It's a $35 video streaming dongle that plugs into your TV's HDMI. And uses your phone as the remote.

It can stream Netflix, YouTube and Google Play with more coming soon.

Also the contents of a Chrome browser tab.
I'm getting one.

Bam! Google just changed the game.

https://play.google.com/store/devices/d ... chromecast

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DR0PDNE/?tag=imwan-20

Heh heh...

"Dongle"

Heh.

He said 'dongle.'

My BluRay player could do those things if I bothered to plug it in to the Internet. But I don't.

Yes, it would depend on the ease by which this thing streams the channels.

Our Blue Ray does all that, but it's a pain in the ass to navigate quickly.

We still use our Roku for our streaming. Mostly Netflix and HBOgo.

If this "dongle" (as you call it) is any quicker, I might get it.

Steve seems to love the dongle.

Waiting for Chuck Berry to come out with a My Dong-a-long song.

I've added the AmazWAN link to the first post. The device isn't yet in stock there, but I expect it will be soon.

Chromecast looks nice, but this stuff is already built-in on so many video players and TVs.

Not the connectivity to any device or computer. You have to navigate and type from within most TV's and players. The Chromecast streams the content that you command from your computer or handheld device.

It makes a big difference -- fooling with internal menus sucks all the functionality out of most smart TV's.

Agreed. I have an Xbox but no other smart capability on any devices, so this is quite welcome. Can't beat the price.

It's there now:



http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DR0PDNE/?tag=imwan-20

Those of you who have already gotten Chromecast, are you happy with it? Worth buying?

I plug in an HDMI cable to my laptop. Seems the only benefit of the Google thing is no cable.

Same here -- I have an HDMI running from my desktop to a TV.

But Chromecast lets you maestro the cloud content from a handheld device. A lot of people are living out of a smartphone or tablet. Ipads don't even have USB connections, much less HDMI.

Anyone want to give me an elevator pitch on this thing? Does it stream your PC and cloud media to your TV or does it stream content from one device to another?

From any device to a TV.

Cloud content.

Just a simple way to get the things you can see on the net, to a TV that has HDMI, and easy to control through an app on your device, or a browser window on your PC.

It actually does not stream from your device or computer -- it pulls it down from the cloud directly. But it's a point of control and authentication that you control from your device. So for example, if you have Netflix, it makes any TV your Netflix TV.

It's like a little Roku that can be easily controlled from any device.

I'm standing on an empty elevator, aren't I?

This is my floor.

I just have old tube TV's, so this wouldn't be for me.

Carry on.

It does. You can stream your videos from Chrome in your computer.

Okay, but from what I gather it's always using the cloud -- that it is not streaming directly, like a DLNA standard or something. So if you stream your own videos, you've at least temporarilly hosted them somewhere using a service that's part of Chromecast.

The only practical difference is that I believe you have to have a live internet connection to use Chromecast. You couldn't use it as a DLNA workaround in a house where internet is down or not there. And the speed of that connection will affect video quality.

They say DLNA is "coming", but in trying to lure content providers to get behind Chromecast, they might have a hard time supporting local streaming (because of course you must have pirated those things you have on your computer. ).

Personally I'm happy with my PS3 for DLNA, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, etc. The Chromecast is for people who don't have something else like a Roku, XBox, or PS3/4, IMO. Soon enough the PS4 will support DLNA, and I'll be moving the PS3 out of the entertainment center room and into the kids playroom with the Wii.

We got a Chromecast for Christmas. With the Avia Player app on my phone ($2.99 for the ad-free version with Chromecast support), I can play its local content on the Chromecast. It only supports x264/mp4, but most newly released content is in that format anyway. I download straight to my phone and beam it from there. Works well.

I bought a Chromecast a few months ago but never set it up. Is it easy to use?

I refuse to even consider buying a PS4 until I can stream my media.

Not even for Metal Gear Solid V. It's a question of principles.