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.
The Chromecast homescreen could in future emulate the MyCastScreen app
Reddit user asjmcguire has spotted code in a recent Chromecast update suggesting that the standby screen which currently displays only a clock and images chosen by Google could in future be rather more useful.
The code appears to allow for future support of weather and a slideshow of user-defined photos. If Google does indeed implement this, we can see the possibility of expanding it into a complete personalized dashboard, with information pulled from your Google Calendar and Google Now feed, and perhaps user-selected news sources. Come down in the morning, switch on your TV and see at-a-glance all the info you might want to start your day …
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Apps have been adding support for Google’s $35 Chromecast everyday recently, with the likes of Vudu, JW Player, and BT Sport all joining the club. This evening, two new music services have added Chromecast support to their apps. Joining Pandora and Rdio, Rhapsody and Napster have both just announced Chromecast support for their Android apps.
Both apps received updates via the Play Store today that added the ability to Cast music to your Chromecast. After updating, you should see a new Cast icon within the apps. Tap the icon and the app will connect to your Chromecast and start playing music over whatever Google’s dongle is connected to.
Both services say that their iOS apps will receive Chromecast support later this month, but for now, both the Rhapsody and Napster updates are available on the Play Store.
Chromecast, Google’s $35 HDMI streaming stick, is about to support streaming of a lot more video content online as JW Player prepares to introduce support. Gigaom reports that the popular HTML5 and Flash video player that is used on millions of websites to host video content will announce today that it’s launching a beta of Chromecast support.
The company is also working on some interesting new features with its Chromecast implementation:
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Just weeks after the device became available in the UK (among others), Google has already started rolling out more UK-centric channels to the Chromecast. Joining the BBC iPlayer app, BT Sport has just announced that it too is planning to add Chromecast support for its channels in the coming weeks, as well.
As you would expect, you’ll have to be a BT customer in order to access the sports coverage. BT Sport is one of the largest sports providers in the UK. It has exclusive live TV rights to the English Premier League, in addition to owning the UK ESPN channels and broadcasting a plethora of other sports.
There’s no official release date for the BT Sport rollout on the Chromecast, but it is certainly great to see Google working so diligently to bring UK content to the Chromecast. This news comes just days after Google also added Vudu, Crackle, and Rdio support to the Chromecast. The open SDK is certainly paying off.
Adding to the catalog of Chromecast-supported content, Rdio and Crackle are both adding the ability to play more content from your smartphone, tablet, or browser to your TV today.
Crackle has refreshed its Android and iOS apps with support for Chromecast streaming. The Sony-backed content provider serves up a number of movies and TV shows for free including comedian Jerry Seinfield’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” original.
Video streaming service Vudu has also added Chromecast support in the latest versions of its Android and iOS apps. The Walmart-owned service includes HD movies and TV shows with no subscription.
Rdio announcement includes support for music streaming from its Rdio app to your TV for Google Chromecast users. That means users can control music from the Android or iOS app as it plays through the TV with the Chrome HDMI streaming stick. Rdio users can also stream to Chromecast-connected TVs with Google’s Chrome web browser.
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Adding to the capabilities of the Chromecast HDMI streaming stick, Google is out with a new app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users called Photowall that lets you turn your Chromecast-connected TV into a live, interactive photo frame.
Google’s Photowall app allows you alone or a group of Photowall users to beam not just one photo, but an entire collage of images to your TV through your Chromecast. The app includes the ability to doodle or annotate images before beaming to your big display as well.
Photo: http://thenextweb.com
If you’re in the UK and plan to finally get your hands on a Chromecast, the good news is that the existing BBC iPlayer Android app is already compatible with the device, reports iMore.
It may take a minute or so, or even a relaunch of the app to kick it into gear. When it’s ready to go you’ll see the standard Chromecast logo along top of the app. To cast your content you need to first connect the app by tapping on the Chromecast logo and selecting which you want to pair to. After that just go ahead and choose what you want to watch and let it do the rest …
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After much speculation, Google has officially announced that the Chromecast is available in 11 new countries across Europe and North America. These countries include Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The streaming device has been available in the United States since its original announcement in July of last year.
In the UK, the Chromecast will run £30 and be available from Amazon, Google Play, Currys, and PC World. A BBC iPlayer app with Chromecast support will also start rolling out to customers in Europe today. In France, users will get access to local content providers TV Pluzz and SFR. Finally, German customers will have access to Watchever with Maxdome coming soon. Google says that it will continue to work with more local content providers to expand these options.
If you are located in one of the 11 new countries, get your hands on the device at one of your local or online retailers, including Amazon, Google Play, Currys PC World, Elkjøp, FNAC, Saturn, Media Markt and many others.
Google is releasing its Chromecast streaming device in the United Kingdom next week, according to a Gizmodo source. Above is a photo taken by a Currys PC World employee which shows an announcement on the store’s internal portal. That announcement pegs March 19th as the launch date. According to the article, the store already has the device in stock.
The Chromecast launched in the United States last year but hasn’t yet been available outside the country. Germany and France are also said to be included in the international launch next week. No information on the device’s price has been released yet.
Update: We’ve received a clearer shot. Shown above.
Google’s handy Chromecast dongle is to go on sale in “many more countries” in the next few weeks, according to an SXSW keynote speech by Sundar Pinchai reported by TNW.
The speech seemingly majored on ‘vague,’ with no specific countries listed and U.S. sales of the $35 device described only as in the millions.
Google announced a month ago that the UK would be the second market to get access to Chromecast, going on sale in the electrical retail chain Currys at or around the beginning of this month. At the time of writing it was not yet showing up in a search on the company’s website.
Once it does go on sale, buying one is pretty much a no-brainer if you own both a television and an Android device. Chromecast support is available in a wide range of apps, that include YouTube, Netflix, HBO GO, Hulu Plus, Pandora, Plex and many others – with more likely to be joining the list thanks to a Chromecast SDK, making it easier for developers to add support.
Since its release, CyanogenMod developer Koushik Dutta has been at the forefront of expanding the Chromecas’s capabilities. He first released his AllCast app that allowed users to beam a variety of content to their Chromecast, and now, he’s updated his Mirror for Android app with a few big new features. In a post on Google+, Dutta announced that Mirror for Android has been updated with the ability to mirror your Android device’s screen to a Chromecast or a Chrome browser. Dutta has been teasing this feature for a while, but he finally released it tonight, albeit in a very early beta.
The feature works just as you expect. After installing the app and going through the set-up process, you have the option to mirror your entire Android device’s interface to your Chromecast, Chrome browser, or even Apple TV. Mirror also allows you to create a video recording of your Android screen.
Mirror lets you:
- Create a video recording of your Android
- Mirror your Android screen to Chromecast (Nexus 5 only)
- Mirror your Android Screen to Chrome (Nexus 5 only)
- Mirror your Android screen to an Apple TV
Of course, there are some bugs given that it is still in an early beta. Chromecast and Chrome mirroring is also only supported on the Nexus 5, as it’s the only device that has the required hardware video decoder for the app. You also must have root-access to your device and have the SuperUser app installed.
If you meet all of these qualifications, head over to Dutta’s Google+ page where you can sign-up for the beta and get access to the Mirror for Android app. Dutta hopes to release it, without root required, to the Play Store officially soon. Check out the video demo up above.
Since its initial release last year, the Chromecast has added support for a plethora of apps and services, including Plex, Vevo, Songza, and many more. Last month, Google announced the Chromecast SDK, which it said would make supporting the device even easier for developers. Online streaming video service Vudu has now announced that it too will soon support Chromecast with that SDK.
On its website Sunday, the WalMart-owned company stated that both its Android and iOS apps will soon receive updates that add Chromecast support. The company also adds that streaming will be available through Chrome on Windows and Mac, although that has been available since day one.
There are no details available as to when we can expect the Android and iOS Vudu apps to be updated, although we can’t imagine it taking too long. Rdio and Beats Music are also expected to add Chromecast support soon, so it’s clear that the SDK is going to help beef up the app selection significantly.
Today RealNetworks, Inc. announced RealPlayer Cloud is now available for international users. The app allows users to easily move, watch, and share videos with any user on any device, including Android, iOS, Windows 8 Modern UI, Kindle Fire, Roku and Chromecast.
After making the Google Cast SDK public and launching a dedicated forum for Chromecast, Google has announced a public beta version of the Google Cast extension available in the Chrome Web Store.
The Google Cast extension allows users to beam content from a Chrome tab on their desktop to a Chromecast or other devices that support he Google Cast standard. Like Google’s beta versions of Chrome and other apps, the public beta release will provide devs and anyone else that downloads it to the latest features and APIs.
More info on the new beta is available from Google Developer Advocate Shawn Shen on Google+.
With Chromecast supported by an increasing number of apps, Google has created an official support forum for the $35 device.
Judging by the number of posts made on the first day (assuming they’re not all made by Google employees), it looks like it could prove a popular resource. Though a good starting-point for anyone new to the dongle is our own how-to setup guide.
Koushik Dutta, Cyanogen Inc co-founder and developer of the AllCast app that allows Chromecast streaming of local photos and video from your phone or tablet, has posted the above meme graphic hinting at the ability to mirror the entire Android screen to a TV.
Dutta had previously suggested that the functionality might be coming to Android officially …
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The Chromecast, Google’s streaming HDMI dongle came out last summer. It is compatible with any Android device running 2.3 or later, iOS devices with iOS 6 or 7, and any Mac or PC. Initially, users were able to stream Netflix or Youtube from an iOS device and Android device, Google Play on Android, or stream websites to a TV using the Chrome browser on a computer. The Chromecast works differently from Apple’s AirPlay system in that you can multitask and do other tasks on the device or you can let it go to sleep while streaming.
Very quickly after its release, Chromecast has received support for Hulu +, Pandora, and HBO GO. Last month a major update added ten new apps including Plex, Vevo, Songza, Red Bull TV, Post TV from the Washington Post, Viki, RealPlayer Cloud, Avia, Revision3 Internet Television, and BeyondPod. The most recent update the Chromecast received allowed users to stream Google Play movies and music directly from the Chrome browser on a computer.
In this How-to, we’ll discuss how to setup the Chromecast, use it with a Mac and Android device, and explore its gaming potentials.
Google has announced that the UK will be the second market to get access to the Chromecast dongle when it goes on sale in the electrical chain store Currys on or around 1st March.
No price has yet been announced, nor is it yet known whether the device will go on sale in other retailers. Chromecast costs $35 in the US, suggesting a likely price of £25 in the UK (Britain rarely gets price parity with the U.S.).
In addition to streaming content from Chrome tabs, Chromecast support is now available in a wide range of apps, that include YouTube, Netflix, HBO GO, Hulu Plus, Pandora, Plex and many others. Google also just announced a Chromecast SDK, making it easier for developers to add support for additional apps.
Amazon has never been a company to provide specific sales numbers, but their just-issued press release shows us that Android, Kindle and Chromebooks dominated their holiday shopping season. Surprisingly, or perhaps not surprising at all is the Chromecast, which is the best seller in the Computers and Accessories category outselling the company’s own Kindle Fire lineup as well as Apple TV and the Roku 3 Streaming Media player.
Oh the weather outside may still be frightful, but inside the morning after Christmas is definitely delightful. Now that Christmas music is put back onto the shelf for next year, what Android, Chrome, Google-related goodies did you get for your holidays?
Earlier this month, ClockworkMod developer Koushik Dutta made his AllCast app available in beta to people willing to provide feedback on the app. This morning, however, Dutta released the app to the Play Store, making it available to everyone. AllCast is free to download, although there is a $4.99 premium option available to remove ads, splashscreens, and the limit on video length.
Residents of New Zealand, Hong Kong, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago take note as Google Play Movies are now at your disposal. In total, Google added an additional thirteen countries bringing the total available market count to 27. This is the right time for residents of those countries to grab a Chromecast, kick their legs up on the sofa and watch a movie. Unfortunately, TV shows are still only available through the US, UK and Japan with no timetable for additional countries.
If you have a Chromecast stick and have purchased movies or music from Google Play, you no longer need to cast them to your TV from your smartphone or tablet – you can now do it directly from the Chrome browser on your PC.
Make sure you have the Google Cast extension installed on your Chrome web browser (http://goo.gl/nzbB6t), and then look for the Cast icon in the Google Play web player. Click it and your movie or song will instantly start playing on your TV through Chromecast …
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(via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/apollo_zac" target="_blank">Flickr</a>)
Google announced today a major round of app additions for its media streaming Chromecast HDMI stick including Plex, Vevo, Songza, and more.
Chromecast, which retails for $35 (currently $32.88 on Amazon Prime), can now play local files synced with your Plex media library from iOS, Android, or Chrome. Plex support is highly requested and offers a major advantage for content consumers looking to play content from a device to an HDTV.
Today’s update also brings support for the music video streaming service Vevo as well as the music discovery radio Songza.
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