
Chromecast + NFC - maxwellito
http://maxwellito.tumblr.com/post/130977884131/nfc-the-killer-feature-for-chromecast
======
arpit
Considering the Chromecast is plugged behind the TV, wouldn't it be really
awkward to get to to tap on it?

Btw, Google has a series of APIs called Nearby
([https://developers.google.com/nearby/](https://developers.google.com/nearby/))
that are all about connecting to nearby devices but NFC doesn't seem the right
answer here.

~~~
Navarr
Chromecast isn't the right brand for what the author is suggesting. But what
the author is suggesting is a really neat idea.

But it's no different from having a touchscreen with an NFC contact point. The
Chromecast brand has nothing to do with it. Such a box could easily be a
Chromebox - with NFC & Beacon support.

~~~
maxwellito
The only reason I mention the Chromecast is because it's a quite popular
device, cheap, easy with an existing ecosystem of apps.

But yes, this would work with anything able to display a webpage (:Raspi..) :)

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ron0c
According to iFixIts teardown:
[https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Chromecast+2015+Teardown/501...](https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Chromecast+2015+Teardown/50189)

It has a Marvell Avastar 88W8887 chip, which has NFC built in.
[http://www.marvell.com/wireless/88W8887/](http://www.marvell.com/wireless/88W8887/)
as well as FM Radio.

I said this should be used for "Tap and Play"

~~~
hackcasual
Just because the chip supports the protocol, doesn't mean the device has the
proper front-ends and antennas to receive it.

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potench
The sender and receiver SDKs have mature APIs for playing video. The session
and media channels/objects are well documented and leveraging them on your
custom receiver ensures far easier integration on the senders (iOS, android,
and web). If you venture out of the cast-a-single-video experience, it can get
pretty complicated as there are best practices for how to handle multiple
senders, how to fetch a playlist and continue autonomously if the sender
disconnects without stopping the cast, and maintaining a good user experience
on all senders that represents current state of receiver. You could (and would
be advised to) handle all this via the provided "media" channel.

More to the point of the article, there is also a custom messaging channel,
you can create your own interactive experience (the receiver is just a website
displayed in a chrome tab). Here's an example of tic-tac-toe:
[https://github.com/googlecast/Cast-TicTacToe-
chrome](https://github.com/googlecast/Cast-TicTacToe-chrome). You can already
develop a custom receiver for an in-store search feature or something more
interactive and playful. You can connect to it via the same wifi. I don't
understand what additional value nfc provides in this case as you'd still need
to maintain an open/persistent connection to the receiver from the sender,
would nfc be able to provide that?

~~~
endergen
The problem is Chromecast requires the phone to have a Chromecast SDK using
app on it anyway. Additionally you couldn't communicate without having a wifi
connection, at least without proxying over the internet which is slow.

The closest thing to this would be to have the NFC auto open a webpage that is
already paired to the app on the screen so that you can then use the custom
web page's UI to send control messages to the TV via internet relaying.

~~~
acgourley
What if the chromecast was allowed to transfer wifi network details (either
for a secure or unsecure) network over NFC for the phone to temporarily
connect to? That's a cool feature even if you don't plan to use the
chromecast.

~~~
evook
I'd throw away my chromecasts immediately. It's hard enough to maintain filter
rules to not let this little guy phone home too much.

------
coldpie
Okay, someone help me. The article says:

> The new version of the Chromecast is launched. I was already in love with
> the existing version and [its] JavaScript API.

I have a Chromecast and I Don't Get It. I'll be honest, I haven't tried
searching for cool stuff to do with it. Sometimes I stream Netflix or Youtube
from my phone. I found a way to stream MKV videos from my computer using
Chrome. But that's it, nothing there is cool or revolutionary.

So, what's some cool stuff I can do with my Chromecast? I recognize there's
something neat going on here, but it seems so locked down that I can't figure
out what it is. Can I write arbitrary apps for it somehow? Is there a cool
collection of apps that do... something?

Help me out. What's cool about Chromecast?

~~~
sowbug
Instead of making your TV a smart TV, it lets your smartphone be smart on a
bigger screen.

~~~
coldpie
Tell me how. What do you use it for? What's cool about it for you?

~~~
nolok
I could never get my parents to use a ps3 or 360 or whatever to watch netflix,
and them looking vod meant using a crappy service that let them download files
into their own "media player". Since they have a chromecast, all they need to
do is open whatever they want on their tablet and press a button.

As for myself, I use to it to stream my video games on TV using the "stream
entire screen" option in google cast extension in chrome.

------
maxwellito
The point of this article is for a different usage of the Chromecast.

The Chromecast can display webapps (Chromecast apps) and this could transform
any TV as interactive screen. Imagine you have a store, you can create an app
which display the new products. But instead of having to type the URL on your
phone to have more info, the web app could use the Chromecast API to broadcast
a URL via NFC.

And for more advance stuff, it could implement something like Liwe. It's a
service to use smartphones as remotes for web apps (>> liwe.co).

The problem right now is the Chromecast is only known for broadcasting video
and audio while it can do more then that.

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Jyaif
NFC is unnecessary for what the OP is talking about. The chromecast can
advertise itself to mobile phones with inaudible audio or with a hidden QR
code on the screen.

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sowbug
The article author actually wants a Physical Web beacon. The range of BLE
better suits the use case.

[https://google.github.io/physical-web/](https://google.github.io/physical-
web/)

~~~
maxwellito
YES! Too! This would be awesome if it was implemented into the Chromecast. But
I guess it's not the market that Google is targeting.

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codazoda
This seems like saying, "Hey, lets ditch remote controls and put the controls
right on the TV!"

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amelius
Pretty obvious solution, but very useful. If only Bluetooth-pairing was this
simple.

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sherbondy
Hi maxwellito, we're working on something along these lines. Sent you a tumblr
message but figured I'd post here as well. Just applied to YC. Would be nice
to talk. Overall pretty underwhelmed by the "digital signage" industry and
think we could push things forward using affordable commodity hardware.

Over the next few years, think this is a viable / utilitarian medium for
delivering on some of the promises of ubiquitous augmented reality.

~~~
maxwellito
Yeah sure, join me on Gitter :)

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egfx
I already developed a product that does this without the need for NFC.

If there is anybody that can help with setting up an operational
infrastructure for this project, then please email me. I'm the sole
developer/owner and I mostly need help with building a team and accelerating
the project forward.

segrafix @ gmail.com

Best, Ilya

