Hasta La Gadget!

This week the folks a Google have introduced a re-birth of the TV-connected smart device Nexus Q with a dongle called “Chromecast”. This device connects through your television’s standard HDMI port, connects to the web via Wi-Fi, and is controlled by a wide variety of devices, including Android, iOS, Chrome for Windows, Chrome for OS X, and Chrome OS on the Chromebook Pixel.

This device can be explained first by the Nexus Q, a machine that was introduced in 2012 and was quickly doused in the face of its slightly larger-than-life form factor and limited functionality. Now here in 2013, Google comes back with essentially the same package in a pocketable dongle called Chromecast.

This device connects – at first – with YouTube, Netflix, and Google’s media services in Google Play – movies and music, too. This device will cost a surprising $35 USD – and if you’re reading this just a few minutes after the device was first introduced, you’ll likely see one of two messages: “Coming soon” or “sold out”. This could be a glitch, or it could very well be that Google hit the price point on the head.

The device itself works with HDMI and is CEC compatible, working with a maximum video resolution output at 1080p. The dongle measures in at 72(L) x 35(W) x 12(H) mm and weighs an easy-to-forget-about 34g, and needing one of the following operating systems to function:

• Android 2.3 and higher
• iOS 6 and higher
• Windows®7 and higher
• Mac OS 10.7 and higher
• Chrome OS (Chromebook Pixel, additional Chromebooks coming soon).

And be sure to note that you’re going to need to plug this bad boy in to the wall as well. Barely visible in these preview images, there is indeed a microUSB port at the back of this machine – most modern televisions have a USB port on their back anyway, they’ll do the trick. Otherwise you’ll be needing another power port behind your TV. Time for another power strip!

Chromecast hits $35 price point, aims to connect TV to the web this week is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

I spy with my little eye, a crack in a Renaissance masterpiece! Well, that particular “job” has fallen onto the shoulders of a robot now, at least at Madrid’s Reina Sofia museum in Spain. A huge robot will scan a […]

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The pin marks the spot.

(Credit: Ornduvald)

In the virtual world of Google Maps, you know where things are based on pins marking the spot, like a modern-day version of the “X” on a treasure map. Danish design group Ornduvald has orchestrated a Google Maps invasion of the real world by building a giant, glittery version of a map pin.

The pin is part of a street art event in Horsens, Denmark. The pin is located at the city center and takes up about 30 square feet of space on the side of a building. It took more than 10,000 large sequins attached to a plywood base to create the massive pointer.

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The sequins ripple a little in the wind, giving the pin an almost watery surface and making it even more eye-catching. The sequins are in various colors of silver, gold, black, and purple. If Liberace had been on the Google Maps design team, all the pins would look like this.

The overall effect is a bit surreal, like you’re peeking into some sort of … [Read more]

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New Google Maps for Android moves in on Yelp, Foursquare

It seems that the Android master key which is said to be able to open up a whole new world for those with the technical know how as well as malicious intent, has been exploited. Symantec shared this bit of […]

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It would appear that Google is good and ready to enter the smart TV market from a Chrome angle this week with a device called Chromecast. This little beast is made to plug into your television’s standard HDMI port, connect to the web, and obey your every Chromebook and/or Android device’s command. Sound easy enough?

Here you’ll be working with a new “cast” button in apps like YouTube – sound familiar? – that’ll play a video that you choose from your phone or tablet (or Chrome web browser window) to your Chromecast-connected TV. This works in a manner thats exceedingly similar to the Nexus Q, a much larger device introduced by Google at Google I/O 2012 – and ditched not long after.

This device will be offered through the Google Play store the same as the Nexus device lineup and will be opening some rather interesting avenues for not just Android devices, but the whole Chrome operating system universe as well. Think about how not just televisions will be utilized, but massive computer displays as well!

We’ll be exploring this device and its abilities in greater detail once we have our hands on a unit. For now you’ll want to know this: this device connects with software, not with hardware, over a Wifi connection in your living room. It’ll work with the YouTube app on iOS, you can access this button with YouTube in a Chrome internet browser – and we’ll see what else as soon as hackers get their hands on it, too!

UPDATE: Netflix, too, of course. Expect big things from this cross-collaboration in the near future!

Chromecast: a tiny computer that connects your TV to your phone, tablet, and laptop is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.