You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Google recently unveiled Chromecast, a HDMI dongle that lets use “cast” content from your mobile device or computer to your TV over a Wi-Fi network. We reportedly recently that the dongle didn’t have support for public Wi-Fi networks, meaning that you wouldn’t be able to use it on a hotel’s wireless connection, which is certainly a huge drawback for travelers. It is now being reported that Google’s $35 dongle doesn’t support YouTube live streams, so if watching the next Google event on your big TV was on the agenda, you’ll have to make some other arrangement.
AndroidPolice reports that for now, YouTube live stream support is not present in Chromecast. Google has mentioned this in a support page as well, but a clear reason has not been provided as to why Chromecast is unable to support YouTube live streams. Moreover, YouTube videos that are set to “private” or disabled for mobile viewing will also not be playable via the dongle. One may try to work around this by accessing the live stream on their desktop or laptop via the Chrome browser and then “casting” it to Chromecast, in that case apparently only the audio and a few choppy frames are beamed to the TV. Despite all of these shortfalls, there seems to be genuine interest in Google’s dongle. The company sold out of its initial stock within one day of launch.
Chromecast Doesn’t Support YouTube Live Streams original content from Ubergizmo. 
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You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Motorola has been doing its best to build some buzz around the Moto X, which launched this week. As a smartphone, the X is decidedly middle-of-the-road. It boasts specs and a design similar to the Droid models Motorola announced last week. Available later this month at $199 on-contract from most major US carriers, the X’s biggest claim to fame — other than swappable backplates, including one made of wood — is the fact that it’s assembled in the US, in a 500,000-square-foot factory in Fort Worth, Texas. Yes, that’s “assembled.” Despite widespread reports that the X is being made in the US, most of its components, from its display to those backplates, are produced in factories around the world, and workers in Texas will assemble the phones.
Does it really matter where your smartphone is made? If your main concern is domestic job creation, it might. A 2012 survey by Boston Consulting Group found that over 80 percent of Americans are willing to pay more for products that are made in the US instead of China, mainly because they want to keep jobs in the country. Interestingly, the same survey found that 60 percent of Chinese consumers would pay a premium for US-made products, apparently based on the belief that the US produces higher-quality products. When it comes to smartphones, that’s an idea that’s difficult to put to the test; there are none currently manufactured in the United States, and that’s not about to change with the launch of the X.
Gallery: Motorola Moto X preview
Each week, our friends at gdgt go through the latest gadgets and score them to help you decide which ones to buy. Here are some of their most recent picks. Want more? Visit gdgt anytime to catch up on the latest, and subscribe to gdgt’s newsletter to get a weekly roundup in your inbox.
It is sold out at Amazon. It is sold out at Best Buy online. It is sold out at the 16 Best Buy stores closest to my home in North Carolina. The nearest Best Buy availability is in Roanoke, Va. (Amazon and Best Buy are the retail outlets sanctioned by Google.) You can buy it directly from Google at the Play Store, but as of this writing, the wait time for shipping has been extended to three to four weeks.
In a world where people line up for hours to buy a $500 tablet, selling out a $35 dongle isn’t necessarily a milestone, or an indicator of anything significant. But I’ll hammer a prediction stake into the ground: Chromecast will create change in media consumption habits disproportionate to its price. Its power will come partly from its tech-candy pricing, but only partly. This little invention hits a few other sweet spots.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, Google
It did not take too long for Google’s Chromecast dongle to be rooted right after it was announced, so here we are with word that Google themselves have hit back squarely this time around, by rolling out the Google Chromecast’s very first software update that will include a bunch of new software patches to fix selected bugs while improving security and reliability – which means the root exploit is no longer a viable route to take. Not only that, it is also said that this update will make the Chromecast a whole lot tougher to root.
Do take into consideration that Google will push this update over the Internet to the $35 Chromecast automatically, similar to how updates arrive on Chromebooks. For those who have rooted your Chromecast device, you will most probably find yourself losing root access in due time should you be unable to take preventive update steps. Well, I guess hackers will just have to find a different security hole to exploit in this exciting game of cat and mouse.
Chromecast Update Fixes Root Exploit original content from Ubergizmo. 
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We hope you weren’t planning to tinker with your Chromecast this weekend. GTVHacker has confirmed that a recent firmware update to Google’s streaming media stick plugs the bootloader exploit that many are using to get root access. Some XDA-Developers members have tried maintaining root by flashing recovery images and disabling signing keys, but those aren’t reliable solutions — we’ve seen a few reports of bricked Chromecasts. If you’re cautious, it may be best to wait until more adventurous owners find a vulnerability in Google’s newer code.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Google
Via: Android Police
Source: XDA-Developers, GTVHacker (Twitter)
Remember the Nexus Q? Yeah, we do too. After coming up short with that streaming effort, Google pulled the wraps off of another attempt to invade living rooms last week. In this week’s issue of our tablet mag, we give Chromecast the proper review treatment to see if Mountain View’s goal to smarten up dumb TVs hits the ground running. Hands-On scours the show floor at SIGGRAPH, Recommended Reading has more first-hand Google Glass observations and IRL takes another peek inside our rucksacks. Get cozy folks, because your end of the week tech reading is ready for download.
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Filed under: Announcements, HD, Mobile
Source: iTunes, Google Play, Windows Store
Chromecast has scarcely been available for more than a week, and has already seen several video services and companies jump aboard. On July 29, we reported that Vimeo and Redbox Instant were both confirmed to be working on support for Chromecast, and earlier today news surfaced that HBO Go and Hulu will be arriving. Now […]
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