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What are the advantages of Chromecast over something like Apple TV?

by yetfeo 13y ago

ChikkaChiChi 13y ago
I responded above, sorry :)
adventured 13y ago
Two things. Price, and no lock-in to Apple's ecosystem.
- yetfeo 13y ago
  Aren't you instead locked into Google's ecosystem?
  - ajross 13y ago
    To some extent. Google has to whitelist the apps that use the API. Right now that means you have access to Google's media offerings (including Youtube and G+) of course, but also Netflix and Hulu. Not Amazon yet or (obviously) iTunes. It will play your local music content, but only recently whitelisted a few apps capable of playing your own video files (even then the codecs and containers supported by Chromecast are a short list, so be prepared to do a bunch of transcoding). It's not open for sure. But it's not bad either; at $35 I'm willing to forgive the lack of hackability (I have a linux box on the same TV for that, this thing is just a convenience). And the UI is basically perfect: pull the phone out of your pocket, play the video using exactly the same apps you're used to, and just click the chromecast button to send it to the TV. No more hunting for remotes; on my TV it will even turn it on and switch to the right input source automatically.
  - taopao 13y ago
    No, first party service support is better of course, but there are quite a few third party services that are cast-friendly.
  - ulfw 13y ago
    Yes and you basically get the same content on Apple TV (Youtube, Hulu, Netflix...)
mrjatx 13y ago
It's cheap. I bought one for my bedroom tv which I only use when falling asleep. I already have a Roku for the living room. Until the SDK comes out their features cannot be compared.
Deinos 13y ago
At this point, mainly cost and size (just plug it into the back of the tv and it is out of the way). Potentially, apps, but that is a sore point at the moment, as there are not many to speak of.
pbreit 13y ago
Much cheaper, doesn't need to plug into wall, more and more open viewing options. Question should probably be reversed (says this Apple fanatic).
- yetfeo 13y ago
  It still needs power though so it needs to be plugged into something - whether USB or wall socket. What are the open viewing options? It seems to only provide youtube and google movies in countries that don't have netflix. Does it support streaming a local video from a phone or PC?
  - georgemcbay 13y ago
    HDMI (v1.4) alone is capable of providing power to the Chromecast, pin 18 is specced for +5V/50ma. Not every TV/monitor supports this since there aren't that many devices out in the field that utilize HDMI power, but if your TV does provide power over the HDMI port then the Chromecast can get everything it needs just from the HDMI port.
    - deserted 13y ago
      Using your Chromecast this way puts you at a disadvantage with many TVs. My TV only provides HDMI power when the input is selected (this may be per the spec) but that eliminates Chromecast's 'switch the input automatically' feature.
- Tloewald 13y ago
  Well it has different viewing options ("more open" for whatever that's worth). Based on Google's own promotions for Chromecast you gain Google Play and Pandora, and lose iTunes. There's a bunch of other tradeoffs I'm sure (I assume, for example, there's a PBS app for Chromecast just as there is for AppleTV. AppleTV supports Amazon video via AirPlay -- which is good but not great; but Amazon video simply won't play on Chromecast.) Chromecast is more intelligently architected than AppleTV (you hand off to Chromecast rather than remote-controlling it) but I suspect AppleTV will address this shortly. OTOH AppleTV works with any remote, and you can use any iOS device as a remote, and AirPlay is wonderful.
riobard 13y ago
I wrote up the differences on my blog a a while ago http://riobard.com/2013/08/23/chromecast-vs-apple-tv/ http://riobard.com/2013/08/23/chromecast-vs-apple-tv/
aduitsis 13y ago
Slightly off-topic rant: In the (European) country that I live in, you can actually buy an Apple TV. Whereas Chromecast simply does not exist. One can argue all day about how awesome Chromecast is, but if you can't buy it, well, it isn't really competitive. And this has happened with a lot of other Google products which where announced with great fanfare in the past. Off-topic, I tried to buy a 1-dollar song the other day. This may come as a surprise, but not only Google, but also Amazon were not willing to take my money. Of course iTunes happily accommodated me, as it has always been doing for many years.
- guyzero 13y ago
  International releases take time.
- Egregore 13y ago
  Same thing with selling apps on play store, it seems that google ignores most of the smaller countries.

What are the advantages of Chromecast over something like Apple TV?

by yetfeo 13y ago

What are the advantages of Chromecast over something like Apple TV?

ChikkaChiChi 13y ago

I responded above, sorry :)

adventured 13y ago

Two things. Price, and no lock-in to Apple's ecosystem.

yetfeo 13y ago
Aren't you instead locked into Google's ecosystem?
- ajross 13y ago
  To some extent. Google has to whitelist the apps that use the API. Right now that means you have access to Google's media offerings (including Youtube and G+) of course, but also Netflix and Hulu. Not Amazon yet or (obviously) iTunes. It will play your local music content, but only recently whitelisted a few apps capable of playing your own video files (even then the codecs and containers supported by Chromecast are a short list, so be prepared to do a bunch of transcoding). It's not open for sure. But it's not bad either; at $35 I'm willing to forgive the lack of hackability (I have a linux box on the same TV for that, this thing is just a convenience). And the UI is basically perfect: pull the phone out of your pocket, play the video using exactly the same apps you're used to, and just click the chromecast button to send it to the TV. No more hunting for remotes; on my TV it will even turn it on and switch to the right input source automatically.
- taopao 13y ago
  No, first party service support is better of course, but there are quite a few third party services that are cast-friendly.
- ulfw 13y ago
  Yes and you basically get the same content on Apple TV (Youtube, Hulu, Netflix...)

mrjatx 13y ago

It's cheap. I bought one for my bedroom tv which I only use when falling asleep. I already have a Roku for the living room. Until the SDK comes out their features cannot be compared.

Deinos 13y ago

At this point, mainly cost and size (just plug it into the back of the tv and it is out of the way). Potentially, apps, but that is a sore point at the moment, as there are not many to speak of.

pbreit 13y ago

Much cheaper, doesn't need to plug into wall, more and more open viewing options. Question should probably be reversed (says this Apple fanatic).

yetfeo 13y ago
It still needs power though so it needs to be plugged into something - whether USB or wall socket. What are the open viewing options? It seems to only provide youtube and google movies in countries that don't have netflix. Does it support streaming a local video from a phone or PC?
- georgemcbay 13y ago
  HDMI (v1.4) alone is capable of providing power to the Chromecast, pin 18 is specced for +5V/50ma. Not every TV/monitor supports this since there aren't that many devices out in the field that utilize HDMI power, but if your TV does provide power over the HDMI port then the Chromecast can get everything it needs just from the HDMI port.
  - deserted 13y ago
    Using your Chromecast this way puts you at a disadvantage with many TVs. My TV only provides HDMI power when the input is selected (this may be per the spec) but that eliminates Chromecast's 'switch the input automatically' feature.
Tloewald 13y ago
Well it has different viewing options ("more open" for whatever that's worth). Based on Google's own promotions for Chromecast you gain Google Play and Pandora, and lose iTunes. There's a bunch of other tradeoffs I'm sure (I assume, for example, there's a PBS app for Chromecast just as there is for AppleTV. AppleTV supports Amazon video via AirPlay -- which is good but not great; but Amazon video simply won't play on Chromecast.) Chromecast is more intelligently architected than AppleTV (you hand off to Chromecast rather than remote-controlling it) but I suspect AppleTV will address this shortly. OTOH AppleTV works with any remote, and you can use any iOS device as a remote, and AirPlay is wonderful.

riobard 13y ago

I wrote up the differences on my blog a a while ago http://riobard.com/2013/08/23/chromecast-vs-apple-tv/ http://riobard.com/2013/08/23/chromecast-vs-apple-tv/

aduitsis 13y ago

Slightly off-topic rant: In the (European) country that I live in, you can actually buy an Apple TV. Whereas Chromecast simply does not exist. One can argue all day about how awesome Chromecast is, but if you can't buy it, well, it isn't really competitive. And this has happened with a lot of other Google products which where announced with great fanfare in the past. Off-topic, I tried to buy a 1-dollar song the other day. This may come as a surprise, but not only Google, but also Amazon were not willing to take my money. Of course iTunes happily accommodated me, as it has always been doing for many years.

guyzero 13y ago
International releases take time.
Egregore 13y ago
Same thing with selling apps on play store, it seems that google ignores most of the smaller countries.