Category: Cord Cutters

No sooner do I do my “Three Reasons to Love Chromecast” and now they have even more apps!

Chromecast Gets 10 New Apps, Including Songza, VEVO, And Revision 3

Techcrunch – “Slowly but surely, Google’s Chromecast devices is beefing up with content partners. The company just announced 10 new apps landing on the $35 smart TV dongle, including VEVO, Revision 3, PostTV, and Songza, to name a few.

For those of you who don’t already know, Chromecast is a device developed by Google that plugs right into your TV to add various streaming services like YouTube, Netflix and most recently HBO Go.

Here’s what Google had to say about the new apps:

Beginning today you can enjoy action sports, news, music videos, and more with the addition of VEVO, Red Bull.TV, Songza, PostTV, Viki, Revision 3 and BeyondPod.

And for those many holiday gatherings, you can also cast your personal media straight to your TV using Plex, Avia, or RealPlayer Cloud apps. There’s no need to huddle around small screens when you can share your own photos and videos using your phone, tablet, or laptop.”

1) You can watch anything that you can view in your web browser. I have been talking about this feature for a while. But, I am not sure folks “get” this feature even yet! For instance, there are TV shows on CBS, and other TV networks’ web sites, where they have full episodes available to view in your browser. Once you start a show in the Chrome browser window, then you can go “full screen” in the player, and if that is in a tab cast to your TV via Chromecast… guess what? You have a full screen TV show via Chromecast! Want to watch the latest version of RWBY on the Roosterteeth web site, guess what? Full screen on your HDTV in your living room! Now even your web-based shows are available!

2) Watch your own local (on your hard drive) videos. Wait! I thought that you couldn’t do that with the Chromecast! Yes, you can… because anything that you can view in your Chrome browser window, you can watch on your TV screen! So… all you have to do is open a local video file in your Chrome browser using the “Control-O” command in Chrome. It will come up in a player within Chrome, then you can hit the “full screen” button in the lower right corner of the player. (Basically, it is the HTML5 player.) Since Chrome supports file format viewing for such formats as AVI, MP4, M4V, MPEG, OGV, and WEBM videos, you can then watch you own local videos using this hack!

3) Do you want to show your entire PC screen on your HDTV? Maybe you want to show someone how to do something in a training setting? Well, you can! It is an “experimental” feature, but it is available. Just open your Chrome browser, click on the “Cast this tab…” option as usual, then select the drop down menu, and choose to cast your whole screen! As I said, it IS experimental, but, you can do it!

So, you have pulled up a web page in your Chrome browser, and you click the Chromecast button in the browser to display the video in the tab to the Chromecast. Now, you want to continue to use your PC while the video is playing on your TV. Just go full-screen on the video within the Chrome browser tab, then ALT + TAB. Your TV will show the video, and you’ll be able to use your computer to do something else. Neat!

Watch this video for more reasons why I am So jazzed about Chromecast!

1080P videos from YouTube displayed on my TV… I can’t wait! And Chromecast buttons are coming for lot’s of apps!

The Netflix offer has been discontinued due to amazingly huge demand for the device… but it is still a good deal at $35.00!

I say, yes! Google’s Chromecast debuted last week to much hoopla, and excitement from geeks everywhere! (Followed shortly by gripping and groaning from nay-sayers, which I will cover in a moment.) As you can see from the photo above, the Chromecast is a simple looking device, but what is does is awesome!

The naysayers have been saying things like:

1) It doesn’t have enough “native” apps yet!

(So what!? It displays whatever you see and “cast” from your browser, so that could be ANY service!)

2) It isn’t that small device that is the size of a thumbdrive after all… it has a long dongle for power and plugs into the wall!

(Again… so what!? If you have a modern HD TV that has a powered version of HDMI jacks on your TV, it will NOT have to use the external power… and even if you do, it is all behind your TV anyway, and once you plug it in, you are done!)

3) My Roku already let’s me see Netflix.

(OK, but your Roku doesn’t let you display your PC’s web browser, and anything running in it, on your HD TV via the Roku. I don’t see abandoning my Roku either, but at $35.00 why not get the capability to see my PC’s web browser on my HD 55″ TV in all it’s glory!?)

Chromecast Specs:

Output: HDMI, CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) compatible
Max. Output Video Resolution: 1080p
Dimensions: 72(L) x 35(W) x 12(H) mm
Weight: 34g
Wireless Standards: 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only)
Wireless Security: WEP, WPA/WPA2
Power: USB (Power adapter included)
Includes USB cable and power adapter
Plugs into TV directly and powered from TV’s HDCP compatible HDMI port or wall outlet

DEWD! This is a no-brainer!

I have a “regular” Slingbox, and it is pretty dog gone cool! It allows you to connect the slingbox to your TV and DVR, and then connect it to your Internet connection… and then watch your TV shows from anywhere on the Internet! So, from my Mom’s house at the lake, I can watch a recorded DVR show… cool! Now they have an HD version! Very cool!

High-def Slingbox enters the market

“News from Sling Media hasn’t been this big in quite a while. The Slingbox Pro-HD is now available — the company’s first device that enables streaming of high-definition content. Though the device is half a year late, the new Slingbox Pro-HD is fortunately over a hundred dollars cheaper than originally anticipated. Priced at $299.99, the Slingbox Pro-HD can be purchased directly from Sling, or at select stores throughout the country. Select stores? As it turns out, those stores’ locations are quite sparse. In Maryland, for example, there are no stores selling the device at all. Maryland residents would have to drive to either Virginia or Pennsylvania to buy a Slingbox Pro in person. Sling Media says that eventually Best Buy, Fry’s, J&R, Microcenter, and more will begin carrying the device in the coming weeks. For the Slingbox Pro-HD to work as intended, a home connection with a 1.5 Mbps or higher uplink speed is necessary. HD sources can be one of the following: over-the-air HD digital signals (ATSC), digital cable channels (Clear QAM), HDTV cable set-top boxes, HDTV satellite receivers, or HD DVRs.”