Hasta La Gadget!

Google’s relationship with television is spotty, at best. Google TV, whether as a set-top box or as a built-in product, has been an ongoing punchline. It didn’t even sell television shows in the Play Store until a year ago. But Chromecast is different. It’s Google’s cross-platform answer to AirPlay, a video-friendly dongle that fits snuggly behind your TV. And, most importantly, they’re practically giving it away.

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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.

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.

Google’s Chromecast is Mountain View’s next foray into the television market. In brief, it’s a $35 HDMI dongle that mirrors content being played nearby on a tablet, smartphone or computer. Hrm, that sounds familiar. The 2-inch device runs “a simplified version of Chrome OS” and requires separate USB power; connect it to your local WiFi network and similarly connected devices work with Chromecast. It can be ordered right now on Google Play and will apparently ship in one to two days. Of note, the device seems US-only for now, as our UK colleagues are showing a “not available in your country” prompt. Early buyers get three months of free Netflix with the purchase. Additionally, it’s also heading to retail (read: Best Buy) on July 28th. Google ended its presentation with a quick word that Chromecast functionality will eventually come embedded in various other devices, and that it’s working on getting other countries access “as quickly as possible.” No specs were given during the presentation, but its Google Play page lists the device as HDMI-CEC compatible, and it uses 2.4GHz 801.11 b/g/n WiFi. Given the separate USB power required, the $35 nets you a Chromecast device, an HDMI extended, a USB power cable and a separate power adapter.

Apps that work with the device include a “Cast” button that allows users to push video to their televisions and control various aspects remotely (volume, play, pause, etc.). “Once Chromecast is plugged in, you just go to YouTube on your smartphone,” Google reps said. “You’ll see the cast button in your UI and you press it — Chromecast will pull the info you requested from the cloud and play it on your TV.” Meanwhile, an on-stage demonstration showed YouTube video being pushed “via the cloud,” thus enabling other apps to be used while a video is being viewed on a television screen. Netflix was up next, and it has similar remote control functionality. Google Play movies and television (expectedly) also work with Chromecast, and Google delightedly demonstrated it with Vin Diesel vehicle Fast Five. Finally, Google demoed full Google Chrome projected on a TV and controlled remotely with a “standard $500 Windows 8 laptop.” The feature is “still in early days,” but a promise has already been made: that users will be able to easily project content to televisions via their web browser.

Update: We’ve added Chromecast’s first commercial (which demonstrates much of the device’s functionality) just after the break, and a source link with Google’s formal announcement.

Update 2: Aside from the Google Play store and Best Buy, you can also buy the Chromecast from Amazon. Thankfully, that three-month gratis Netflix would still be applicable if you buy it from the online giant.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals, Internet, Software, HD, Google

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Source: Google, Amazon