Tag Archives: youtube

Google Home Announced at Google I/O

Google-Home-OKGoogle just concluded their annual I/O conference. Google’s I/O is a 3 day conference is designed to bring together developers around the world to showcase its upcoming products in software, mobile, and technology. One of the more interesting product Google showcased is Google Home. Google Home is the answer to Amazon’s surprisingly successful Echo powered by Alexa. Google claimed Home is their very own assistant. During the 2016 I/O showcase, Google played a video of how Home can be used during a typical morning routine of a family. You can see the video here:

There were only two features that were unique to Google’s Cast enabled devices which are not available to Amazon’s Echo. First, is the ability to issue command to all Google Cast enabled speakers. The father in the clip issued, “Google, turn on music to all the rooms.” as a way to wake up the kids in the house. The other feature was to issue a show command which triggered a Chromecast to play a video. There was also a sequence where the father asked Google to check the traffic and upon reporting the traffic, the shortest route was sent to the phone.

For the time being, Google has offered scarce details on Google Home. It guaranteed integration to Cast enabled devices and services such as making dinner reservations and text messaging. It will be interesting to see the availability as well as the price. Google indicated that they purposely limited its functionality of the Home but it must have some wow factor to get people to jump from Amazon’s Echo or have both the Home and Echo in the same house.

The battle of the smart home is on!

How to add Chromecast Extension on your Chrome Browser

How to add Chromecast extension onto your Chrome browser. By adding the Chromecast extension, you can stream from many websites such as ESPN, FOX, CBS, Netflix, Pandora, and even movie files straight from your PC. This is great for people who does not want to install individual apps onto your tablet or smartphone in order to stream content. In my personal experience, I found that casting from Google Chrome website seems to be more stable and reliable. Besides, I’m usually on my PC when I am working on a project so it is convenient to be able to stream right from where I am working!

  1. First, make sure your PC has WiFi enabled and is connected to the same network as your Chromecast.
  2. Launch Google Chrome browser. If you do not have Google Chrome browser, you can install it from here.
  3. Once you launch Chrome browser, click the three horizontal bars just right of the url bar at the top.

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4. Next, click ‘Settings’ and you will see the below options.
5. Select ‘Extensions’ from the menu on the left. chromecast extension 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. From the Chrome Web Store, search ‘chromecast’. Select ‘Google Cast’ offered by google.com. Do not install any other Chrome or casting extension or app other than from Google unless you trust the source.

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7. Click ‘add to chrome’. The below pop up will appear. Go ahead and select ‘add extension’.

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8. You will see a banner pop up saying Google Cast – Chromecast extension has been installed. Click onto the cast icon on your chrome browser and you will see a request to ‘Help Improve Cast’. It is enabled by default, uncheck it to disable this feature unless you are want to be a willing contributor.

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9. If you click on the cast icon, you will be able to select your Chromecast that is on the same WiFi network.

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10. Once you cast, you have options to mute volume, change quality of video, or to stop casting. Changing the video quality is useful if your Internet connection is not so great and you want to downgrade the streaming quality to prevent streaming issues.

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Chromecast Support for Windows Phone

Chromecast has proven to be a big hit for Android, iOS, and computer users but Windows Phone has been a bit left out. There is limited Chromecast support for Windows Phone meanwhile support for Android and iOS devices have been growing.

That may now change. Windows mobile phone users can keep their hopes up with one app. Tube Cast is an app that allows mobile phone users with Windows OS to cast Youtube to their HDMI screen. The functions are limited as in you cannot pause, go back, or go foward but it is enough for you to select a video and play.

So far it is getting between 4-5 stars in the windows phone app store and the latest reviews are very positive. Give it a spin!



Chromecast Support for Windows Phone was first posted on Chromecastchat.

Users Report Chromecast Works from Websites Other Than Youtube.com

Gigaom.com and other websites are reporting that users are beginning to see the Chromecast icon on websites outside of youtube.com. Previously, Youtube only allowed users to cast directly from Youtube.com. Now they appear to allow Chromecast users to cast from websites which embed youtube videos on their websites. Have you noticed this?