The Chromecast is a media streaming device from Google, allowing you to play your favorite content from Netflix, Spotify, Google Play Music, Pandora, and countless other services on your television. The device is a small HDMI dongle, and retails for $35.
Firefox for Android received a major update this evening, bumping the app to version 34 and adding a handful of new features. Firstly, the update adds mirroring support for the Chromecast. This means that users can now mirror their browser to Google’s streaming stick. This feature was previously available in the beta build of Firebox for Android, but was incredibly buggy. Early reports say that the feature works as expected with today’s stable channel update, however.
Our friends at 9to5Toys are busy excavating the Internet to find the latest Cyber Monday deals for any and everything and to help make things easier for you guys we’ve singled out some of the best Google deals that you’ll find on the web. Here’s a look at some of our favorite items currently on sale during this web-based holiday.
Google has just announced an expanded casting queue for Chromecast with the addition of seven news apps for streaming your favorite shows, sports, games and movies. The new arrivals this holiday season include Comedy Central, Sesame Street Go, Nickelodeon, EPIX, YuppTV and Encore, while TuneIn provides access to international radio stations and millions of podcasts.
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The Chromecast isn’t just for cord-cutters. Google’s popular media stick also extends its content streaming capabilities to cable customers as well. Less than a fortnight ago, the search giant announced that Chromecast support was coming to Showtime Anytime and the company has now made good on its word.
Google has continuously yet quietly added new hardware to its list of devices that support Chromecast screen casting. The latest gadgets to gain support for Mountain View’s media dongle are the Google Play edition LG G Pad 8.3 and the Lollipop-laced Nvidia Shield Tablet.
Google has started rolling out an update to the stable channel of Chrome OS with a handful of notable enhancements. The biggest feature for Chrome OS users is the addition of Chromecast support for media files stored in Google Drive. This means that when viewing a media file in Google Drive, a Chromecast icon will appear, allowing users to easily and quickly beam that content to their TV.
We like Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 very much indeed, but it has had one flaw: it didn’t support screen mirroring to Chromecast. Android Police noticed that this has now been fixed.
Since TouchWiz doesn’t support the transient tile to initiate a screen cast, you’ll have to fire it up manually through the Chromecast app. To get things started, just pull out the navigation drawer, tap on Cast screen, and hit the Cast Screen button. If the button is missing and there’s a warning about there being no compatible devices, you can probably get everything on the right track by restarting your phone.
Sony’s Xperia Z3v, Z2 and Z2 Tablet were also added to the list of supported devices a couple of weeks ago.
Google recently revealed that Chromecast users have used the device a total of 650 million times, with over 10,000 apps in the pipeline. Showtime Anytime and Starz Play were the most recent additions to the platform, just a few days ago.
Today, Google announced that a slew of new apps are coming to the Chromecast, bringing Google’s TV-connected dongle closer to the Apple TV and Roku in terms of the number of services it can stream. Part of today’s update are both Showtime Anytime ad Starz Play, two services that—like competitor HBO Go—offer a variety of premium movies and TV shows that you can’t find anywhere else.
Google’s Chromecast supports screen mirroring for a limited number of mobile devices and it appears that the search giant’s popular media stick has added support for a few new products. Owners of the Sony Xperia Z3v, Z2 and Z2 Tablet can now share their respective device’s screen on their big screen if they wish to do so.
Amazon is following up its $99 Fire TV streaming media player with a $39 streaming HDMI stick, which is similar to Google Chromecast (reg. $35, on sale for $28 w/ $5 credit) and Roku Stick ($49).
According to Amazon, the Fire TV Stick has 4 times as much storage (8GB) and 2 times as much memory (1GB) of Chromecast. It’s also the only one of the big three streaming sticks that packs a Dual-core processor, which Amazon says “results in faster and more fluid navigation.”
Fire TV Stick includes a physical remote, which doubles as a gaming controller. Aditionally, for a $30 up-charge, you can outfit your Fire TV Stick with a voice remote to take advantage of Voice Search. A free remote app is also available now for Android and will be landing on iOS shortly.
Available streaming content includes: Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, WatchESPN, NBA Game Time, Prime Music, Pandora, Spotify, and more for instant access to shows like Transparent, House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Game of Thrones, and The Wire—plus the largest selection of movies and TV episodes to rent or buy from Amazon Instant Video.
ASAP (Advanced Streaming and Prediction) allows for instant streaming by automatically buffering videos the Fire TV Stick predicts you’ll want to watch. Amazon also promises future support for WiFi networks with captive portals like hotels, airports, college dorms, and more.
First TV Stick is available for preorder now for $39, but Prime members (free trial) can get it for just $19 for the next two days.
Full press release follows…
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Google’s first Android TV device is less than a fortnight away, however the company’s current television-friendly hardware appears to be doing just fine. In a recent interview with GigaOM, Google VP of product management Mario Queiroz said that Chromecast users have tapped the cast button 650 million times, a significant increase from the 400 million figure shared at I/O back in June.
Google’s first Android TV device is on its way, however the company’s current TV companion recently turned a year old and could soon be due for a replacement. A new Chromecast dongle with the model number H2G2-42 recently hit the FCC and while this doesn’t guarantee an immediate product release, it’s a clear sign that something is in the works.
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but what about a fox? Better yet, what about a Firefox? Cheesy introductions aside, today Mozilla announced a new video streaming feature for Firefox’s Android web browser. This Chrome alternative can now push videos from your mobile device to your TV via Google’s Chromecast media stick or a Roku set-top box.
[protected-iframe id=”3e51c3dc54c1ee6367e316f1acb920fe-22427743-8994189″ info=”https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/concept96ltd/buzzb-a-chromecast-game-for-friends-and-family/widget/video.html” width=”800″ height=”600″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”]
In what must be one of the smallest Kickstarter campaigns ever, a team of British developers called Concept96 is seeking just £1000 ($1600) to turn Chromecast into a multiplayer games platform. The first planned app is a quiz game, described in the rather charmingly amateurish video above: Buzzb.
The target market is ‘casual gaming’ for those who wouldn’t spend the money to buy a conventional games console but would enjoy occasional games on a device they already own …
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(<a href="http://chrome.blogspot.ca/2014/10/turn-your-tv-screen-into-beautiful.html" target="_blank">via Chrome blog</a>)
Google today updated the Chromecast app for Android users adding a feature announced earlier this year at Google I/O called Backdrop. When the Chromecast HDMI streaming stick isn’t playing content like Netflix or Pandora Radio through your TV, it already displays the current time and featured photos as a screen saver, but now Chromecast users can display additional content like weather conditions and news headlines on Chromecast-connected TVs. Chromecast also now supports using your own photos from Google+ albums as the backdrop.
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A few weeks back, Sling announced that it was updating its Android phone app with ability to stream content to a Chromecast-enabled television. Noticeably missing at the time was an update to the company’s Android tablet app. This morning, however, Sling has started rolling out an update to Slingplayer for tablets with all the features its phone counterpart got last month.
The Sony Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact are the company’s first handsets to gain screen mirroring support for Google’s Chromecast. A recent update to the search giant’s support page added Sony’s two new top-shelf smartphones as officially compatible with the company’s affordable media dongle.
When the Chromecast originally launched more than a year ago, early buyers were offered three free months of Netflix as a bonus. That offer quickly ran out, but various other deals have popped up since. Now, Google is giving anyone who buys a Chromecast from October 1st through the end of the year two free months of Hulu Plus.
Hulu Plus currently runs $7.99, meaning that you’re getting a $16 value with your Chromecast purchase. While Hulu may not have quite the selection of Netflix, that’s still a great offer when the Chromecast only costs $35 to begin with.
The offer will be redeemable through chromecast.com/offers during the set-up process for new Hulu Plus and Chromecast users beginning October 1st. Keep an eye on 9to5toys.com for the latest Chromecast deals, as well.
Today, Netflix announced that it has added Post-Play support to Google’s Chromecast for people streaming content from their compatible smartphone or tablet. If you’re unfamiliar with Post-Play, it’s a queueing feature that automatically starts playing the next episode of whatever show you’re watching around 15 after the program ends.
The latest build of the beta version of Google’s Cast Chrome extension is now serving up 1080p tab casting. Not a finished product, you’re likely to encounter a few bugs while using it, however it should help give an idea of what’s coming to it’s more refined counterpart. The recent update introduces more robust control options under a section marked “Custom mirroring settings.”
Chromecast users rejoice! Earlier today, YouTube started rolling out a new feature for Google’s media stick that lets you use its website to queue videos in a single tab. The idea behind this update is to keep people from drowning in the video hub’s endless sea of content during a casual casting session. Also, YouTube announced that its watch page is in the process of getting a makeover, so don’t freak out when things start looking different.
When Google’s $35 Chromecast was originally released, obtaining root access was incredibly easy. So easy that some users believed that it had been intentional on Google’s part, as to allow curious developers to explore the inner workings of the device a bit. Nevertheless, the vulnerability used in that root method was eventually closed. Now, however, developers once again have discovered another exploit that allows root access on the Chromecast.
There was very little reason for any self-respecting gadgeteer not to pick up a Chromecast stick at the full price of £30, but there’s even less excuse now that three online retailers – Amazon, Tesco and Currys – have discounted it to just £18.
Amazon is offering it with free delivery too. There’s no indication that this is a permanent price-cut (it’s still sitting at £30 on the Google Play site), so if you’ve been considering one, now would be the time to buy – especially with three free months of Google Play Music All Access thrown in.
Chromecast recently celebrated its first birthday, Google reporting that it had been used to cast content 400 million times in its first year. The capabilities of the devices have grown steadily, with Google last month adding mirroring from almost any Android device.
Via thenextweb. Image credit: softpedia.com
Wondering why all the YouTube videos in Chrome seem to be auto-playing on their own all of a sudden? It turns out the problem seems to be a bug with YouTube and the Chromecast extension for Chrome installed by users of Google’s $35 HDMI stick.
AndroidPolice point us to the issue being reported to Google and a note from the YouTube team confirming a fix is rolling out today:
The YouTube team confirmed that there was a bad push yesterday which caused this issue to be triggered. There is a fix being qualified and that is scheduled to be pushed today that will correct this issue… Closing this issue for now, since there’s not a Chrome issue here in any event. Thanks to everyone for reporting this issue.
In the meantime, you can remove the Chromecast extension (Window>Extensions) to temporarily disable the auto playing videos until the issue is fixed.
