Chromecast

wizwor · 07-25-2013, 05:16 PM

As family members migrate from the launch Fire to new incarnations, I am accumulating a few. I had been toying with the idea of rooting one of them then Chromecast arrived and I am more interested since I ordered the dongle.

I welcome suggestions and pointers from those of you who have been at this for a while. I do not want to lost access to my amazon books, apps, and media if avoidable.

thanks!

PS are we expecting Chromecase support for the Fire [HD]?

Jessica Lares · 07-25-2013, 10:30 PM

You guys want me to go see if I can get one off Best Buy and try it on my brother's HD and my dad's 1st gen?

Except for VOD, there's not much worry about losing anything. You can sideload the appstore.

daffy4u · 07-25-2013, 10:37 PM

I think they are all on back order at this point.

A lot of folks who ordered right away will be getting their Chromecasts over the next few days and I'm sure we will have some Kindle Fire test reports. Mine have already shipped but I can't try them until next week because I'll be out of town. I will be testing with my rooted KFHD.

Jessica Lares · 07-25-2013, 11:26 PM

Alright. I'm still on the edge of deciding anyway. I have a TV that just sits on my shelf unplugged at the moment that might benefit from one.

wizwor · 07-26-2013, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

You guys want me to go see if I can get one off Best Buy and try it on my brother's HD and my dad's 1st gen?

Except for VOD, there's not much worry about losing anything. You can sideload the appstore.

I think the issue may be that the version of android the first gen is based on will not run the chromecast enabled apps. I tried to install chrome and got parameter errors, for instance. Even if I found a 2.3 version of chrome, it might not be chromecast enhanced.

Jessica Lares · 07-26-2013, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizwor

I think the issue may be that the version of android the first gen is based on will not run the chromecast enabled apps. I tried to install chrome and got parameter errors, for instance. Even if I found a 2.3 version of chrome, it might not be chromecast enhanced.

Chrome is 4.0+ to begin with.

But Chromecast is designed to work on Gingerbread and above. I think Dolphin *might* get it though, so look out for that. Just try the main app and see if you can get it setup.

WillysJeepMan · 07-26-2013, 05:33 PM

If I'm understanding the Chromecast device functionality correctly, it is basically Google's version of Airplay.... redirecting audio/video from a smartphone/tablet to the Chromecast device. That's useful I guess, but I have found that devices that stand alone, eg. smart TVs, Roku, Apple TV, to be more useful.

mpeg2 · 07-26-2013, 06:37 PM

Not quite like airplay - many of the media reports seem to have gotten this quite confused.

I think that this device will play stuff out of the cloud - for suitable definitions of "cloud" - seemingly only certain apps now, like Netflix or Youtube. It won't play content on your tablet or phone. The tablet or phone is used as the controller.

At least that's what I've managed to understand from the confusing reports.

Rich

Graham · 07-26-2013, 07:07 PM

The apps with Google Cast support get the Chromecast dongle to pull the same content independently from the web.

However, it's reported that you can play local content using the beta Chrome browser support. Open a local audio or video file, say, in a Chrome tab on your tablet, phone or PC, and you can 'cast' that tab to the TV.

Graham

CWatkinsNash · 07-29-2013, 11:50 AM

I just wanted to say thanks for this discussion. Not sure how I ended up in the Fire forum in the first place, but I had not heard of Chromecast. I just ordered one. Won't be here for about a month, but I can wait.

I've been looking for a simplified solution for local media, and "drag a video file into Chrome" is about as simplified as it gets.

Graham · 07-29-2013, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

I've been looking for a simplified solution for local media, and "drag a video file into Chrome" is about as simplified as it gets.

It's been further reported now that this currently only works with Chrome on a PC - not yet on a tablet - but hopefully that will come.

Graham

mewmartigan · 07-29-2013, 02:05 PM

Support for Chromecast comes through the individual apps.

So you open your Netflix app on the phone, start a movie and hit the "chromecast" button in the Netflix app. It will then move the video to your tv.

So as long as the app makers update their Kindle Fire apps with the "chromecast software button" then it should work just fine.

The other option at the moment is the Chrome web broswer on mac or PC. You can mirror a tab of the browser to the tv. So in this case, you could go to any website and it will mirror the entire tab. If you want fullscreen video, you have to set the computer to full screen which means no fullscreen video on the tv while you are surfing the web in another tab.

Google opened up the APK for developers though (and I read somewhere that Chromecast has already been hacked/rooted/etc). So it will be interseting to see what other uses the community comes up with.

CWatkinsNash · 07-29-2013, 02:22 PM

Yes, Chrome for PC is what I was referring to. I should have been more specific. That's the only local media I'm interested in streaming to my TV. I don't use my phone or tablet for media viewing at home.

WillysJeepMan · 07-30-2013, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mpeg2

Not quite like airplay - many of the media reports seem to have gotten this quite confused.

I think that this device will play stuff out of the cloud - for suitable definitions of "cloud" - seemingly only certain apps now, like Netflix or Youtube. It won't play content on your tablet or phone. The tablet or phone is used as the controller.

At least that's what I've managed to understand from the confusing reports.

Rich

Yes, it HAS been quite confusing, which makes me even more confused regarding the excitement surrounding this device. Do they even know what they're excited about? Or is it simply because Google is the one releasing it?

One needs a smartphone, tablet, or PC to stream the video to the Chromecast. Once the video starts streaming, can the sending device do something else? eg. Start Netflix stream on smartphone to the Chromecast, and then exit the app on the smartphone.

daffy4u · 07-30-2013, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

One needs a smartphone, tablet, or PC to stream the video to the Chromecast. Once the video starts streaming, can the sending device do something else? eg. Start Netflix stream on smartphone to the Chromecast, and then exit the app on the smartphone.

Per the demo at the announcement, yes.

Edit: My Chromecasts arrived yesterday. I hooked one up, sent a YouTube video to the Chromecast from my phone and once the video started playing I moved on to some other apps on my phone. It worked great!

07-25-2013, 05:16 PM	#1
wizwor Wizard Posts: 1,068 Karma: 23867385 Join Date: Nov 2011 Device: kindle, fire	Chromecast As family members migrate from the launch Fire to new incarnations, I am accumulating a few. I had been toying with the idea of rooting one of them then Chromecast arrived and I am more interested since I ordered the dongle. I welcome suggestions and pointers from those of you who have been at this for a while. I do not want to lost access to my amazon books, apps, and media if avoidable. thanks! PS are we expecting Chromecase support for the Fire [HD]?

07-25-2013, 10:30 PM	#2
Jessica Lares Wizard Posts: 2,240 Karma: 5759170 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Near Dallas, Texas, USA Device: iPad Mini, iPod Touch (5th gen)	You guys want me to go see if I can get one off Best Buy and try it on my brother's HD and my dad's 1st gen? Except for VOD, there's not much worry about losing anything. You can sideload the appstore.

07-25-2013, 10:37 PM	#3
daffy4u I'm Super Kindle-icious Posts: 6,734 Karma: 2434103 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis	I think they are all on back order at this point. A lot of folks who ordered right away will be getting their Chromecasts over the next few days and I'm sure we will have some Kindle Fire test reports. Mine have already shipped but I can't try them until next week because I'll be out of town. I will be testing with my rooted KFHD.

07-25-2013, 11:26 PM	#4
Jessica Lares Wizard Posts: 2,240 Karma: 5759170 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Near Dallas, Texas, USA Device: iPad Mini, iPod Touch (5th gen)	Alright. I'm still on the edge of deciding anyway. I have a TV that just sits on my shelf unplugged at the moment that might benefit from one.

07-26-2013, 05:33 PM	#7
WillysJeepMan Guru Posts: 655 Karma: 2877892 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kobo Touch, KFHD7, GTab 8.4 Pro, iPadAir 2	If I'm understanding the Chromecast device functionality correctly, it is basically Google's version of Airplay.... redirecting audio/video from a smartphone/tablet to the Chromecast device. That's useful I guess, but I have found that devices that stand alone, eg. smart TVs, Roku, Apple TV, to be more useful.

07-26-2013, 06:37 PM	#8
mpeg2 Connoisseur Posts: 62 Karma: 2687880 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kindle	Not quite like airplay - many of the media reports seem to have gotten this quite confused. I think that this device will play stuff out of the cloud - for suitable definitions of "cloud" - seemingly only certain apps now, like Netflix or Youtube. It won't play content on your tablet or phone. The tablet or phone is used as the controller. At least that's what I've managed to understand from the confusing reports. Rich

07-26-2013, 07:07 PM	#9
Graham Wizard Posts: 2,743 Karma: 32912427 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: North Yorkshire, UK Device: Kobo H20, Pixel 2, Samsung Chromebook Plus	The apps with Google Cast support get the Chromecast dongle to pull the same content independently from the web. However, it's reported that you can play local content using the beta Chrome browser support. Open a local audio or video file, say, in a Chrome tab on your tablet, phone or PC, and you can 'cast' that tab to the TV. Graham

07-29-2013, 11:50 AM	#10
CWatkinsNash IOC Chief Archivist Posts: 3,950 Karma: 53868218 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Fruitland Park, FL, USA Device: Meebook M7, Paperwhite 2021, Fire HD 8+, Fire HD 10+, Lenovo Tab P12	I just wanted to say thanks for this discussion. Not sure how I ended up in the Fire forum in the first place, but I had not heard of Chromecast. I just ordered one. Won't be here for about a month, but I can wait. I've been looking for a simplified solution for local media, and "drag a video file into Chrome" is about as simplified as it gets.

07-29-2013, 02:05 PM	#12
mewmartigan Guru Posts: 852 Karma: 8242060 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Kindle Oasis (2019)	Support for Chromecast comes through the individual apps. So you open your Netflix app on the phone, start a movie and hit the "chromecast" button in the Netflix app. It will then move the video to your tv. So as long as the app makers update their Kindle Fire apps with the "chromecast software button" then it should work just fine. The other option at the moment is the Chrome web broswer on mac or PC. You can mirror a tab of the browser to the tv. So in this case, you could go to any website and it will mirror the entire tab. If you want fullscreen video, you have to set the computer to full screen which means no fullscreen video on the tv while you are surfing the web in another tab. Google opened up the APK for developers though (and I read somewhere that Chromecast has already been hacked/rooted/etc). So it will be interseting to see what other uses the community comes up with.

07-29-2013, 02:22 PM	#13
CWatkinsNash IOC Chief Archivist Posts: 3,950 Karma: 53868218 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Fruitland Park, FL, USA Device: Meebook M7, Paperwhite 2021, Fire HD 8+, Fire HD 10+, Lenovo Tab P12	Yes, Chrome for PC is what I was referring to. I should have been more specific. That's the only local media I'm interested in streaming to my TV. I don't use my phone or tablet for media viewing at home.

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