14 thoughts on “Google's $35 Chromecast stick pushes Netflix, YouTube to your TV”
Remember who HBO Go added Airplay support, so you could watch HBO stuff with an iOS device and Apple TV, and how great that was?
Remember how much better it was when they just added HBO Go support to the AppleTV itself?
That’s how I feel about this “streaming only” solution.
It’s an interesting approach and as CNET tweeted, the killer feature really is price – but it does seem to be a bit of a hack. I went ahead and pre-ordered to see what it’s all about, but suspect there will be a number of limitations and gotchas.
Yeah, I blew it. Google won’t let me cancel my order – which might not ship until next week. Ah well!
Go down or call your local Best Buy. They are in stock at some stores. Amazon is sold out.
I think the device won’t suffer from any “it’s too expensive” barriers. So people won’t really consider that.
Secondly, It’s actually closer to $11, since most people have Netflix. You get three months of Netflix (for new and CURRENT customers).
Technically if you are a new Netflix customer you get the first month free, so that’s 4 months if you buy a Chromecast.
Cost and value aside, I think it has a ton of potential for old monitor’s and TVs that don’t have smart features or TV’s that have smart apps that are outdated and old.
My LGTV has a real bad implementation of Plex and Youtube. I would be great to use Chromecast to use the latest Android plex app on my TV. I would love to dump my Slingcatcher for a Slingplayer app that supports Chromecast.
Did you know that your phone doesn’t actually mirror the content (or drain your battery)? So the Slingbox would just stream directly to the Chromecast, not Slingbox -> phone -> Chromecast.
I think the hacky thing will be Chrometab and trying to play games over it or browse. I think Slingprojector days right there.
It seems to me that this would be a good device for an Android guy..
The thing is.. For most of us there are already devices that do this. If you have an iOS device just plug the Apple TV in and you can stream from it.. More importantly, this is more of a rarely done thing than an every day thing. When people watch Netflix or HBOGO or Amazon Instant Videos or Vudu they want to just watch it from a built in app on some device (Apple TV, Roku, SmartTVs, PS3, XBox).. I think most people already have something like that.
Perhaps better: Two examples:
1) If I had an Android device I, being a bit gadgety, would pick this up. $35 and I get to mirror stuff on my TV? I’m sold… That would be it, though.. I’d probably still use the Roku for day-to-day streaming.. It just makes more sense to me to have that little box doing it rather than doing it on my phone and then sending the output elsewhere. I think I read that you can ‘hand off’ the streaming content so maybe that isn’t an issue. Still.. select the Roku input on my TV and I’m in streaming land.. No extra steps.
2) My daughter (iOS) and her boyfriend (Android) have been streaming off of the PS3 for years. It’s a little clunky with the PS3 controller but it’s already in place, it’s cheap, and it works.. I bought them an Apple TV a while back so that they’d have a nicer interface to streaming but also so that they could get to content their content in iTunes as well as my daughter being able to use AirPlay to share pictures and videos during family get togethers. The thing is, while the new about the Apple TV and they like it, it was never on their radar. I think that’s how it is with most people. Either they already have a device or, if they were going out to get one, they’d probably pick up a Roku or Apple TV..
If you were to read G+ yesterday the Android were posting like Christmas came early this year. The Android folks were making it sound like some kind of revolutionary device. The Apple folks were, of course, “Ok… So the Apple TV can already do this..” and thus the “you’re stupid” and “no, you’re stupid” games began.
Anyway.. It seems to me like it’s a bit of a niche market inside a niche market.
Cote, I get what you’re saying about streaming directly to the Chromecast… but I assume that feature is only available to the apps that add take advantage of those hooks. So it wouldn’t be all apps – seems like YouTube and Netflix are the prime launch partners, but I imagine others (like the Sling you mention) would ultimately support it and increase the usefulness of the device. But this is all speculation on my part at this time. :)
For $35 this seems like a no-brainer for anyone is glues to a smartphone 24/7. But for the rest of us, it does not seem very useful.
So I’ve been reviewing the developer docs and my hunches were correct. Also, Brad, iOS apps can be updated to stream to Chromecast as well – so this isn’t limited to Android owners. Its success will largely be determined by app support, although the $35 price point immediately gives them a seat at the table.
Dave, I think you’re underselling this. I of course chastised Mari for overselling it in her Light Reading piece, but hey, that’s the way I roll.
At $35 this has the potential to be huge. POTENTIAL.
Amazon apparently sold more than a million the first day. So PROBABLY there will be enough of these sold that the pressure to get apps updated to support it will be there. That alone is a big deal.
The tab mirroring thing only works on a real computer (needs a plugin) at least right now, so forget that. Its just geeky.
But for normal playback? To watch Netflix say? For Apple TV I find my TiVo remote, press the input button a few times, launch the Remote app on my iPhone, press Menu. Wait for it to power on. Cursor around to pick Netflix. Launch that. Cursor around to pick what I want to watch. Settle back.
For ChromeCast I don’t touch my other remote. I don’t cursor around anything. I launch the Netflix app on my phone or tablet, I pick what I want to watch, then press the ChromeCast icon. Done. TV turns on, I can adjust volume, the input switches automatically, etc. Much much better experience in a lot of ways.
I think the HDMI-CEC support is a big deal. Should make Ben happy anyway.
Apparently free Hulu works right now with tabcasting. I presume Hulu will break it shortly, assuming its possible. Doesn’t sound like Google will stop them. Hackers will work around that of course, but that’ll limit the solution to hackers. But I would expect the Hulu Plus app to get updated shortly to support it as well. The number of customers who have this and expect it to work should guarantee that.
Plex will get updated. That might make Chucky happy. You can already use it via the tabmirror thing but that’s hacky and requires you to use a laptop. Wait for the real thing.
Local file playback apparently works (meaning file:// in your Chrome browser) but there are lots of issues with codecs and such at the moment. Will those be fixed?
I’ve bought one. I’ll at the VERY LEAST be putting it in my laptop bag for use in Hotel Rooms. Depending on how well it works I’ll probably buy another two for each of the two TV’s in our house. We’ll see.
I’m reserving my enthusiasm until I play with it and until or if more than two apps become available. ;) The hotel use case had occurred to me and is interesting… if you can get it to join the LAN without clicking thru whatever agreement hotels often display. I’ve had mixed luck the few times I’ve taken various Rokus with me.
Our house has a couple of Apple TV ‘s and a Roku plus a bunch of things I’ve tried through the years that didn’t measure up, but this has me excited. If a company already streams from the cloud and already has an ios or android app, it seems much easier to add a cast button then to build a new app for a new unproven platform. Early sell outs are promising too, and the price is crazy cheap.
Just got mine, we will see what it can do. Just Netflix and Pandora alone plus movie rentals from Play (who cares what site you rent from) is an pretty good start.
Yeah, I hadn’t thought of the logon screen issue when I first ordered it. Will have to try it. Suspect you’re right. I can always use my laptop as a bridge with no login issue if I have to. Wouldn’t work for a “normal” though.
FYI looks like a few more apps are on the way. Probably see Vimeo, Redbox Instant, HBO Go and Plex in the near future:
Remember who HBO Go added Airplay support, so you could watch HBO stuff with an iOS device and Apple TV, and how great that was?
Remember how much better it was when they just added HBO Go support to the AppleTV itself?
That’s how I feel about this “streaming only” solution.
It’s an interesting approach and as CNET tweeted, the killer feature really is price – but it does seem to be a bit of a hack. I went ahead and pre-ordered to see what it’s all about, but suspect there will be a number of limitations and gotchas.
Dave, no need to pre-order, Amazon has it in stock with Prime. Mine is coming tomorrow: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DR0PDNE
Yeah, I blew it. Google won’t let me cancel my order – which might not ship until next week. Ah well!
Go down or call your local Best Buy. They are in stock at some stores. Amazon is sold out.
I think the device won’t suffer from any “it’s too expensive” barriers. So people won’t really consider that.
Secondly, It’s actually closer to $11, since most people have Netflix. You get three months of Netflix (for new and CURRENT customers).
Technically if you are a new Netflix customer you get the first month free, so that’s 4 months if you buy a Chromecast.
Cost and value aside, I think it has a ton of potential for old monitor’s and TVs that don’t have smart features or TV’s that have smart apps that are outdated and old.
My LGTV has a real bad implementation of Plex and Youtube. I would be great to use Chromecast to use the latest Android plex app on my TV. I would love to dump my Slingcatcher for a Slingplayer app that supports Chromecast.
Did you know that your phone doesn’t actually mirror the content (or drain your battery)? So the Slingbox would just stream directly to the Chromecast, not Slingbox -> phone -> Chromecast.
I think the hacky thing will be Chrometab and trying to play games over it or browse. I think Slingprojector days right there.
It seems to me that this would be a good device for an Android guy..
The thing is.. For most of us there are already devices that do this. If you have an iOS device just plug the Apple TV in and you can stream from it.. More importantly, this is more of a rarely done thing than an every day thing. When people watch Netflix or HBOGO or Amazon Instant Videos or Vudu they want to just watch it from a built in app on some device (Apple TV, Roku, SmartTVs, PS3, XBox).. I think most people already have something like that.
Perhaps better: Two examples:
1) If I had an Android device I, being a bit gadgety, would pick this up. $35 and I get to mirror stuff on my TV? I’m sold… That would be it, though.. I’d probably still use the Roku for day-to-day streaming.. It just makes more sense to me to have that little box doing it rather than doing it on my phone and then sending the output elsewhere. I think I read that you can ‘hand off’ the streaming content so maybe that isn’t an issue. Still.. select the Roku input on my TV and I’m in streaming land.. No extra steps.
2) My daughter (iOS) and her boyfriend (Android) have been streaming off of the PS3 for years. It’s a little clunky with the PS3 controller but it’s already in place, it’s cheap, and it works.. I bought them an Apple TV a while back so that they’d have a nicer interface to streaming but also so that they could get to content their content in iTunes as well as my daughter being able to use AirPlay to share pictures and videos during family get togethers. The thing is, while the new about the Apple TV and they like it, it was never on their radar. I think that’s how it is with most people. Either they already have a device or, if they were going out to get one, they’d probably pick up a Roku or Apple TV..
If you were to read G+ yesterday the Android were posting like Christmas came early this year. The Android folks were making it sound like some kind of revolutionary device. The Apple folks were, of course, “Ok… So the Apple TV can already do this..” and thus the “you’re stupid” and “no, you’re stupid” games began.
Anyway.. It seems to me like it’s a bit of a niche market inside a niche market.
Cote, I get what you’re saying about streaming directly to the Chromecast… but I assume that feature is only available to the apps that add take advantage of those hooks. So it wouldn’t be all apps – seems like YouTube and Netflix are the prime launch partners, but I imagine others (like the Sling you mention) would ultimately support it and increase the usefulness of the device. But this is all speculation on my part at this time. :)
For $35 this seems like a no-brainer for anyone is glues to a smartphone 24/7. But for the rest of us, it does not seem very useful.
So I’ve been reviewing the developer docs and my hunches were correct. Also, Brad, iOS apps can be updated to stream to Chromecast as well – so this isn’t limited to Android owners. Its success will largely be determined by app support, although the $35 price point immediately gives them a seat at the table.
Dave, I think you’re underselling this. I of course chastised Mari for overselling it in her Light Reading piece, but hey, that’s the way I roll.
At $35 this has the potential to be huge. POTENTIAL.
Amazon apparently sold more than a million the first day. So PROBABLY there will be enough of these sold that the pressure to get apps updated to support it will be there. That alone is a big deal.
The tab mirroring thing only works on a real computer (needs a plugin) at least right now, so forget that. Its just geeky.
But for normal playback? To watch Netflix say? For Apple TV I find my TiVo remote, press the input button a few times, launch the Remote app on my iPhone, press Menu. Wait for it to power on. Cursor around to pick Netflix. Launch that. Cursor around to pick what I want to watch. Settle back.
For ChromeCast I don’t touch my other remote. I don’t cursor around anything. I launch the Netflix app on my phone or tablet, I pick what I want to watch, then press the ChromeCast icon. Done. TV turns on, I can adjust volume, the input switches automatically, etc. Much much better experience in a lot of ways.
I think the HDMI-CEC support is a big deal. Should make Ben happy anyway.
Apparently free Hulu works right now with tabcasting. I presume Hulu will break it shortly, assuming its possible. Doesn’t sound like Google will stop them. Hackers will work around that of course, but that’ll limit the solution to hackers. But I would expect the Hulu Plus app to get updated shortly to support it as well. The number of customers who have this and expect it to work should guarantee that.
Plex will get updated. That might make Chucky happy. You can already use it via the tabmirror thing but that’s hacky and requires you to use a laptop. Wait for the real thing.
Local file playback apparently works (meaning file:// in your Chrome browser) but there are lots of issues with codecs and such at the moment. Will those be fixed?
I’ve bought one. I’ll at the VERY LEAST be putting it in my laptop bag for use in Hotel Rooms. Depending on how well it works I’ll probably buy another two for each of the two TV’s in our house. We’ll see.
I’m reserving my enthusiasm until I play with it and until or if more than two apps become available. ;) The hotel use case had occurred to me and is interesting… if you can get it to join the LAN without clicking thru whatever agreement hotels often display. I’ve had mixed luck the few times I’ve taken various Rokus with me.
HDMI-CEC isn’t a huge deal unless your primary device also supports it and can flip you back to Input 1 I’d imagine. My TiVo Mini doesn’t. Then again, maybe my TiVo Mini will become a Chromecast dongle of sorts.
Our house has a couple of Apple TV ‘s and a Roku plus a bunch of things I’ve tried through the years that didn’t measure up, but this has me excited. If a company already streams from the cloud and already has an ios or android app, it seems much easier to add a cast button then to build a new app for a new unproven platform. Early sell outs are promising too, and the price is crazy cheap.
Just got mine, we will see what it can do. Just Netflix and Pandora alone plus movie rentals from Play (who cares what site you rent from) is an pretty good start.
Yeah, I hadn’t thought of the logon screen issue when I first ordered it. Will have to try it. Suspect you’re right. I can always use my laptop as a bridge with no login issue if I have to. Wouldn’t work for a “normal” though.
FYI looks like a few more apps are on the way. Probably see Vimeo, Redbox Instant, HBO Go and Plex in the near future:
http://gigaom.com/2013/07/29/chromecast-vimeo-redbox-instant-plex/
Personally I’m interested in HBO Go and Plex but would like to hear Amazon say something about supporting Prime Instant streaming for the thing.