OPINION
By KELVIN DAVIS
(Kelvin Davis is the director or Greymouse, a cloud service-provider that supplies high quality, time-bound and cost-efficient services through its own facility in Fiji.)
Already commanding premium pricing on Ebay, the Google Chromecast promises a simple and cheaper way to get browser and streaming content on to your TV screen.
The Chromecast was an instant hit as it was sold out online within minutes after official release.
Simpler and faster
Being more intuitive than Netflix and the YouTube applications, the Chromecast eliminates at least five of the usual set up steps:
- The Chromecaste is even able to change your TV’s input for you as it becomes a natural extension of all the devices in your house.
- It actually grabs content from the internet cloud instantly to your TV.
Costing only $35, the Chromecaste will allow you to shuttle anything that you’re watching from any machine instantly straight into your TV without even a second thought. Technically this means you will be able to: - Play any web video service on Chromo cast
- Drag even a HBO Go, Hulu or even a Bittorrent-ed video
- Display native Microsoft documents by converting them to HTML
http://tinyurl.com/slashgear-google-chromecast
Software performance
The Chromo cast offers two basic ways to get content into your TV:
- From applications that support it directly or
- By “casting” content from the Chrome browser.
With more than one Chromo cast, your choices on “who can send what” are limitless.
Setting up
Looking like an over sized USB key, its stunted lollypop shape has:
- a HDMI plug on one end and a microUSB port on the other.
- an extender cable is given to accommodate a low profile HDMI ports
- Together with a long USB cord and an AC adapter.
The Chromo cast can be powered from either the adapter or you can also use your TV that has a spare USB port. http://tinyurl.com/geekspodcast-review-giveaway
Business tool potential
Designed as an entertainment device, the Chromo cast surprisingly has some business potentials too:
- a pocket sized charger for all your mobile devices
- defending cameras from the smart phone revolution
- making your smart phone battery last longer
It’s not the most comprehensive solution for projecting business documents on to the big screen but the Chromocast is portable, easy to use and definitely a life saver when you’re traveling.
http://tinyurl.com/cbsnews-google-chromecast-use
Limitations
- The Chromecast currently is able to work only from four streaming services i.e. Netflix, Pandora, You Tube and Google Play.
- Unless your application has built in support, the Chromocast cannot push content from other applications on your phone or tablet
- Only a handful of TV’s are capable of powering the Chromecast stick through their HDMI port alone, which means you will need an extra USB port or power outlet to delive juice to the Chromecast.
http://tinyurl.com/cnn-google-chromecast
It can only get better
The Chromecast’s biggest strength is in its cross-platform compatibility as it will play friendly with any iOS, Android, Mac, or Windows app that integrates Googles Cast SDK.
Apps that use Chromecast can take priority over the lock screen, allowing the user to play, pause or skip a video without having to fully unlock their Android device.
That’s just icing on the cake, though because for the most part, the entire primary features work just as well on iOS as they do on Android.
The Chromecast certainly sounds like something you’d want to buy as it’s easily affordable.
Given time, it’s bound to only get better when the bugs get ironed out together with more apps to support it.