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Chromecast |OT|

thespot84

Member
local content is great except it drains the fuck out of your battery if you're doing it from mobile.

Chrome tab projection is a mystery though, does it actually send frames for your instance on your device or does it download the same page and sync input or something? My guess is it's actual frames, hence why it's still in beta. In that case, why not just have a VLC chrome app, then you could play anything.
 

gcubed

Member
Probably not. It's not streaming from your phone/tablet device to the TV. Your phone is telling the TV "Here is the link to the thing I want to watch" I don't think the dongle has much power beyond being able to decode and run video.

Which makes me wonder how the chrome tab thing works. How do you scroll? If you scroll on your PC does it then scrolls on the TV?

yes, it mirrors the tab. It scrolls on the TV when you scroll on your computer. You can open another tab and do something else and you wont interrupt the TV
 
So apparently the three months works even if you're an existing Netflix member. That makes it a no-brainer for me because that reduces the actual cost a great deal.
 

tfur

Member
Bought, ships by Aug 2.

Seems like a nice thing to play with. Android and Twonky beam already are sometimes superior to my apple tv. With Twonky beam, I can do DLNA and Bravia sync so inputs change on demand, and change back when the content is done.

A fun device to try. Easy impulse buy.
 

xptoxyz

Member
But, can it display flash content, when its streaming your browser window?

It should right? Even if we assume it's not sending video from the PC but simply getting the same content ChromeOS should support the same flash plugin as the Chrome browser I think. (I'm not sure that is the case, otherwise you'd have to send login info etc. over too for examples such as the one show for personal photos).
 

e_i

Member
Probably not. It's not streaming from your phone/tablet device to the TV. Your phone is telling the TV "Here is the link to the thing I want to watch" I don't think the dongle has much power beyond being able to decode and run video. I guess some games could run on it, but I don't know the details of how any of that would work. RAM etc.

Which makes me wonder how the chrome tab thing works. How do you scroll? If you scroll on your PC does it then scrolls on the TV?

Engadget:
Google's Chromecast is Mountain View's next foray into the television market. In brief, it's a $35 HDMI dongle that mirrors content being played nearby on a tablet, smartphone or computer.

From watching the video, it looks like it's mirroring.
 

xptoxyz

Member
Ordered. Basically $15 after the free Netflix comes through.

Hoping the chome tab to TV is out of beta soon.

Does beta imply no access for the end user? They could still have it available as an opt-in or something, they do it for all their other products.
 

FinKL

Member
Ordered. Basically $15 after the free Netflix comes through.

Hoping the chome tab to TV is out of beta soon.

Impulse bought for this reason alone. I wanted to get the Wi-Di adapter for computer to TV, but it's expensive for the 3000 version ($60) and an alternative long ass red mere HDMI is like $30+
 

Cartman86

Banned
Engadget:


From watching the video, it looks like it's mirroring.

Nearly every story i've read says that it's not actually streaming from the device to the TV. It's downloading everything from the net that. Sure it "mirrors" and stays in sync with the same video playing on the phone and tablet, but that's because the cloud makes sure they stay in sync. It's exactly the same system in place right now if you send a video from mobile youtube to youtube on a PS3/360.

EDIT: “We bring the highest resolution directly from the cloud instead of relying on your device to push the content,” Chandra says. But you can also use those devices to serve as remote controls, for example to pause the video or adjust the volume — which you can do without unlocking.

yes, it mirrors the tab. It scrolls on the TV when you scroll on your computer. You can open another tab and do something else and you wont interrupt the TV

This though is interesting if true. This means it can stream the full screen from one device to another.
 

T.M. MacReady

NO ONE DENIES MEMBER
Dudes.

It comes with 3 months of Free Netflix.

42 bucks after tax - $27.00 worth of free netflix months = 15 bucks.

Thats as much as a decent lunch. Buy now, ask questions later.
 

FinKL

Member
Anyone know if Amazon will also offer the 3-Month Netflix free promo? Or is it strictly Google Play?

EDIT From the Verge "Google says it will also be available through Amazon and Best Buy, appearing in Best Buy's retail stores on July 28th. For a limited time, it will come with three free months of Netflix, and international expansion will be coming "as soon as possible."
 

f0rk

Member
So there will be some app or something so I can play avi files or whatever from my PC on my TV with this?

Same old international bullshit from Google is annoying.
 

Baleoce

Member
Dudes.

It comes with 3 months of Free Netflix.

42 bucks after tax - $27.00 worth of free netflix months = 15 bucks.

Thats as much as a decent lunch. Buy now, ask questions later.

Pretty much the way I'm approaching it, not got much to lose especially if you are subbed to Netflix.
 
I hope that Netflix promo is for Canada too when it eventually gets here. Its basically $11 for most people now, would be a shame if not only do we have to wait for it, but we pay more.
 

T.M. MacReady

NO ONE DENIES MEMBER
Pretty much the way I'm approaching it, not got much to lose especially if you are subbed to Netflix.

and it'll only get better from here with updates. Seems like a no brainer to adopt early if you have and use netflix.

Mine says it'll ship by 8/2.
 

Nevasleep

Member
I wonder how you configure it to connect to a network?
WPS? Or perhaps you connect via an ad-hoc network and setup through a web browser.
 
It's exciting, but only being able to stream YouTube & Netflix seamlessly is a bit of a dealbreaker. Streaming content from my harddrive would be a much more attractive option.

But the 3 months of Netflix offer makes this an absolute steal at $35.
 

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
I would hazard a bet that the tab mirroring is using a local, less lossy version of Chrome Remote Desktop, which came out of beta a while ago.
 

Cartman86

Banned
And how do you control the videos that's playing on the stick, pause-stop-next?

Will Hulu work on it?

If you sent the video to the TV using an app on your phone/tablet then you use the same pause/play/scrubbing buttons in the app. If your device locks Android has a feature where the relevant pause/play buttons are visible from the lock screen.
 

Zeppu

Member
Just had a look at the SDK.

It's actually pretty limited. Thought it'd be much more accessible to third party desktop software.
 
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