Interesting. Thank you for posting that.
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Chromecast |OT|
- Thread starter ThatObviousUser
- Start date
Interesting. Thank you for posting that.
Meus Renaissance
Member
Could I stream BBC iPlayer to it, for example?
We all know what is the best application for this type of technology:
Nope. The only thing we've seen that involves streaming from a device to the dongle is Chrome tabs, and there is about a full second of lag. It's great for non interactive content, but games.
On a PC using chrome I see no reason why you couldn't.
In this video you can see someone stream/mirror exactly what the chrome tab is seeing. They mirror a Google+ page and Vimeo. The exact websites. It's just a video of the page you are sharing. Anyone interested in seeing how the chrome tab to chromcast works should watch that video. It's the Google press conference.
I can't imagine there not being an official app for that eventually.
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
Whoa, this thing sounds awesome. I'll wait for reviews and impressions, but wow.
Dead Prince
Banned
and probably just a test thing see if it takes off.
I was, in passing, watching a video earlier and someone please let me know if I heard it right.
Is it true you can have this thing plugged in, TV off, but if you go to a device and press the icon to activate Chromecast that it will turn on your TV, turn it to the right input selection, and just start playing what you want right then and there. Is it really that easy and well implemented?
And my God, I can't even imagine how many of these things they are going to sell. I bet they are already shocked and overwhelmed with the number of orders. I can't wait to see actual numbers.
Is it true you can have this thing plugged in, TV off, but if you go to a device and press the icon to activate Chromecast that it will turn on your TV, turn it to the right input selection, and just start playing what you want right then and there. Is it really that easy and well implemented?
And my God, I can't even imagine how many of these things they are going to sell. I bet they are already shocked and overwhelmed with the number of orders. I can't wait to see actual numbers.
It uses HDMI-CEC which is pretty janky. I wouldn't call it well implemented at all, but it is certainly widespread (under various proprietary brand names). It should be that easy
Meus Renaissance
Member
If you can effectively mirror your monitor display, then what role would specific apps play in this? Why would there need to be an app of any kind? Sorry if I'm missing anything
Well, if it actually does that for me then it'll be used all the time. Not so much for me as often, since I have a Roku, Wii U, PS3, an HP thing that streams my laptop to my TV wirelessly and a few other things like this. No, it would be used by my wife all the darn time if it works like that for us once we get it.
Marty Chinn
Member
You can't mirror your monitor display.
In the case of Netflix, going from the browser to Chromecast gets you lower resolution video than going from the Netflix app to Chromecast.
You can't effectively mirror your monitor display, just tabs in chrome and the need would be to not need anything running on a PC
RedAssedApe
Banned
I think some people who use a Harmony or universal remote to control all of their media devices have to have HDMI-CEC turned off for the remote to work well.
I wonder if this will be viable in that type of setup. I'd buy this for three months of free netflix lol
Yea seriously. But I think making it as cheap as fuck to gain some ground is just their way of getting into the game like Android / Chromebook or everything they do. Plus, if it's so cheap they don't necessarily need to provide support hur hur.
Apps have better performance. Sending an entire tab over is expensive. Apps can have volume/play/pause controls in the top right extension button, instead of having to go back to that tab to do that. With an app, you can close the tab while its playing and playback won't stop/get canceled/whatever. You certainly do not NEED to have apps for everything, but it does feel slightly nicer.
RedAssedApe
Banned
No wireless on my 9G Kuro 
Meus Renaissance
Member
I see. Would the apps be locally stored?
I'll wait for more impressions and reviews of how its performs with high res content
Marty Chinn
Member
No wireless on my 9G Kuro
What?
RedAssedApe
Banned
Nevermind...wait does this have a built in wireless adapter in it?
Does this mean both devices need to be connected to a WiFi network as opposed to just connecting directly to each other?
Yes 2.4 GHz WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Yes. It works the same way the send to TV functionality that Google has experimented with for Google TV, Youtube on PS3/360 etc. Commands are all sent through some intermediary. I don't know if specifically the commands are sent to google who sends them to the correct device through the cloud or if it's going through your local router.
RedAssedApe
Banned
yeah i was confused by the specs/requirements. i might just jump in for the free three months netflix alone.
LyleLanley
Banned
I find it kind of funny how the commercials shows this being plugged into a TV without a USB cable plugged in.
Battersea Power Station
Member
I hope Plex supports the API soon. They should work it in relatively quickly, right? And XBMC for that matter.
Yeah that is lame.
RobotChant
Member
Streaming Chrome tab sounds cool... except playing videos in Chrome as of late has been freezing my computer. Requires a full re-boot to get control back. Thought i was the only one but many other people are having this problem, too. Fuck you Chrome.
I canceled my Netflix sub recently because i haven't been using it much. But with the Netflix deal I may still get in on Chromecast. I'll wait till more reviews come in though. Netflix deal supposedly is running till the end of the year, right? It seems mildly useful for the price, that is if it works as well as advertised.
I canceled my Netflix sub recently because i haven't been using it much. But with the Netflix deal I may still get in on Chromecast. I'll wait till more reviews come in though. Netflix deal supposedly is running till the end of the year, right? It seems mildly useful for the price, that is if it works as well as advertised.
Locally stored on the chromecast device? No, not really. If you are concerned about space, don't worry about it. Chromecast is really just chromeOS so the "apps" are basically web apps. Casting high res tabs is going to depend on your computer performance. I can't really cast on my ARM Chromebook very well but I don't notice a difference in performance with my MBP(2012) between when I'm casting and not casting.
TheLaughingStock
Member
I do wonder how low manufacturers are willing to go on price to get consumers to bite. Most didn't pay attention when these sort of devices were offered at $99, then $49.
sonikokaruto
Banned
If I already have a htpc do I need this?
The Faceless Master
Member
depends on if you want something that fits in your pocket or not...
LyleLanley
Banned
I don't think any company is stupid enough to make a device that only works on unprotected networks.
Battersea Power Station
Member
I have a HTPC system I really like, but I'm usually in Plex or XBMC, and YouTube/Netflix/Pandora integration with those is... not pleasant to use. So I'm picking this up. I fully expect both of the media centers I mentioned to support it sooner rather than later.
Well I would hope not, but how exactly does it work? Do you pair a device directly to Chromecast so you can tell it the password and choose a network?
Of course it can.
And it doesn't necessarily require USB/AC power. It depends on the type of HDMI port your device has. So it could, but may not.
someone on cNet said this: chromecast has built-in wifi hotspot. So to set it up, first plug the chromecast to your tv via hdmi, then plug the power via usb port. Then connect your device (android/ios phone/tablet/computer) to the chromecast via wifi. This gives you control of the chromecast to now set it up to connect to your home wifi.
They could, but that would require streaming from the phone like airplay and the drawbacks that come with that (eg battery). With the current design the phone is just a remote so that's why it's up to the app.
The Broken Ska Record
Member
$35 bucks is cheap enough for me to want to experiment with this thing. Kinda like the Raspberry Pi, but without all of the extra costs.
FWIW, You can launch WMC's Netflix plugin from XBMC. & You'll get the same functionality as this out of your HTPC using VNC, wouldn't you?
bodyboarder
Member
Amazon won't ship this to Australia. Bugger.
Marty Chinn
Member
I've got a nice HTPC setup with XBMC and I'm still interested in this. Enough so that I already bought one.
Getting Netflix to work in WMC can sure be a pain in the ass sometimes though. It went okay on my main setup, but man the second setup was such a pain in the ass and it's hard to find answers to problems.
molnizzle
Member
I couldn't resist ordering one even though I already have an Apple TV hooked up to just about every screen in my house. For $12 though why the hell not? I imagine that Chromecast will be implemented into VLC fairly quickly. Have any devs chimed in on the quality of the API yet?
"nothing stopping you from running hulu, spotify, et al in chrome on chromecast."
Verge responded "In theory, sure, but playback was a bit choppy in our hands-on demo. Well be trying this more thoroughly soon"