
New Chromecast apps for the holidays - rooster8
http://chrome.blogspot.com/2013/12/new-chromecast-apps-for-holidays.html
======
mrt0mat0
when is the chromecast app going to allow me to just select any video that i
view on the internet and click the symbol to stream? I know their big worry is
probably pirated movies, but that's not what i want. it's for porn.

~~~
seiji
iOS (720p) or OS X (1080p) AirPlay video mirroring is what you're looking for.

Mavericks even lets you use an AirPlay display (read: AppleTV) as a fully
independent 1080p monitor, not just a mirror.

~~~
cromwellian
Mirroring from another device is not the same as streaming from a TV connected
device. It requires active participation from the mirroring device.

~~~
seiji
Streaming from a TV connected device with arbitrary content restrictions is
silly.

Freedom and whatnot.

~~~
cromwellian
The freedom to leave the house and to preserve your battery life is another
issue. I often fling videos to my chrome cast for my kids remotely. AirPlay
style mirroring is wasteful of bandwidth, battery, it double compresses
streams, and adds latency.

It's a fallback of last resort IMHO.

------
Splendor
From [http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/10/5196076/chromecast-
suppor...](http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/10/5196076/chromecast-support-
comes-to-new-apps-vevo-songza-plex)

The full list of apps that have added Chromecast support today includes:
Songza, Vevo, Plex, Red Bull.TV, Revision 3, PostTV, Viki, BeyondPod,
RealPlayer Cloud, Avia

------
josteink
Note: Plex-support is currently only for PlexPass subscribers.

[http://elan.plexapp.com/2013/12/06/plex-on-the-chromecast-
it...](http://elan.plexapp.com/2013/12/06/plex-on-the-chromecast-its-
official/)

------
speedyrev
If it had Amazon Prime, it would be a perfect match for me. Until then, Roku.

~~~
Crito
If only Roku had Youtube, and if only either could do networked files
reasonably at the moment...

I currently have a chromecast, a roku, and a raspi plugged into my tv. An
absurd setup, I really need to invest some time into figuring out something
sane.

~~~
ajtaylor
I recently bought a Roku 3 and paired it with a FreeNAS server running the
Plex media server. Add the Plex channel on the Roku and you get the network
file support + Youtube. Getting Plex + Roku setup been the best thing I've
done on my home network in years!

------
callahad
The "New" labels on
[http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/chromecast/apps...](http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/chromecast/apps.html)
only have "-webkit-transform: rotate(45deg);" set, breaking the design on non-
webkit browsers. :(

~~~
paulirish
Not great. I'll make sure this is fixed soon. Thanks for the heads up.

~~~
paulirish
Fixed.

~~~
callahad
Thanks, Paul!

------
ohashi
I just wish I could broadcast from VLC.

~~~
amartya916
I'd love this feature! I might be wrong, but I think the VLC devs have to
incorporate this using the Chromecast api's? Anyone with the knowledge care to
enlighten us?

EDIT: Seems like the API only works for Android, iOS and Chrome
[https://developers.google.com/cast/reference/](https://developers.google.com/cast/reference/)

------
0xdeadbeefbabe
Deployed military (any nation) or other people with slow or no internet
connection would really like to stream movies locally[1] to several screens.
They probably bought the movies too. Sure, chromecast can do this via tab
sharing, but an app would be nice. Why the obsession for streaming over the
internet?

[1] [http://www.theonion.com/articles/pentagon-loses-hard-
drive-w...](http://www.theonion.com/articles/pentagon-loses-hard-drive-with-
all-the-movies-on-i,6822/)

~~~
syntheticnature
Hate to share the link again (mentioned above) and seem spammish, but this
seems like Avia's primary use case.

------
trimbo
Plex support! That's huge.

Though, truth be told, my 3 year old Samsung SmartTV is how I've been
streaming Plex already, so...

------
nogridbag
Oh cool, I never heard of Viki previously. I watch some Korean TV shows like
Running Man, but was previously forced to stream the whole Chrome tab.

~~~
bostonpete
> Korean TV shows like Running Man

I googled this and was relieved to see it isn't actually a TV show that
involves gladiators hunting down and killing prisoners.

------
PankajGhosh
To use Plex, you need to have a plexpass subscription (I believe this
subscription is not required to use Plex on Roku)

~~~
ajtaylor
Only until the PlexPass exclusivity window runs out. It's a (cheap) carrot for
you to support Plex development.

------
sciurus
If only they'd make it a DLNA Digital Media Renderer. You'd then have many
choices for playing local content, instead of just Plex.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Living_Network_Alliance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Living_Network_Alliance)

~~~
syntheticnature
It looks like what Avia offers is some form of DLNA:
[http://aviatheapp.com/](http://aviatheapp.com/) (scroll, and it's not clear
whether they let you grab and then point the renderer at Chromecast or what)

~~~
JshWright
I was playing with this a bit earlier today.

It's a $3 in-app purchase to enable casting. It was a little wonky (seems like
it took a while for the app and the chromecast talk nicely (I'd select the
chromecast in aVia and nothing would happen), it took a reboot of both devices
to sort it out).

Some media (served by Serviio running on a FreeNAS box) worked flawlessly.
Some didn't have audio. Haven't spent any time troubleshooting the audio
issue.

~~~
rooster8
If you're seeing video playback without audio, it's likely a ChromeCast codec
issue.

Your best shot at getting that to work well is to transcode your file to have
a different audio stream codec using something like Handbrake.

~~~
JshWright
That's my guess as well.

Fortunately Serviio can transcode on the fly, so it may just be a matter of
sorting out the right templates.

------
k-mcgrady
Any word on when it'll be available outside the US? I thought at launch they
said a few weeks... (or at least 'soon').

------
joshbaptiste
Nice.. having Plex on Chromecast almost makes my Roku 2 useless, almost
because I subscribe to MIT/PBS channels on Roku.

------
ckarmann
Chromecast is still not available outside of the US. Come on, why no love for
friendly Canada? :)

~~~
wstrange
I picked one up on my last visit to the US. It works just fine in Canada (no
GEO IP blocking as far as I can tell).

------
joefkelley
Songza would be awesome, but it seems to not really actually work.

------
garthdog
Hooray, BeyondPod support!

