Chromecast
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Google hints at Chromecast expansion as its apps go international
With all of the focus on the imminent unveiling of a certain next-generation Nexus smartphone, another of Google's bestselling products could soon be set for a wider launch of its own. The company has begun lifting restrictions on the official Chromecast apps and is now allowing iOS and Android users outside of the US to download them for the first time. We've successfully installed the apps on our devices in the UK and Canada, while additional reports lend credibility to complete international rollout. The Chromecast still finds itself geographically challenged, but those who jumped on Amazon's offer of international shipping will welcome Google's decision to extend the availability of the apps. While we're expecting to see the Nexus 5 and Android 4.4 KitKat launch before the end of the month, we wouldn't be surprised if Google has a Chromecast surprise up its sleeve too.
Amazon now shipping Chromecast orders outside of the US (update: not anymore)
Google has yet to expand Chromecast sales outside of the US, but that isn't stopping Amazon from getting a little piece of the action. Android Central noticed that the online retailer has opened orders on Amazon.com to include additional international shipping options, providing an legitimate and cost-effective way to get the $35 streaming dongle before it officially lands on foreign shores. We successfully placed a order to be shipped to the UK for around £35, but other reports suggest customers can have the device shipped as far as Australia -- with shipping and import fees included in the total price. With Amazon fulfilling international orders, you won't have to take your chances on eBay -- giving you a little more peace of mind should you decide to jump aboard the Chromecast train. Update: It appears the leak has been plugged, as Android Authority reports Amazon is no longer accepting new orders from outside the US. Orders already placed are apparently still going out however, so if you jumped on it early you may be in luck.
Hulu Plus iOS app adds support for Chromecast streaming
Owners of Google's Chromecast media-streaming stick can now stream Hulu content from Hulu Plus on the iPad to the Apple TV competitor. Announcing the move on Google's official blog, the company said: Hulu has added Chromecast support to their Hulu Plus app -- just in time for the fall television season. Now you can easily enjoy your favorite shows, such as Modern Family, New Girl and Parks and Recreation, on your big-screen TV by casting from Hulu Plus on your mobile phone or tablet. It's the same intuitive, remote-free experience you've come to enjoy with the other Chromecast-supported apps, and is as simple as pressing the Cast button which will now appear in the app. For now, only iPad users can stream content to the Chromecast from Hulu Plus, but Google says support will soon be coming for iPhone users as well. Hulu Plus is a free download. Google's Chromecast costs US$35.
Google's Chromecast now supports Hulu Plus app streaming (video)
Launching in July with Netflix and YouTube mirroring, Google's $35 Chromecast streaming dongle now has another video streaming service adding support for the platform to its apps: Hulu. From today, Hulu will provide Chromecast streaming inside its Hulu Plus app, mirroring shows like New Girl and Modern Family on the big screen. Unlike Netflix, which allows subscribers to stream video from Chrome and its official apps, Hulu originally supported Chromecast via its tab casting feature. Today's extenstion will see a Cast button added to Hulu's iPad and Android apps (with iPhone support "coming very soon"). While we're still waiting for Google to open Chromecast to allow local media playback, the addition of Hulu Plus may tide us over until it does.
Mozilla working on Chromecast-like mirroring for Firefox Android browser
Maybe this is Mozilla's retort to Google's Chromecast, maybe it isn't. Either way, the end result certainly looks similar. Details are scarce, but an enigmatic Google+ photo shared by insider Mark Finkle clearly reveals some sort of wireless tab mirroring between a Nexus 4 and a Roku box. We're going to hazard a guess that it's being orchestrated through the web, rather than merely being based on WiFi Direct or a similar device-to-device protocol. In the same manner as Chromecast or Apple's AirPlay, this could allow the Firefox-running smartphone to be used independently from what's shown in the display -- so, for example, it could work as a keyboard or a remote control at the same time as feeding content. Anyway, there's a limit to how much we can glean from a single pic (could that be a DVD-VHS combo player on the shelf?), so we've asked Mozilla for a bit more detail and will update this post if we hear back. Update: Mozilla has confirmed that it is indeed at working on a second-screen solution for Firefox on a range of devices: "We are conducting some experiments around second-screen support with a number of devices. But this is at investigation stage and we have nothing to announce at this time."
Google's Open Project mirrors Android apps on any connected touchscreen
Sure, Google already has Chromecast for throwing websites and media to big screens. The company's engineers believe they can go one better, however, with something called the Open Project framework. It's an effort to find a standardized way of mirroring not only content, but also touch inputs on a suitably equipped touchscreen or connected TV. Setting it up is simple: open the Open Project server webpage running on the machine connected to your chosen display, scan a QR code with your smartphone camera, and boom, you're ready to interact with your content and apps. It opens a world where people can collaborate on content or play multiplayer games without additional hardware or sensors. Open Project remains a proof-of-concept for now, or perhaps a plaything for UI-obsessed billionaires, but check out the video to see where the technology might take us in the future.
Refresh Roundup: week of September 16th, 2013
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
YouTube testing Chromecast support for embedded videos
Anyone wanting to stream YouTube videos through a Chromecast currently has to visit YouTube's website or run one of its mobile apps. Viewers may soon have more options, though, as Google has confirmed to GigaOM that it's publicly testing Chromecast support for embedded YouTube clips on third-party web pages. Right now, access is random at best -- the "send to" button only appears some of the time, and might not be available to everyone. The company says it's monitoring feedback from these experiments, however, and it could offer embedded video support to more Chromecast owners if all goes well.
Sony's first post-Chromecast Google TV device is a dongle, not a set-top box
We first got a whiff of Sony's NSZ-GU1 earlier this month from an FCC filing, and now the folks at GTVHacker point out those documents have been updated with more info and pictures. The first new Google TV hardware seen since the $35 Chromecast dongle launched, this device appears to be a blend of the two. A key difference revealed from the pictures however, is an odd stepped design, with the MHL/HDMI port protruding from the bottom of the box. The brief user manual included in the filing may explain this however, as it can draw power via that MHL output and the USB connection to a BRAVIA TV. A tiny diagram in the truncated user manual shows it plugged into the side of a TV like the Chromecast or Roku Streaming Stick. If you're wondering about the PS4 -- yes, we looked, but there's no indication it's meant to work directly with the upcoming console. Like previous Google TV devices, it brings HDMI passthrough to the table along with an IR blaster, remote diagrams (in a separate filing) look similar to the one included with the NSZ-GS7 and GS8. Inside is a low power Marvell DE3108 SoC, 8GB of flash memory and 1GB RAM, however the specs indicate it's limited to 720p video output. As GTVHacker put it, the entire thing is similar to the Chromecast but with Google TV features. What remains to be seen is when it arrives, how much it costs, and what software tweaks Google and Sony can cook up to make this generation of Android-powered smart TVs more appealing.
Daily Update for August 27, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Chromecast's iOS app arrives, looks to make cross-platform living room magic
On the heels of a Cast SDK update that borked third-party streaming apps, Google released a version of its Chromecast software for iOS devices. That's right, folks with an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch can use the free application to set up Chromecast on their flat's WiFi network and to manage settings. Of course, YouTube, Netflix, Google Play purchases and Chrome can all be displayed on properly outfitted TVs easily. You may have to wait a bit to nab one, but at $35, there's a world of inexpensive, cross-platform love within arm's reach.
Google releases Chromecast app for iPhone and iPad
Google today released a new Chromecast app for iOS that enables customers to manage their Chromecast settings from their mobile device. Chromecast, if you recall, is a compact dongle Google released not too long ago that lets users stream content from Netflix and Google-based services like YouTube and Google Play to their HDTV. The full changelog reads: Chromecast is the easiest way to enjoy online video and anything from the web on your TV. Plug it into any HDTV and control it with your existing smartphone, tablet or laptop. No remotes required. Cast your favorites from YouTube, Netflix, Google Play Movies and Google Play Music and Chrome to your TV with the press of a button. Use the Chromecast app to: • Set up your Chromecast to work with your WiFi network • Manage your Chromecast settings (such as changing your device name, WiFi password, etc.) The app works on iPhones going all the way back to the iPhone 3GS, all versions of the iPad and the third-generation iPod touch and up. Google does, however, note that the app is optimized for the iPhone 5.
Daily Roundup: Accessories buyer's guide, OLPC XO Tablet review, Employee-only white Xbox One, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Chromecast update breaks local media streaming in third-party apps (updated)
We hope you aren't depending on your Chromecast for local media playback. If you are, the device has just become a paperweight -- temporarily, at least. Google's most recent Chromecast update disables playback from external video sources, breaking third-party apps like AllCast and Fling that use the code for local-only streaming. Developer Leon Nicholls is hopeful that functionality will return when the official Cast SDK is ready for public apps, although we wouldn't count on it. As Android Central notes, Google isn't promising local media support on the Chromecast; for now, it's focused on the cloud. Update: In a statement mentioned by dnengel84 in the comments and posted by The Verge, Google says that it's willing to support local content; these are "early days" for the SDK, and the feature set is likely to change. Read the full statement after the break.
AirCast for Android sends local or cloud videos to Chromecast, test it out now
ClockworkMod dev Koushik Dutta has teased us with a few interesting ways to get our own media streaming on Chromecast, but now he's actually releasing one to the public. AirCast runs on your Android device and streams video from the gallery, Dropbox or Google Drive to Google dongle, with playback controls available in the app or from the notification bar. So why is this ready for release now? According to the developer, he's reverse engineered the protocols and is no longer using the SDK. Still, the app is just in testing now and he warns that the button doesn't appear in gallery apps on some devices, including the HTC One. It will stop working on its own after a couple of days while Dutta works the kinks out, look below for links to the download or more information, and check out a video demo after the break.
Homebrew Kinect app steers Chromecast streams through gestures (update: source code)
Chromecast may deliver on promises of sending wire-free video to TVs, but it's not hands-free -- or at least, it wasn't. Leon Nicholls has unveiled a homemade Kinect app for the desktop that gives him gesture-based control of videos playing through Google's streaming stick. While there's just two commands at this point, Nicholls hopes to open-source the code in the near future; this isn't the end of the road. If you can't wait that long, though, there's a quick demonstration available after the break. Update: A few days later, Nicholls has posted the source code for his project; you'll need to whitelist your Chromecast for development to use it.
Hands-on with the Google Chromecast
The backordered TUAW Chromecast finally arrived yesterday evening from Google. We apologize for the delay in this write-up, but we simply didn't have a unit to test with. I felt, that for the sake of celebrating our native blog culture, I had to give it a proper unboxing. The Chromecast ships in a rather nice box, with the cast unit on top and the power cord and "bits" underneath. An internal flap offered getting started directions, while a firm plastic insert held the dongle itself. While not quite Apple-level of packaging (and despite a rather odd smell that pervades the box), the packaging was clean and professional. Getting the $35 unit working involved several quick and easy steps. First, I plugged the dongle into a HDMI port. Google provides a small HDMI extension cord -- and I mean small, perhaps 3" long -- in the box. Use this if you need to keep plugging and unplugging your dongle on a regular basis, so you can travel with it. The cord provides an easier access point, especially when reaching around the back of large television sets. Next, I plugged the unit into power. You must supply that power through a micro-USB port, the standard these days for many devices especially in Europe. Google provided an in-box wall plug for this, but I tested as well with a USB hub and with a portable battery pack. In fact, the reason I ended up using these workarounds is that in the heavily tech area of my office, I experienced major interference when using the plug. Switching to battery or hub cleared up the reception immediately. Testing on our family TV, which is where I performed the initial setup and exploration, offered no similar charger issues. It was only when I brought the unit down to explore iOS development that I encountered problems. I'm using a standard USB 3 hub to power the now office-based Chromecast. You must, of course, switch your TV input to the dongle's active HDMI port to begin setup. There you're greeted by a screen prompting you to connect to google.com/chromecast/setup. I did this on my Mountain Lion Mac, downloading both a standalone Chromecast configuration app and a Chrome browser specific plugin. I had to confirm a 4-character connection code, as you might with a Bluetooth connection, provide my SSID and password details, and was quickly ready to rock and roll. I honestly am not quite sure how the unit was able to announce itself and connect without using my Wi-Fi network, which is password protected. The Wi-Fi setup was the last part of the setup and my upstairs TV was well out of what I consider normal Bluetooth range when communication first began. It's a mystery that I'd love to unravel. [Update: Commenter SaintNicster unpacks this process for us. "The Chromecast, when first initialized, creates an ad-hoc WiFi network with the device you're using for setup. The setup process breaks the current WiFi session temporarily and then connects to the Chromecast. The setup then copies the previous WiFi information and sends that to the device. Once it has this information, the ad-hoc network is disabled and it reconnects to the normal WiFi." Thanks!] In all, the entire setup process took maybe a few minutes. It was really quick and very easy to get through to the "ready to cast" screen that greets you. As an OS X user, you'll want to work in the Chrome browser, for which I installed a Cast extension. After adding this, a Cast button appears at the top-right of every browser page. This button lets you select a Chromecast unit (yes, ours is called "Maisy"; my son picked the name), choose playback options and reach a help menu. The in-browser options are pretty simple. This is where you choose a projection quality and enable or disable fullscreen zoom and browser resizing. As you cast, your active Chrome browser tab mirrors to the Chromecast unit, appearing on the connected TV. You switch tabs or end casting using the browser pop-up. I found this feature to be occasionally buggy (yes, it's a beta). I found that when Chrome is experiencing too many yellow warnings for this pop-up, you can try quitting and restarting the browser and unplugging/replugging the dongle. When working properly, the Stop casting and Cast buttons apply instantly. At times, you do want to stop casting to reduce the load on your local Wi-Fi network. The Stop casting button enables you to do this. The Cast this tab button lets you switch between tabs without closing them. To test, I loaded up a variety of media including movies, music, and PDF documents into Chrome. They all played over quickly without issue and minimal delay. That said, if you cast over text, I recommend using the Extreme 720p high bitrate option. Without it, text looks unacceptably jaggy, especially when displayed on large screens. Movies worked far better. My son happily watched Hotel Transylvania over Chromecast until bedtime. Since I casted a browser, the audio file I opened and played appeared as an embed. Similarly, when I visited Spotify, I had to watch the static web page. I'm pretty sure this isn't an ideal experience for my TV's screen health, assuming if I had kept listening over time as I did chores or used the treadmill. As I mentioned earlier, one of my first tasks involved creating a custom iOS app to play to my Chromecast. I initially assumed I could use the Elgato EyeTV as I do with my Apple TV. EyeTV enables me to place the HDTV input side-by-side on my desktop with my dev work. For whatever reason, I could not get it to work with the Chromecast. EyeTV went into an infinite "adjusting to new mode" loop, attempting to display 1080p at 60fps, and never synced to or displayed the cast data. Although I tried down-streaming to 480p and up-streaming to 720p, I just couldn't get this to work. Instead, I ended up using my second monitor in normal TV mode. Although prettier than a squeezed and delayed EyeTV, this made it impossible to take direct screenshots of the device in action. The final piece of the OS X-based Chromecast puzzle is the standalone app that enables you to manage your devices from a single place. Here, you can set up Wi-Fi, name your Chromecast, set a time zone, force a reboot, and factory reset a Chromecast (for return to Google or resale). It's also where you find one-button access to download the Google Cast browser extension. To my surprise and delight, I discovered my iPhone was already cast-ready. The latest version of the YouTube app easily found and transmitted to my Chromecast. I was able to set up a not-for-distribution sample app using Xcode and the developer API and start sending data that way as well. After finding my unit's MAC address, I quickly discovered (courtesy of OS X command line port scanning) that it communicates on port 8008. That discovery led me to the Chromecast hacks community on Google plus. With several weeks head start, these (mostly Java) developers have been pushing the Chromecast's capabilities, mostly on Android. They've reversed the Remote Application Media Protocol (RAMP) used by the device to the point where they have custom apps running: Sample Java source code for general device access is now available on github. Hopefully this will be quickly ported to standard C, enabling Mac-based casting. I'm particularly excited about potential VLC extensions. On the iOS side of things, now that I have an actual device to work with, it will be interesting to explore (time permitting!) how to push development beyond the grab-and-send-a-URL point I"m currently at. From a consumer-only point of view, for just 35 dollars, I found the Chromecast to be a really nice receiver solution for our family. I plan to use it extensively with my Mac/EyeTV setup. Instead of having to watch my recordings on the Mac in my office, I can now transmit those through the Chrome browser up to our (much nicer) HDTV. I can also see this being used for travel, as I mentioned in an earlier post. The video transmission quality was excellent, except when eldest daughter decided to start watching Crunchyroll episodes simultaneously over the same Wi-Fi network. A bit of shouting and bribery helped us negotiate those waters. Unlike Apple TV, Chromecast does not offer an Ethernet port. While we could watch and transmit Amazon Prime videos from Chrome (we're not Netflix subscribers, which offers its own iOS app with built-in support) with their somewhat dubious transmission quality, we could not get iTunes rentals to play over without extreme hackery. (I will spare you the details of the hackery. Suffice it to say that it involved Apple TV, Eye TV, and a lot of time.) In the end, was it worth the $35? Yes. Will I keep using this device past the review period? Yes. Is it as good as Apple TV? It's not a real competitor, and it fills its own niche quite nicely. The Chromecast extends desktop media playback to an external HDTV and it does that well.
Cheapcast app turns your Android device into a Chromecast (video)
Glowing Chromecast reviews have come in from all angles, but what if you didn't get an order in and missed out on the sold-out dongles? If you have an Android 2.2 (or higher) device you can give its features a whirl using an app called Cheapcast. Designed to mimic Google's $35 dongle, it instantly gives a phone or tablet the ability to stream from Chromecast-enabled apps to other devices on the same WiFi network. If the device acting as a receiver has a small screen, you can also connect it to a TV with no WiFi via an HDMI cable. Cheapcast's Google Play page warns that since it's at the early stages, it can't display Chrome tabs, and some of its other functions might still be on the fritz. It's free to download, though, so there's nothing keeping you from trying it out -- it might even quench your desire to get a Chromecast, if only for a while.
Switched On: Casting light on the Chromecast
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Sold out for weeks after its launch, everyone seems to be in love with the Chromecast -- the ultra-cheap, ultra-small, interface-free, HDMI-toting TV appendage that stole the show from the new Nexus 7. Building beyond the DIAL device-discovery protocol that Netflix and YouTube have supported, Chromecast is a client of Google Cast, which enables the kind of second-screen control for volume and other features implemented by the device. Google has gotten the jump on similar products such as the Plair TV dongle by natively supporting three of the most popular services to use on televisions -- Netflix, YouTube and Pandora. Furthermore, it has also enabled a backdoor to many other services by building in support for displaying Chrome tabs on a Chromecast-connected TV. In doing so, it treats the TV as an extension of the browser just as Apple's forthcoming OS X Mavericks can treat an Apple TV-connected set as another Macintosh screen.
Dev's CyanogenMod tweak sends content from most apps to Chromecast (video)
ClockworkMod dev Koushik Dutta is showing off another Android tweak that proves what can be done with Google's Chromecast dongle. Following up on his Phone to Chromecast Android app, and a Chrome extension that did the same, now he's added framework extensions to CyanogenMod that pipe audio and video content from any app -- that uses the system's default media player -- straight to the Chromecast. This should apparently work for pretty much anything, as he describes it plays locally stored content or streaming stuff like podcasts. In the demo video (embedded after the break) he shows it working with Twit.tv and BeyondPod. As with the previous examples, this isn't available for mass consumption just yet, but hit the source link to get a peek and ask any questions you have about how it works.
