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Google Chromecast
- untog 13y agoWorth noting- the $35 Chromecast dongle comes with three months of free Netflix membership (including for existing users), which makes the thing very cheap indeed.
- fpgeek 13y agoIf you get multiple Chromecasts do you keep getting bundles of three more free months?
- jonny_eh 13y agoI'm guessing they'll link it to your Google (Play) account.
- hfern 13y agoBottom of [1]: "...you will recieve an email with a promotional code for 3 months of Netflix. Offer valid for previous, new and existing Netflix members, one per Netflix account." I would suspect not. [1] https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=chromecast https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=chromecast
- nutmeg 13y agoJust ordered mine. With the three months of Netflix included, my cost is only $11. Ridiculous.
- teejaygreen 13y agoMore like $17 after taxes and the cheapest shipping, but still cheap enough for me to impulse buy.
- dtparr 13y agoAmazon how has them in stock. I have prime, but I assume it's free super saver shipping for > $25, and no taxes (collected) in many places.
- Fuzzwah 13y agoWell that was close.... I also have prime so I figured I might get my chromecast quicker if I cancelled my order from google store which I made 4 hours earlier (I went with cheapest shipping). Click through the confirm prompts to cancel my order from google. Click to buy from amazon, expected delivery date: 22nd of August. Arrrrrhhhhhhhggggggg Flick back to the google store tab and find that it has declared that I couldn't cancel my order. Phew. Successfully cancel my order from amazon. Exciting!
- dooog 13y agoSo, Amazon actually said when Chromecast might ship by? When I was about to order it, it didn't give any indication of when it might arrive, it just said "we'll email you when we get an idea." The Google play store guaranteed shipment by August 7, though, so if Amazon really expects it to arrive by late August, I'll just go with the play store.
- matchu 13y agoOh, wow. They told me July 30. Glad I submitted my order early - didn't realize it was gonna be a line.
- dtparr 13y agoWow, that was quite the steep function. My guaranteed date was 26 July and it shipped a couple hours after I placed the order.
- robryan 13y agoAny idea if the thing can run via a proxy? Could be a fairly clean way of using Netflix from Australia.
- shawabawa3 13y agoIt streams from one of your devices, not directly from netflix. If your device can proxy, it can
- tiziano88 13y agoIt would seem the opposite, it does not even need the device to be on while it's streaming from what I've read.
- pyalot2 13y ago"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."
- Achshar 13y agoI don't even get the we're working part. Just the not available part. Being in India sucks.
- igravious 13y agoUgh. Yeah. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9811856/Sorry%21%2C%20No%20you%27re%20Not%21.png https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9811856/Sorry%21%2C%20No... Annoying thing is that loads of companies have a large European presence here (Ireland: low corporate taxes, educated English speaking workforce, EU country, plenty of rain(uh wait, that's not a reason)) but then fail to offer their products! Amazon (originally wouldn't ship Kindle Fires), Google (no Nexuses (Nexi?)) through Play Store. To name but two companies. With a hack (vpn) you can get Google.co.uk to ship Nexi to Ireland but they go via the UK and apparently they start off being shipped from Dublin[1], not good for the ol' planet! Really good write-up [1] http://richardbloomfield.ie/2013/02/google-nexus-4/ http://richardbloomfield.ie/2013/02/google-nexus-4/
- wjoe 13y agoAnd while the UK does have a devices page on the Play store with Nexus devices and Chromebooks, no Chromecast here either. Is this available anywhere but the US? Standard Google...
- eloisant 13y agoThey say it was to be released "in coming weeks" (whatever that means) in UK, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Japan and Korea.
- majurg 13y agoWell, just purchased mine. I was a little peeved that my nexus 7 didn't have HDMI-out, but this device looks perfect.
- tremendo 13y agoNice, since the Play store says "We are out of inventory. Check back soon." https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=chromecast&hl=en 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.
- Zikes 13y agoI noticed that the end opposite of the HDMI seemed to have a micro USB in port on it. I suspect that it is powered via that, however none of the demonstrations showed it being plugged in, so I believe it may have an internal battery which needs recharging. Edit: The specs at the bottom of the page don't list a battery but it does list an included power adapter, so I guess you have to have that plugged in at all times. Edit 2: Certain versions[1] of the HDMI spec provide power. It's possible that the USB is a backup solution for older spec'd TVs. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_High-Definition_Link#Features http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_High-Definition_Link#Fea...
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- mvkel 13y agoYou sure it's not just for firmware updates? The GameStick (http://gamestick.tv http://gamestick.tv) is powered purely via HDMI.
- sergiotapia 13y agoDoes this work internationally? I mean, it's just a dongle. Can I have a friend purchase it in the US and have it work fine in Bolivia?
- dombili 13y agoThey haven't said anything about that, for obvious reasons, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. You probably can't run Netflix on it[1], but I bet YouTube would work just fine. [1] Although if I understood correctly, the dongle depends on another device to connect to the internet. If you setup a DNS on your device that's connected to the dongle, it's likely that you can use Netflix as well.
- mrbill 13y agoJust bought two - one for each TV in my house. I already have tons of media-streamer devices (TLBB XBMC, Pivos DS, Roku, etc) but they should be nifty.
- jcampbell1 13y ago> 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.
- aroch 13y agoJust like, pretty much every, android device it uses a USB charger. Many advertisement related images don't include cords and the like for prettier pictures. Using HDMI to power things is a tricky thing, many monitors and TVs din't supply power over HDMI and among those that do (especially Sony TV iirc) they provide less-than ideal amounts of power.
- mikeryan 13y agoA 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.
- MBCook 13y agoOn 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.
- Recoil42 13y agoWhich is exactly what they've accounted for here, and why they've given both options.
- agildehaus 13y agoThe question is - do you have to resort to the AC adapter if you have one of the newer HDMI ports?
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- pwthornton 13y agoI'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.
- cromwellian 13y agoIt's the latter, although it also supports local receiver mode, so for example, you can cast your browser tab to the display.
- pwthornton 13y agoAnd I'll be able to stream whatever is in that one browser tab to my TV without restrictions?
- ChikkaChiChi 13y agoYes. But its in 'Beta'
- eblume 13y agoJust 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 restrictions. It's not clear if that's a problem with my HDMI cable or with AirPlay itself - I think AirPlay is simulating an HDMI connection via WiFi.
- amalag 13y agoWill 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.
- pwenzel 13y agoI really want to know this as well. I pay for Hulu Plus, but the ads are almost as bad as they are on regular television (that's right, you get ads even when you pay for content).
- amalag 13y agoI read a few articles and they say it does work with Hulu out of the box. From what I understand it will broadcast anything in your chrome tab.
- dpeck 13y agoHulu will likely invest in trying to figure out if you're streaming the tab to be able to block it, its their way.
- prehkugler 13y agoScreen-casting from the desktop version of Google Chrome is a (beta) browser extension. From 2 mins of Googling (I'm no expert), it looks like you can detect those trivially.
- pbhjpbhj 13y agoYou can spoof Chrome to be another browser and AFAIK extensions installed is not broadcast to third parties.
- path411 13y agoUsing a phone app will probably require Hulu Plus. If you open up Hulu in chrome and cast it with the chrome extension, it might work until Hulu figures out a way to detect it.
- ambiate 13y agoThe device has a microUSB port. The microUSB powers the device. The device plugs into the HDMI port. The device requires a microUSB powered cable to operate while plugged in through HDMI.
- Recoil42 13y agoHDMI doesn't provide power, so that makes sense -- unfortunate as it is.
- wnevets 13y agoI already have a "smart tv", what does this give me that I dont already have?
- tjbiddle 13y agoI'm sure you aren't their target market. Personally I went for a bare bones TV because I have so many peripheral devices it made sense to keep using those. Also - Can you stream games and other random apps to your TV? I would assume this would let you in the feature with supported apps.
- wnevets 13y agoI'm sure you're correct about not being their target. I think there are already android apps that let you stream stuff to your tv via wifi, I could be thinking about something else. If you already have netflix, is this device basically half off?
- tjbiddle 13y agoSounds like it - Netflix is what, $10/mo? Pulling that off the top of my head. After tax it was ~$42 with basic shipping - so more than half off it sounds like :-)
- adfm 13y agoI've got a "smart TV" and can tell you that the UI they provide is crappy, slooooooooow, glitchy, and hard to navigate, even with the tinsy (yet clever) remote they provided (yes, Vizio, I'm talking to you). However, if you want to get an idea of how this device will operate, try pairing your phone to the YouTube app. Amazing? Yep. So much more useable than a silly remote. Plus, you'll likely be able to watch whatever service makes an app. Boom!
- mayanksinghal 13y agoFor me, it is the ability to control the TV from my cellphone, tab or mac without dealing with the terrible keyboards on the smart TV remotes (PS3 input is only slightly better).
- msoad 13y agoWhat is maximum video bit-rate this can handle? Can this do real 1080 with 7.2 audio?
- dtparr 13y agoDuring this morning's presentation, they mentioned 1080p with 5.1 but I don't know if that was the max or just an example. http://live.arstechnica.com/breakfast-with-sundar-at-google/#post-313535 http://live.arstechnica.com/breakfast-with-sundar-at-google/...
- johnmurch 13y agoSo it's like an apple tv where you can push streams from your iOS or andriod device (e.g. youtube) but what about browser/app integration? I would love to be able to create a "widget" that sits on my tv and has internet. I could think of a ton of things. Like snapchat but for videos .. just saying :)
- tejaswiy 13y agoI wish this did a full laptop display mirroring like AirPlay. Looks like this only works with Chrome, so it looks like I can't rent / download a movie on a different service (say iTunes) and play it on my TV. Bummer.
- jknightco 13y agoYou can do full display mirroring via Chrome's Remote Desktop extension (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrome-remote-desktop/gbchcmhmhahfdphkhkmpfmihenigjmpp?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrome-remote-desk...). I believe the same functionality exists for Chromecast, but don't quote me on that.
- msumpter 13y agoOh just wait until the community gets the devices in their hands. I suspect we'll see this feature added in via 3rd party software installed on your PC.
- alpb 13y agoWould it work to stream MacBook screen to a TV? Because the system seems generic and it could bring AirPlay to any TV.
- BHSPitMonkey 13y agoAirPlay 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.
- ampsonic 13y agoI wonder how long until they are available on Amazon.
- Sharma 13y agoChromecast will be available for $35 starting Wednesday from Amazon, Google Play and Best Buy. Best Buy will also carry the device in stores later this month.
- evandena 13y agoThe Chrome G+ post said this afternoon.
- macleanjr 13y agoI waited to order mine from Google in hopes of getting Prime shipping from Amazon... hope I didn't miss out entirely.
- pat2man 13y agohttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DR0PDNE http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DR0PDNE
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- vinhboy 13y agoThis is a $35 AppleTV. Well played google.
- subb 13y agoAs always with Google, you need to ask "What's the marketing strategy behind this? Why are they making this device?" My guess : Yet another way to consume more medias / using Google services.
- dm8 13y agoIf 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 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.
- MBCook 13y ago> They made it dead simple to stream content from any device to your TV. So anyone can use it, particularly the older generation. That's not really new. Apple TV lets you do the same thing with AirPlay, and it works great. Seems like a decent device, and the fact that it works with non-Apple hardware is obviously useful for people who don't have Apple households, but I don't think it's disruptive.
- ChikkaChiChi 13y agoIf Microsoft developed the first tablets but Apple perfected it into a disruptive device, couldn't the same hold true for an Airplay to Chromecast corollary? The NEW disruptive aspects of the new device are the price point, the collaborative playlist aggregation, and the open ecosystem. Airplay was the first to the table in ease of push technology but existing in its own vertical market prevented it from a more widespread adoption. We'll be looking back on the Chromecast as the device that helped redefine how we addressed the media center form factor.
- prehkugler 13y ago> Apple TV lets you do the same thing with AirPlay, and it works great. Not entirely. AirPlay is baked into the OS, so devs don't need to do extra work to support it. Chromecast (or, the Google Cast SDK) is built into the app level, and works in a fundamentally different way (i.e. streams from the internet and allows multi-user queueing vs. streams from the audio/video output of the device). I don't think it's terribly disruptive - it's essentially AirPlay 2.0 - but it is new.
- ctdonath 13y agoAny bets on how soon Apple respond by opening the long-rumored AppleTV App Store?
- tjbiddle 13y agoLooks like if you refresh enough it will allow you to purchase - Just ordered one. Took a lot less time than the Nexus 4 ordering process ;-)
- rplacd 13y agoThe 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.
- abrahamsen 13y agoThey 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.
- jordanthoms 13y agoAlthough it leaves the Google TV team in an awkward position
- SEMW 13y agoThe GoogleTV g+, twitter etc. feeds, previously pretty active, have been dead since January. My guess is the bulk of the GoogleTV engineering talent left it to make chromecast.
- martingordon 13y agoIt'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.
- josh2600 13y agoYeah, I bought one. The fundamental problem I'm trying to solve with this device is streaming youtube to my parents TV. I want something low-tech that they can invoke from their Computer/Android/iOS device and I don't want them to learn a new menu. The pricepoint is what sold me. AppleTV is too expensive for what it does, and while the power plug is annoying, it's easier than their current solution, which involves leveraging an old PS3 for Netflix playback. So yeah, this is not a straight up replacement for AppleTV, but it solves the subset of problems I'm looking for. That's my $.02.
- Sven7 13y agoWhat you might be looking for, is nowadays positioned as a "smart TV converter box" $60-100. Basically a Android box that has a hdmi/av out, connects to wifi and comes with a remote. I set this up for my parents so they can launch skype on their old TV a couple remote clicks. But turned out they can install apps from google play so they get youtube, news and email too.
- kayoone 13y agoAwesome that its so affordable. HTC has a similar device called Media Link HD which costs around $90 and i considered buying it. Chromecast all the way :)
- edtechdev 13y agoThis 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.)
- BHSPitMonkey 13y agoI'm actually desperately searching for confirmation on whether this devices DOES support Miracast (and screen sharing). My guy is saying "no", since it isn't advertised anywhere. I think this device might only be receiving URIs and control commands from other devices.
- darkchasma 13y agoChromecast 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?
- chrisblackwell 13y agoI know how you feel. Considering this thing will be sold at BestBuy, and we have BestBuy in Canada, why can't we get this thing day one?
- georgemcbay 13y agoIt is sold out even for US customers on the Play store at this point. Bad week for me to be picked for jury duty, would have probably caught this in time otherwise.
- Ricapar 13y agoAny 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.
- infinita740 13y agoWhen you click the chrome logo on this page: http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/chromecast/#chrome http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/chromecast/#chr... you can see G+ pics being displayed on the TV so I guess you could use it to show pics
- smackfu 13y agoMakes much more sense as a product than last year's Nexus Q.
- zaidmo 13y agoI 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...
- dangrossman 13y agoNo. 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.
- dragonwriter 13y ago> 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.
- szager 13y agoCorrection: Netflix for Android/iOS, YouTube for Android/iOS, Google Play for Android, and Chrome browser for Android/Windows/Mac/iOS/ChromeOS. iOS support is a major factor here.
- SEMW 13y agoWell, there are 4 now. But there's a public API (more precisely, 3 public APIs), so more'll start popping up soon enough. https://developers.google.com/cast/ https://developers.google.com/cast/
- sthomas1618 13y agoWill I be able to use free Hulu on Chrome through it? If so, this could make subscribing to Hulu Plus unneeded.
- ryandvm 13y agoI'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.
- mmcclellan 13y agoHmm, this specifically mentions Chrome for Mac and Chrome for Windows. That very well may mean no capability for Linux yet. It also doesn't implicitly say Chrome OS, so maybe Chromebooks won't work either.
- MitziMoto 13y agoIt says the Chromebook Pixel works. I wonder what it is about the Pixel specifically that allows it to work. I imagine a Linux port isn't that far off, but unfortunately I don't have any windows machines left in my house.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- dragonwriter 13y ago> To share a tab which is streaming a video, you need a CPU capable of real-time 1366x768 video encoding Tab casting is restricted to 1366x768?
- umsm 13y agoI'll buy this once there is wide adoption. I would like either a Bluray player or VLC to support this.
- dtparr 13y agoHas 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?
- dangrossman 13y agoOther 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.
- dtparr 13y agoThanks. 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.
- prehkugler 13y agoNative app download at google.com/chromecast/setup - looks like the native app searches for the devices and uses your computer as an external (wifi?) input for setup.
- mrbill 13y agoListed, but not yet available to purchase, on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DR0PDNE http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DR0PDNE
- JustARandomGuy 13y agoIt's now listed as In Stock. Just purchased one myself, my order lists an expected arrival date of end of the month.
- mrbill 13y agoJust ordered two myself from Amazon - and now Google Play won't let me cancel my order there. D'oh.
- shuri 13y agocomcast?
- induscreep 13y agoSo it's a portable Apple TV...very interesting to see all that functionality in such a small form factor. Still, nothing that a 5$ HDMI cable from my PC to TV cannot accomplish.
- marcamillion 13y agoThis 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.
- sk5t 13y agoHmm, interesting point... I would be plugging this thing directly into a giant Pioneer receiver--never the TV monitor--and certainly HDMI is not itself an impediment to 5.1 audio, but details on supported digital audio formats seem a bit scarce now.
- marcamillion 13y agoBased on all the images (and limited copy) here, it seems that it may need you to plug it directly into the TV and not a receiver. I could be mistaken, but the video, images and copy all seem to go to the TV.
- umeshunni 13y agoDoes the docs say that the audio is only stereo? Is that a product limitation or an HDMI limitation?
- marcamillion 13y agoNope. I don't see anything about the audio at all. I just know that for my setup, whenever I plug anything into my HDMI port on my TV, I get stereo audio. It could be that my TV doesn't handle the audio decoding properly, but I imagine that it isn't exclusive to my Toshiba.
- mortehu 13y agoHDMI supports 7.1 surround. I'm not sure what kind of setup you have where you get sound from your TV to your sound system, but you can buy an HDMI splitter for something like $10 that will give you an optical audio signal and a video-only HDMI signal.
- ChikkaChiChi 13y agoI 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.
- Karunamon 13y agoAgreed! 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.
- corresation 13y agoIt sounds like it has no UI. It simply shows video streams.
- ChikkaChiChi 13y agoThis 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.
- altcognito 13y agoExactly. 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.
- lotu 13y agoOkay 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?
- ben010783 13y agoThe power chord is a USB cable. My guess was that you set it up on your computer via USB.
- prehkugler 13y agogoogle.com/chromecast/setup gives you a link to download a native computer app. Looks like it does some wifi search from the native app to "pair" and setup the device.
- antimatter15 13y agoFrom the setup page (https://cast.google.com/chromecast/setup https://cast.google.com/chromecast/setup), it appears that it generates its own access point that you connect to.
- smmnyc 13y agoI wonder if this is why Google never released a YouTube channel for roku devices.
- TomAnthony 13y agoNot available in the UK, but given the specs I'm unsure what should prevent it working as is in the UK?
- mikeleung 13y agoits available to purchase on amazon now: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DR0PDNE/ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DR0PDNE/ free shipping with prime fyi you can probably still cancel your order on google play store, I cancelled mine 45 mins ago...
- jscheel 13y agoI'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?
- noamsml 13y agoPlayback is cloud-to-device, not device-to-device.
- path411 13y agoYes, from what I gather you should be able to even power off your phone, and the stream is still going. The device itself is running chrome, and opening up netflix itself. Your phone or whatever device you use to talk to it, is more of a peripheral used to control the chromecast device. Basically your phone is not only practically, but technically, just a remote.
- YellowRex 13y agoSo who is writing an app to trigger streaming from a local network file share?
- ihsw 13y agoThat is half of what I use my Wii for, it'd be very tempting to switch to the Chromecast for that.
- joosters 13y agoWhats 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?
- thezach 13y agoChrome Cast on Amazon Now http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DR0PDNE/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00DR0PDNE&linkCode=as2&tag=aspweb-20 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DR0PDNE/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...
- Splendor 13y agoThanks! With Prime I get it 5 days sooner for less money via Amazon.
- exhilaration 13y agoAnd free shipping too! Google is charging for shipping.
- GoNB 13y agoJust purchased, thanks. :) What's with all the Amazon reviews already? They should have locked reviews for a few days to prevent trolls.
- Rayne 13y agoThis 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.
- GoNB 13y agoYou're asking for far more control than what Google has access to, at least on mobile devices. Apple can do it for iOS because they make it.
- Rayne 13y agoI specifically mean desktop. I'd be surprised to learn that VNC clients and such can manage it but something like this wouldn't, but I've been known to be wrong before.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- cyanbane 13y agoIf this works as an access point I wonder what the pairing will consist of and how easy it would be to stream "things" to neighbor's houses.
- pawrvx 13y agoV2 feature requests: Support MHL (Power over HDMI) Windows Chromecast audio driver/chromecast monitor. So any media player can play to Chromecast...
- cpprototypes 13y agoThe "Buy Now" page has two options now: Google Play and Amazon. If I buy it through Amazon, do I get the 3 months netflix? Or is it only through Google Play?
- communal 13y agoAmazon offers the 3 months of Netflix too.
- belthasar 13y agoThe banner that offered 3 months of Netflix service is now gone for me. It was there when I ordered mine.
- cpprototypes 13y agoI just ordered through amazon, but am I too late for the 3 months? Is there any way to check?
- tolmasky 13y agoThis 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 feet away. 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.
- untog 13y agoOne downside to this: a lack of group browsing. Right now I have a PC attached to my TV- it's kind of old and I'm considering just replacing it with this ChromeCast thing. But when I have people over and we're watching a movie we browse the selection as a group- it'll be a shame not being able to do that.
- tolmasky 13y agoSo the way my friends and I currently use the Apple TV is we all kind of just try to Airplay stuff from our phones and whatever randomly wins, wins. It would be cool to keep that same interaction, just with a little more structure: perhaps the videos get queued instead of all of them losing instead of one.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- GoNB 13y agoI have a 30" desktop monitor (Dell u3011) that I use as my "television". I can now stream a video from my iPad to my 30". My monitor doesn't have speakers. Can I still listen to audio through headphones connected to my iPad? I'm assuming yes.
- bhartzer 13y agoI'll buy a Chromecast, but I'm still keeping my Google TV. Still like browsing and access to all the Android apps on my 50 inch flatscreen.
- readysetgo 13y agoOh I thought this was hacker news, not advertising for giant companies that don't need it news.
- shanselman 13y agoIt'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.
- bostonvaulter2 13y agoDid they stop offering the three free months of netflix? I don't see it mentioned anywhere on the page or amazon listing anymore.
- jasallen 13y agoGoogle may have just won the game, with an infinitely more simple approach than Apple TV, Xbox, and PS. What disruption is all about. Not a Google fan boy, but bravo.
- jeena 13y agoAs always I'm not allowed to buy it because I live in Europe (Sweden).
- zensavona 13y agoAs always, not available in Australia...
- mahyarm 13y agoThey 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.
- spankalee 13y agoIt doesn't even have to be cheaper, just have audio out.
- general_failure 13y agoThis is a great Roku 3 competitor! Except roku can't play youtube.
- etler 13y agoSorry OUYA. This will play any android game. :)
- tmzt 13y agoI would be very curious what SoC this is based around, whether Android games and other things can be added with firmware upgrades or if this is more of a VideoCore-style type chip like the Roku 2 and RaspPI. Based on the price though I think this would be that class of processor and not really a competitor hardware wise with Apple TV (dual-core A6).
- etler 13y agoI think it's cute how Google checkout pretends they don't already know your home address and phone number. :)
- adamconroy 13y agoYes, the algorithm could probably have predicted you making this comment as well.
- rlu 13y agoDoes 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?
- shawabawa3 13y agoI guess you could always whip up an html5 page to play local videos
- teamonkey 13y agoBest Buy is listing the model number as "H2G2-42"
- scarlson 13y agoAt the same price as a Raspberry Pi, why would I want one? For me, the only benefit I see to the Chromecast is frequent travel for use on hotel televisions. Otherwise, an HTPC is going to provide superior functionality at the same cost.
- jordanthoms 13y agoWell, I have a HTPC, and a PS3, and I still got this. Why? Because it's super cheap, and does a few things better than the other devices - Youtube and Netflix etc don't work on XBMC well at all, youtube on the PS3 is a pain since you have to wait for it to open the app, and being able to use this for play music will be great. For $17 (with the netflix months and shipping), it's well worth it.
- scarlson 13y agoIt's great for a run and go gadget, but I don't think it'll replace my HTPC. If I didn't already have dedicated hardware, I'd get one. As it is, there isn't anything it does that makes it worth including in an existing HTPC setup.
- jordanthoms 13y agoReally? How do you do Youtube/Netflix on your HTPC now? How about play music? If you are browsing youtube on your laptop and want to play it on your tv, how many seconds is that going to take to transfer the video playback?
- ttflee 13y agoI can smell the blood in a niche market. https://www.google.com/search?q=tv+stick https://www.google.com/search?q=tv+stick
- jahmed 13y agoSo its a streaming Chrome 2 Phone.
- nausher81 13y agoChromecast chrome extension works on PS3 YouTube App. I just tried today and noticed, with the Chromecast extension for Chrome (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-cast/boadgeojelhgndaghljhdicfkmllpafd https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-cast/boadge...) installed. I am now able to push YouTube videos from my laptop to my PS3 (YouTube App). This makes searching videos just so much more easier.
- kayoone 13y agoSo it seems not to be an actualy HDMI reciever that just outputs your devices screen on the TV so that you can do anything with it like playing back moviews, playing games on the big screen etc ? Thats that, i had hoped it was basically a Miracast reciever..HTC has a similar device called the Media Link HD which does this, its $90 though but seems to be the way to go for me as i dont want to be limitied by whats possible in chrome.
- elleferrer 13y agoIt'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-difference-between-chromecast-and-google-tv-interview/ http://allthingsd.com/20130724/sundar-pichai-on-the-differen...
- eloisant 13y agoAny doc about what developers have to do to support Chromecast?
- dudus 13y agohttps://developers.google.com/cast/ https://developers.google.com/cast/
- leetreveil 13y agoDoes anyone want to buy one for me and ship it to the UK? I'll make it worth your while... Email me: leetreveil@gmail.com
- solnyshok 13y agoSome compared this to AppleTV, but I would love to point out sellers of overpriced hdmi cables ($20-60, gold plated bla-bla-bla together with new TV). Also, Samsung sells wifi dobgles for their SmartTVs for $60-80 in my country. Hopefully that business will get more reasonable...
- lnanek2 13y agoThis 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.
- rdl 13y agoI 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.
- kleiba 13y agoWith Chromecast, you can easily enjoy your favorite online entertainment on your HDTV—movies, TV shows, music, and more from Netflix, YouTube, Google Play, and Chrome ...as long as you live in North America.