remote' would normally talk to it using wifi?

Other dongles like this typically handle it one of two ways: 1) Plug into a computer for first-time setup. It has a USB port for power that can also be used to connect to a computer. 2) The dongle broadcasts a wifi network. You connect from any computer to set it up over a web interface.

Thanks. I had considered #1 but since they're talking about tablets and phones and such without full-size USB ports, I didn't think they'd want to require an actual computer to be present.

#2 Seems quite workable though.

Re: Google Chromecast

#105
post #87
post #2

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.

Just ordered mine. With the three months of Netflix included, my cost is only $11. Ridiculous.

More like $17 after taxes and the cheapest shipping, but still cheap enough for me to impulse buy.

Re: Google Chromecast

#106

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 th…

Agreed! The one thing that worries me about this is underpowered hardware. If they made the UI not suck (read: not take seconds to respond to button presses) then I'll be all over this. It'll end up being what Google TV should have been.

It sounds like it has no UI. It simply shows video streams.

Re: Google Chromecast

#107
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?

Re: Google Chromecast

#108
post #46

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.

They two teams were recently merged, or at least now share the same leader, Sundar Pichai.

Chrome is likely the right name here, it supports most platforms where Chrome runs, not just Android.

Re: Google Chromecast

#109
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious, what don't you like about the Remote app for Apple TV? I purchased an Apple TV over a Roku just because of how slick the Remote app was, personally, along with the good-but-not-great* airplay functionality you get with an iPad. I haven't had any issues with the wi-fi at all. *: It seemed at first to be superb but then I found out that the AppleTV will refuse to play some (most?) content due to DRM restr…

I should clarify that I mostly use the Remote app and largely find it works well, particularly for searching. I find the wifi connection between my iPhone and my Apple TV (via an Airport Extreme) is a bit laggy and sometimes drops. I think it would be a much smoother experience if it paired via Bluetooth 4.0. I'm hoping the next Apple TV includes Bluetooth. The Remote app is much more usable than the Apple TV remote,…

The current AppleTV has bluetooth -- you can use it for pairing of a keyboard. The issue is that AirPlay doesn't support bluetooth as a transmission method in its current implementation.

Re: Google Chromecast

#110
post #60

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...

No. There are 4 applications that know what a Chromecast is and can send video to it: Netflix for Android, YouTube for Android, Google Play for Android, and Chrome for Android/Windows/Mac/ChromeOS. * ed: and ChromeOS.

> There are 4 applications that know what a Chromecast is and can send video to it: Netflix for Android, YouTube for Android, Google Play for Android, and Chrome for Android/Windows/Mac.

Clearly, ChromeOS does too, since it works on the Chromebook Pixel.

Post reply on HN