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.
Google’s Chief Business Officer Omid Kordenstani gave several updates on the status of the company’s $35 Chromecast streaming device during the this evening’s Q4 2014 earnings call. Kordenstani first stated that users have “casted” content to their television more than one billion times. The company says that this is a huge milestone for the streaming stick and the implementation of the Cast functionality in a variety of different apps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q0yZomXuSw
Google today announced Google Cast for audio, which the company says takes advantage of Chromecast tech to send audio to third-party hardware like speakers, A/V receivers, and sound bars. The feature will allow users to tap a “cast” button from within music and radio apps on Android, iOS and the web to stream audio to Google Cast enabled speakers.
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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwwvma8jLXM&feature=youtu.be]
Microsoft updated its Xim photo sharing application today with support for viewing photos wirelessly on Google’s Chromecast streaming device. The instructions for setting up Chromecast streaming (demonstrated in the video above) are relatively simple: just tap the display mode icon and select your Chromecast from the list. After that, you’ll see your slideshows on your TV in real time.
Xim allows users to create shared photo slideshows that stay in sync across multiple devices. Whenever a user changes the slideshow by zooming in, switching photos, or changing something else, all users currently viewing that slideshow will see the change in real time.
The Xim app is free for all users on the Google Play Store.
We told you back in June that ultrasonic pairing would be coming to Chromecast, and today the technology has officially arrived. Without any WiFi connections involved at all, Google has now given the green light for guests to be able to connect to your Chromecast and cast what they please.
Google has slowly but surely been updating its apps to fit its own design guidelines, and even as late as yesterday updated the Hangouts application (and that one’s still not quite there). Today, both the Android Wear and Chromecast apps have been updated to sport the Material look and, while not many other drastic changes have come to either app, it’s nice to have a bit of consistency between Google’s first-party offerings.
The Android Wear app companion app was suitably updated today amidst the release of Android Wear 5.0.1 Lollipop, providing support for the new version of the operating system. But the new version, thankfully, packs a redesign that brings it more in line with Material. The Chromecast app also got an update today, and on top of the fact you can now use the screen casting feature on any Android phone running 4.2.2 or higher, it now sports Material as well.
Google Wallet was also updated today, with its main new feature mentioned on Google+ as being the fact you can now manage your gift cards and loyalty programs from just one section of the app. As you can see above, under the “Loyalty and gift cards” section, you now have three sub-sections: Active, Expired, and Featured. The app also got a slightly tweaked appearance, bringing the app closer in line with the Material Design guidelines.
You can get the latest versions of Android Wear, Google Wallet, and Chromecast on the Play Store soon.
Image via @<a href="https://twitter.com/rajananandan/status/542213782395555840" target="_blank">RajanAnandan</a>
Google announced during its Great Online Shopping Festival 2014 tonight that it will officially launch the Chromecast streaming device in India. The HDMI dongle will be available through online retailer SnapDeal for Rs 2,999 later tonight—a bit higher than the $35 price in the States.
From 9to5Toys.com:
Update (12/8 1:00pm): Target has Chromecast for $22.99. Redeem Google’s latest promo (below) to drop its effective price down to $2.99.
Google has just launched a new offer that extends a free $20 Google Play credit to anyone who purchases a Chromecast by December 21. According to the offer details, only Chromecasts purchased between December 7 and December 21 will be eligible for the free credit, but we were able to take advantage of it on our previously purchased Chromecasts.
You can check if you’re eligible for this promo by pointing your Chrome browser to chromecast.com/offers. The credit expires on January 31, 2016 and can be used on movies, music, apps, and other media. However, it can’t be used towards the purchase of any hardware. Only open to US residents.
Google Play, Amazon, and Best Buy are all promoting this offer for new Chromecast buyers.
At this point Google is pretty much paying you to own a Chromecast. Just recently, we’ve seen Google hand out free movies, Hulu Plus and Play subscriptions.
Google’s diminutive and cheap Chromecast is making strong headway against its competitors according to a report today by Parks Associates. Priced at $35 but now going for just over $20, the dongle, which is controlled by Apps on iOS and Android devices rather than a traditional remote has passed the almost forgotten Apple TV and is closing in on the king of streamers, the Roku. Roku and AppleTV represented two thirds of the market last year but with entrants like Chromecast and Amazon’s Fire TV/Stick, the two dropped to around half the market.
The research finds Roku is still the leading brand with 29% of sales, but Google Chromecast (20%) has supplanted Apple TV (17%) in second place. New entrant Amazon Fire TV is in fourth place with 10%. Consumer content choices are also increasing, with Showtime and Sony planning to launch their own OTT video services to compete with Netflix and HBO.
“Nearly 50% of video content that U.S. consumers watch on a TV set is non-linear, up from 38% in 2010, and it is already the majority for people 18-44,” said Barbara Kraus, Director, Research, Parks Associates. “The market is changing rapidly to account for these new digital media habits. Roku now offers a streaming stick, and Amazon’s Fire TV streaming stick leaves Apple as the only top player without a stick product in the streaming media device category.”
Sticks are where it is at it would seem. Conversely, Google’s Nexus Player, introduced in October, has yet to make a blip but it might also show up in results next year.
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.