
Mozilla working on Chromecast-like mirroring for Firefox Android browser - yeukhon
http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/27/mozilla-tests-tab-mirroring-on-firefox/
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lnanek2
Hopefully some good competition will force Google to open the ChromeCast up.
The current ChromeCast is pretty bad for users because it doesn't support the
current big standards in remote media play like DLNA and Miracast. Supporting
DLNA would have enabled instant usage with phones from many years ago.

Meanwhile people who hack the protocol and send more than a browser tab to it
get their stuff broken immediately in an update. It's a lot like the Nexus Q,
a remote media playback device of Google's that only did Google Play and
nothing else. It's a pretty transparent attempt at proprietary lock in that
doesn't benefit the end users.

Personally, my Miracast Netgear Push2TV has been far more useful than my
Chromecast. My Chromecast can't even be used on most networks I'm on because
it is incompatible with WiFi that uses a username or WiFi that requires a
terms page to be clicked through or WiFi that isolates peers on the AP for
security. Chromecast shouldn't even be using anything more than WiFi direct
for local use cases, since anything else has too much lag and hiccups for
gaming. That has been proven pretty well by other contenders like the
MediaLink HD.

With any luck some competition will force Google to offer a better product for
users than for just forcing people to use their other stuff.

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spankalee
I'm not sure why Google didn't go with DLNA or Miracast, but presumably they
looked at this. Second screen devices with no control on their own are a bit
new, so maybe they weren't a great fit. Chromecast is built on at least some
open protocols like DIAL and WebRTC, and it works with 3rd party apps, and
there are broadcaster and receiver projects out there. I use [CheapCast] [1]
on an old phone and it works great (for non-DRM'ed content, admittedly).
Google also said they want devices like TVs and radios to include Chromecast
support, I'm hoping without any licensing beyond the branding, and hopefully
no fees. It certainly looks like it's heading in a pretty open direction.

Yes, I know that one guy used an undocumented API call and had his broadcast
app broken, and pitched a hissy fit, but that's what happens when you do that.
The API is supposed to stabilized soonish.

So I don't see your lock in claim holding much water. I think it's much, much
more important to make Play content available on devices at all, than to lock
out other content. When you sell digital media you generally want it to be
available everywhere possible.

[1]:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.maui.cheapc...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.maui.cheapcast&hl=en)

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leokun
I don't understand Mozilla's game plan. Do they want to be the company that
makes a bunch of "me too" copies that are a little bit crappier than what
Google makes or do they want to fix their browser. Seriously, focus. I want
Mozilla to do well.

~~~
mcpherrinm
If I was a Mozilla engineer and I saw the chromecast, I'd think it was neat
and hack out a quick version on a Saturday afternoon.

I think the ability to experiment is one of the great powers of open source
software, which is why I'm surprised somebody hasn't already linked the github
or Mozilla hg repo of the code to make this work.

When you have a community, focus is impossible because there's nobody in
charge: The worst you can do is not accept the patches. Nobody has said this
was done on company time. I think you don't understand how Mozilla works if
you think this represents any sort of game plan: It's just an engineer writing
something cool to make his favourite browser do something the other one does.

~~~
leokun
That makes sense, although not accepting patches is something that can be
totally ok.

~~~
ZoF
That's his point; he's saying worse case no harm done.

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kelnos
Great, just what we need: another competing standard for pushing stuff between
display devices.

It's bad enough that AirPlay is an Apple technology and so we'll never see it
integrated deeply into Android or anywhere else, and so we have the
Chromecast/GTV protocol.

I don't want yet another protocol. I want all my devices to be able to talk to
each other. That's it.

~~~
vijucat
My Android "mini-pc" comes with an app called AirPin (Pro) that apparently
does AirPlay. I never had a chance to test it, though. Just FYI.

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ck2
Is it just me or does browser screen projection seem like a surveillance dream
come true if it can be silently enabled?

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eliben
This makes me wonder what the market share of Firefox Mobile is on Android.
Does anyone have numbers?

