After initially using Google’s Chromecast for a few days, it’s easy to shrug your shoulders and ask what the big deal is. After all, at first glance it doesn’t seem like it does anything you can’t do with any of the dozens of Smart TVs out there or with the various set-top boxes (ranging from Roku to various game consoles). The beauty in Chromecast, however, isn’t just how easily it does the things it does now but in what it will be able to do in the future. Google products are made to evolve and improve – just look at what Goolge Now can do on your Android phone compared to what it could do when it was first launched.
Chromecast is a device about the size of your standard USB memory stick that plugs into any HDMI port on your television. By connecting it to the same WiFi signal your laptop, tablet or Android smartphones are using, you can use said devices to control the content that streams on your TV. Fire up your Netflix app, select your favorite movie and hit the Chromecast button and the movie is instantly playing on your TV. Other services, such as HBO GO, YouTube and Vevo are also set up for the Chromecast service as well.
Users are’t just limited to tablet and phone apps, however. Any tab on the Google Chrome web browser can be mirrored onto your TV using Chromecast as well. For instance, the Showtime Anywhere service doesn’t connect directly to Chromecast. However, if you can run it in your Chrome browser, you can then transfer it directly to your TV using the Chrome browser Chromecast app (which is free). This also works for any locally stored videos and photos you have on your laptop as well. Or, if you prefer, there are a number of cloud storage services that work with Chromecast, as well.
Once the device (which sells for a very reasonable $35) is installed, it’s a breeze to use and will automatically update, meaning that you won’t have to buy a whole new device to simply get brand new features. Getting it installed, however, isn’t nearly as easy as using it. Now, to be fair, I’ve been having some issues with my internet and WiFi at my office (I won’t say who we’re using because it’s not their fault), and those issues had kept me from connecting to the device properly. Even still, once I finally found a reliable wireless signal, it took me a good half an hour to install the latest updates and get everything configured on both the TV device and my desktop.
My laptop also runs Ubuntu as opposed to Windows or Mac OS and as much as I love it, video services that work with it are few and far between. Which means that I had to set the whole thing up with my smartphone.
Now that it’s set up and running smoothly on my TV, however, it’s my go to gadget when I want to watch Netflix, YouTube videos or just about anything else. Does it do nearly everything my so-called “Smart” TV does? Pretty much. Is it easier to use, though? Absolutely. Once you finish screaming and swearing at it as you get it installed, you’re going to enjoy it for years to come.
The post Chromecast – Pain to Set Up, Joy to Use appeared first on Nuclear Salad.
