Hasta La Gadget!

It seems that the floodgates have been opened by YouTube, as the video hosting site has begun to allow users to beam videos to their Chromecast devices regardless of which website that they are on at that particular point in time. The addition of Chromecast support was embedded to its web player on the quiet, enabling users of Google’s TV dongle to “send” videos that are shown on third-party websites directly from their browser to their TV.

In the past, casting was only supported from YouTube.com, so this is definitely a step in the right direction. Several Chromecast users did start to report that recently, they managed to see the dongle’s play to TV button popping up on embedded videos on Google+, in addition to other sites. A YouTube spokesperson said this, “With more videos coming to YouTube every minute we’re always experimenting with ways to help people more easily find, watch and share the videos that matter most to them. As always, we’ll consider rolling changes out more broadly based on feedback on these experiments.” This is one move that makes plenty of sense for YouTube, as it could allow folks to view videos for longer periods of time, and in turn, YouTube will be able to show more ads, now how about that for a win-win situation?

YouTube Allows Users To Beam Videos To Chromecast Devices original content from Ubergizmo.

Though at first this little dongle seemed (in preview mode) to be a cool competitor for the Google Chromecast – it was revealed the same week, after all – here in its official show-off from Sony, it’s become apparent that the BRAVIA Smart Stick wont work with just any television. Here we’re to understand that […]

We first got a whiff of Sony’s NSZ-GU1 earlier this month from an FCC filing, and now the folks at GTVHacker point out those documents have been updated with more info and pictures. The first new Google TV hardware seen since the $35 Chromecast dongle launched, this device appears to be a blend of the two. A key difference revealed from the pictures however, is an odd stepped design, with the MHL/HDMI port protruding from the bottom of the box. The brief user manual included in the filing may explain this however, as it can draw power via that MHL output and the USB connection to a BRAVIA TV. A tiny diagram in the truncated user manual shows it plugged into the side of a TV like the Chromecast or Roku Streaming Stick. If you’re wondering about the PS4 — yes, we looked, but there’s no indication it’s meant to work directly with the upcoming console.

Like previous Google TV devices, it brings HDMI passthrough to the table along with an IR blaster, remote diagrams (in a separate filing) look similar to the one included with the NSZ-GS7 and GS8. Inside is a low power Marvell DE3108 SoC, 8GB of flash memory and 1GB RAM, however the specs indicate it’s limited to 720p video output. As GTVHacker put it, the entire thing is similar to the Chromecast but with Google TV features. What remains to be seen is when it arrives, how much it costs, and what software tweaks Google and Sony can cook up to make this generation of Android-powered smart TVs more appealing.%Gallery-slideshow76478%

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Sony, Google

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Via: CJ Heres (Twitter)

Source: FCC (1), (2)

Almost a month after releasing the official Chromecast app for Android, Google today launched the app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The app allows users to setup and configure various settings of their Chromecast dongle. It will also display the status of all dongles connected to a Wi-Fi network, making it easier for the user to find out which dongles in the building are ready to “cast” content.

Google announced Chromecast last month. It is a HDMI dongle which is capable of mirroring content on a television screen from mobile devices nearby such as smartphones and tablets. Content can be beamed from a computer as well. Apps that have a special “cast” button need to be used, since Chromecast doesn’t support local streaming as of now. It costs just $35 and lets users stream content from YouTube, Netflix, Google Play Store and the Chrome web browser. The app is used to setup the dongle to the Wi-Fi network as well as configure settings such as the Wi-Fi password and device name. Chromecast for iOS work with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch provided that they are running iOS 5.1 firmware or higher. The official Chromecast app is available as a free download from iTunes App Store.

Chromecast For iOS Released original content from Ubergizmo.

Google is doing a good job of trying to make Chromecast have a degree of cross-platform appeal that AirPlay can’t offer; today, it’s launching an iOS app for managing the Chromecast device’s settings, and for setting it up in the first place, so that you can more easily use the $35 streaming player if you’re generally an Apple device fan.

The app for iOS devices is available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users, and will automatically scan for existing local Chromecast devices, as well as allow you to set up a new one to add to your Wi-Fi network. It also lists compatible apps, which for now include both YouTube and Netflix on iOS, from which to broadcast content.

Google recently got some flack for shutting down a third-party app that allowed users stream anything on a user’s Android smartphone, true AirPlay mirroring style. Google then issued a statement saying the app broke mostly due to the evolving nature of the still-in-development SDK, and not necessarily because of any direct attempt to block its functionality.

The iOS app released today is basically equivalent to the Android version released in mid-August, which means Apple users will likely get support for the device in time with or slightly behind their Google-favouring counterparts. If Google can expand the Chromecast beyond its limited feature set and see it embraced as a fairly universal standard by app-makers, this could be the sleeper media streaming hit of the decade at $35, but that’s still a very big “if”, and many early reviewers seem unconvinced by the gadget’s current limitations.