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Google Chromecast

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Re: Google Chromecast

#201

Post by altcognito »

ChikkaChiChi wrote: post #115
corresation wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

This is correct. It has a screen that shows up when nothing is playing, but all navigation and control is handled by all the other devices.

Exactly. In truth, there is nothing preventing you from playing Crysis (other than a terrible response time and a poor quality video stream) on this with nothing else but this and a wireless keyboard/mouse. This is the true dumb terminal. The developers SDK is probably more about connecting devices or having them communicate with the chromecast rather than being an app repository.

The more I think about it, the more I hope this is where they going with this. To borrow a very damaged phrase, this might as much about the cloud/virtual computing as it is about streaming and music.

Re: Google Chromecast

#202

Post by BHSPitMonkey »

alpb wrote: post #35

Would it work to stream MacBook screen to a TV? Because the system seems generic and it could bring AirPlay to any TV.

AirPlay is proprietary to Apple. The competing technology that Google (or at least Android) is throwing its support behind is Miracast (which uses WiFi Direct). I don't know if this device supports this kind of streaming, though; I get the impression that the device merely receives URLs from controlling devices, which it connects to directly.

Re: Google Chromecast

#203

Post by agildehaus »

MBCook wrote: post #68
mikeryan wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of new HDTV's however have HDMI and a USB port (generally near each other). It would be a bit messy but perhaps you could have it plugged into both at once and then you won't need an ungainly power cable to a socket.

On recent HD TVs that's true, but if you go back more than 2-3 years (or didn't buy a giant 55" set) then it's quite likely you'll have to resort to the AC adapter.

The question is - do you have to resort to the AC adapter if you have one of the newer HDMI ports?

Re: Google Chromecast

#204

Post by lepht »

pwthornton wrote: post #149
lepht wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Ah, yes you're right. I'd like to be able to Bluetooth pair my iPhone or iPad to my Apple TV for remote purposes. The keyboard is nice, but overkill.

Yeah. I'd like that functionality too, although I'm not sure how great the range would be.

Re: Google Chromecast

#205

Post by Shank »

psbp wrote: post #142
pwthornton wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well this is disappointing.

If your t.v. has an HDMI port it more than likely has a USB as well. Not a big deal.

Neither of my TVs have USB, but both have HDMI. I'd hazard a guess that the older "brand new HD" TVs that came with HDMI first will need external power, while modern ones won't need it.

Re: Google Chromecast

#206

Post by BHSPitMonkey »

tolmasky wrote: post #165

This is exactly what I've been wanting the Apple TV to be for ages. The only thing Apple TV is actually good for is Airplay. There doesn't need to be an OS or a UI for the Apple TV: your phone or tablet will be a better experience for typing and searching for content every time. Its a fool's errand to try to design a UI for a TV that isn't dreadfully painful to use: no one ever wants to interact with something 10 fee…

I've set up my $99 OUYA to do this (mostly). I've installed a native YouTube app on it (YouTube for Google TV) and installed Flash support for the included Android browser. I also wrote a small client/server Android app [1] that allows the client to share YouTube videos, web pages, basically anything URI-based from various apps' built-in "share" UI and the content will appear on the TV (using whatever app is suited for the URI being opened).

[1] http://bhspitmonkey.github.io/VuDo-Android/

Re: Google Chromecast

#207

Post by mattstocum »

tolmasky wrote: post #165

This is exactly what I've been wanting the Apple TV to be for ages. The only thing Apple TV is actually good for is Airplay. There doesn't need to be an OS or a UI for the Apple TV: your phone or tablet will be a better experience for typing and searching for content every time. Its a fool's errand to try to design a UI for a TV that isn't dreadfully painful to use: no one ever wants to interact with something 10 fee…

> There doesn't need to be an OS or a UI for the Apple TV: your phone or tablet will be a better experience for typing and searching for content every time

I could not disagree more. I understand your point, and on an intellectual level, completely agree with it. However, I never used HBO Go until it showed up on my Apple TV. I have a Mac mini hooked up to my TV, but routinely use Netflix on the Apple TV. I would kill for a Plex app for the Apple TV, even though I have it running on the Mac mini, and have it set up to use a remote. I can't explain it, it just feels better.

Re: Google Chromecast

#208

Post by mattstocum »

jasallen wrote: post #194
roc wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you want Airplay to be more the focus of Apple TV, but that state of affairs doesn't sound at all like Chromecast. Chromecast seems to be a method for driving-devices to send pointers to internet video streams or web pages, for the dongle to queue, download and then send to the display. The apps/content don't live on the mobile device at all. They live on remote internet servers. The device is just feeding a qu…

"to queue, download and then send to the display" According to AvsForum news: "streams it directly to the Chromecast device from the cloud". So you are right about it being somewhat different from airPlay, but it clearly intends to be seamless, and not have a queue / download cycle, but stream it just as it would to your browser. It also says "including Youtube, Netflix, and Google Play, Vudu, Hulu... anything that p…

>"streams it directly to the Chromecast device from the cloud". So you are right about it being somewhat different from airPlay

AirPlay will send a URL to the Apple TV if possible. If you're streaming a video from a web page, it most likely will just send the URL to the Apple TV. The only communication with the device is the control channel.

Re: Google Chromecast

#209

Post by untog »

crazygringo wrote: post #192
tolmasky wrote: post #165

This is exactly what I've been wanting the Apple TV to be for ages. The only thing Apple TV is actually good for is Airplay. There doesn't need to be an OS or a UI for the Apple TV: your phone or tablet will be a better experience for typing and searching for content every time. Its a fool's errand to try to design a UI for a TV that isn't dreadfully painful to use: no one ever wants to interact with something 10 fee…

Wi-fi isn't good enough. I can barely get AirPlay to stream music reliably ten feet away for half an hour (oh no! somebody in the next apartment turned on their microwave!), I can't imagine video being even remotely reliable, and certainly not at decent quality. However, Netflix etc. work fine over wi-fi, because they're downloading and buffering the compressed stream itself, and then feeding that via the HDMI port t…

I can barely get AirPlay to stream music reliably ten feet away for half an hour

I don't think that is the typical experience.

Re: Google Chromecast

#210

Post by SEMW »

drivers99 wrote: post #199
bergie wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the fact that it works with non-Apple hardware is obviously useful for people who don't have Apple households It seems it will work with both Android and iOS apps and with anything that runs the Chrome browser. That is quite a big improvement over the walled garden of Apple TV.

I'm confused about how it works with iOS apps. Does it just act like an AirPlay device? From Safari on iOS, Spotify, etc. there's the AirPlay icon that I can push to switch it to the Apple TV. Or would the apps have to add a different type of button? I didn't realize until now that Chrome is available for iOS. Would you have to switch to that for streaming web videos?

Apps which want to support this would add a 'stream to chromecast' button which would use the Chromecast android/iOS API. (https://developers.google.com/cast/)

It seems to not be possible to stream the web browser from a mobile for now - all the mobile apps in the demo (netflix, google video, youtube) triggered a video download straight to the dongle from the internet, with the mobile effectively being used just as a remote. That's the primary use case. The 'stream a web page a browserdirectly from your computer' bit is still in beta and, AFAICS, currently only works with chrome on Windows/MacOS/chromeOS.

But it's possible it'll be added in future to chrome for iOS/android, and if it is: yes, you'll need to use chrome, the chances of Apple supporting chromecast in safari are... slim.

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