Hasta La Gadget!

CheapCast is a great way to get some of Chromecast’s functionality for free, sure, but it’s been lacking a few of the Google dongle’s features since the app launched. If you’ve been hankering to beam browser tabs to your TV (via an HDMI-or-WiFi-connected mobile device, of course), CheapCast’s latest update enables just that. Android Police notes that this seemingly only works with tabs and not fullscreen casting, while DRM’d services like Netflix and Google Play Movies “actually might never work.” However, this should make it easier to play Vimeo or other Flash-based video content on your flatscreen — right where it belongs.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Mobile

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Via: Android Police

Source: Google Play

The next generation of consoles are in the wild, and now that the general public has access, they’re bumping up against some new restrictions with the way they work. While Twitch is clamping down on its live streams, on the Xbox One side some users have run afoul of XBL policies against foul language in their Upload Studio clips. Microsoft hasn’t been specific about what constitutes a violation, but in a statement to TechCrunch it says “excessive swearing” (in Upload Studio, peer to peer communications like Skype are reportedly unmonitored) can lead to some or all Xbox Live privileges disappearing. In this case, it appears to usually manifest as a 24 hour ban on voice communication, which some of those affected first noticed when they tried to use a different app like Skype. We’ll see if these policies or the way they’re enforced evolve over time (if not, you may be in for some very quiet gaming sessions with your favorite Engadget editors), but for now you might want to tell the world what you think of campers after liberating an uploaded clip from SkyDrive.

Filed under: Gaming, HD, Microsoft

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Source: TechCrunch, Reddit

We hope you weren’t bent on using the Xbox 360 as a U-Verse TV receiver. AT&T is now telling customers that it will drop IPTV support for Microsoft’s older console after December 31st, leaving viewers with little choice but to use a conventional set-top box. Subscribers will get a $99 credit in return for their troubles, the provider says. We’ve reached out to AT&T for more details regarding the move, but there are no signs of an official Xbox One substitute on the horizon.

[Thanks, Chuck]

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Mobile, Microsoft, AT&T

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Source: AT&T

Faced with an influx of living-room livestreamers and the risqué content that follows, Twitch has begun a crackdown on PlayStation 4 streams. The company has taken to its Twitter account to remind users that broadcasting via the console’s Playroom feature, which uses Sony’s PlayStation Eye camera to stream to Twitch and uStream, must have a gaming focus or risk having their account suspended. Most users, including the husband and wife team behind The Spartan Show, have kept within Twitch’s terms of service, but others have decided the console provides the perfect platform to broadcast sexual content and host non-gaming shows. While Sony already offers the broadcasting service, Xbox One owners will have to wait until “early 2014” to stream their games — either way, Twitch will have quite the job on its hands as gamers test the limits of their new all-seeing consoles.

Filed under: Gaming, HD, Sony

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Via: Polygon

Source: Kotaku

Many of us only wish we could upgrade our less-than-smart TVs. Carnivore at DroidBuild, however, has taken matters into his own hands — he recently finished installing a Raspberry Pi-based media center into his own 40-inch Hisense screen. The hack replaces the TV’s built-in speaker with a Raspbmc system that has a 3D-printed faceplate for Ethernet and USB ports, an infrared adapter and external speaker output. While the modification is risky (and certainly voids the warranty), it’s much more elegant than hanging the Raspberry Pi off the back of the set. Check Carnivore’s photo guide at the source link if you’d like to know how he achieved the feat.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Via: Adafruit, Hack A Day

Source: DroidBuild