Hasta La Gadget!

In recent weeks, it was made known Google’s Chromecast would be arriving in the United Kingdom sometime this month, giving just about two weeks on the dot for an official … Continue reading

Chromecast is a $35 HDMI dongle made by Google. The company says that it has already sold “millions” of Chromecast units just in the U.S., so it goes without saying that this dongle has proven to be quite a hit. If you happen to own one then you might have heard about the AllCast app for Chromecast. It was first launched right after Chromecast went up for sale. It allowed users to stream local content from their devices. Google dropped the banhammer initially but when the Chromecast API was opened up, AllCast regained its crucial feature. The developer has now launched a new AllCast update which brings even more new features.

Some tweaks have been made to the user interface as well. There’s a new “now playing” screen, one that’s displayed when content is being streamed from the device to the dongle. Moreover, the app now offers basic lock screen controls, allowing users to control functions like play, pause or forward without having to unlock their device.

The AllCast app for Android is now also capable of displaying album art when its being used to stream music to a Chromecast connected TV. Other nifty changes include ability to control Chromecast volume control with phone volume buttons, better playback controls, better playlist management and a plethora of bug fixes. AllCast is offered for free, albeit its ad-supported. There’s a premium version on sale for $4.99 which removes all advertisements.

AllCast App Update Brings Lock Screen Controls And More original content from Ubergizmo.

This week the folks behind the media streaming app ecosystem Plex have announced that they’re finally out of Beta with Chromecast support. They’ve been testing Chromecast for several weeks now, … Continue reading

Roku announced on Tuesday the launch of a new Streaming Stick which appears to be taking Google’s Chromecast head on. The new device is not much larger than a USB flash drive and connects directly to a television through an HDMI port, bringing streaming media to your TV through a small, hidden package.

The Roku Streaming Stick also comes with a remote control similar to the existing Roku boxes (minus a headphone jack), and a Micro-USB connector for power. It also gives you access too all of the 1,200 streaming media channels that Roku has to offer including YouTube through 1080p and supported by dual-band WiFi.

Compared to Google’s Chromecast this adds a remote, more channels and an extra $15 is cost for the device. The only thing it really can’t access that Chromecast can is your Google Play media library.

Roku is launching the new Streaming Stick in April, retailing for $49.99.

Roku

AllCast was one of the first Chromecast applications that aimed to expand the functionality of this $35 dongle. It allowed users to beam local content from their devices to any TV that had Chromecast plugged in, though at the time Google hadn’t opened up the SDK to all developers so it released an update for the dongle which killed this feature. Once the Chromecast SDK went live, AllCast was updated with its core feature and it once again began allowing users to beam any content from their Android devices to the dongle.

Initially though the app didn’t exactly have quite an appealing user interface, but now it does. Developer Koushik Dutta has completely revamped the user interface, its a major redesign, with tabbed browsing of content and even a new slide out navigation menu. The color scheme has been overhauled as well, so the app is now much more easier on the eyes.

Apart from the redesign and the splash of color, Dutta has also added Muzei support. AllCast will now display Muzei extensions as sources for content, the opportunities are boundless since support is quite widespread. The updated AllCast application for Android is live and available for download through the Google Play Store.

Chromecast AllCast App Gets A New UI And Muzei Support original content from Ubergizmo.