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Google Takes Aim at Apple with New Nexus 7, Google Play Games and Chromecast

Ah - there is one element to chromecast I missed and that is you can, indeed, mirror anything from your chrome browser. That's sort of cool. Still not getting one I don't think. But that does add something to the mix...
 
LordVic said:
From my understanding of what Chromecast is doing, is effectively running an invisible version of an OS on the stick. either Chrome or Android. That way ,while it can just display the output of your screen to the large screen, it can in fact take over the processing intensive tasks from your device for displaying on the big screen.

your android device itself isn't whats doing the processing of the displayed material, but is acting as a very fancy hightech remote.

when you submit "play on chromecast" for example in youtube, it's not just sending the video feed, but actually opening the stream direct from youtube directly on the chromecast device, freeing your phone / tablet's resources.

if i'm correct in this assumption of how it works... the fact they're selling this for only $35 is actually pretty impressive to me, when similar functioning devices such as Roku / Apple TV are all in the $90+ range, with some devices like sony's GoogleTV products almost hitting $200
Click to expand...

This is actually incorrect. It has now been reported that your Chromecast gives your device an identifier. Your device (e.g.: smartphone) then tells Google's servers that device ID and what you want to watch (probably a URL of some kind). Google's servers then push the content to your Chromecast device. Google has the option to monitor and record everything you watch on your Chromecast (though they say that they are not doing that). They will also have the option to attach advertisements to whatever you want to watch in the future, but they say they have no intent on making Chromecast an ad platform. Google also told us in 2005 that they had no intent on showing promoted content in their search results whereas the majority of the first page of results on Google is now promoted content.
 
BC2009 said:
Google also told us in 2005 that they had no intent on showing promoted content in their search results whereas the majority of the first page of results on Google is now promoted content.
Click to expand...

Can you point where Google said that?

By the way, what he said it totally correct
 
The real beauty of aTV is that optical out, making it an audio device as well... Your locally stored tunes can play out of your receiver and multiple speakers...

It doesn't seem that Chromecast will stream locally, even though it also means much less load on your phone battery, since the video will be decoded and streamed by this thing...

I also wonder how is this onna work with iOS... Is the Netflix app gonna look for the chromecasts on the network? I doubt it could be integrated into the AirPlay button
 
I picked one up and it is pretty cool. I like the beta feature of streaimg a Chrome tab and you can point that tab to your local media and it will stream it, not avi though but it did some mp3s and mp4s I had. I imagine this being Google there will be all kinds of hacks and mods to this thing down the road
 
BC2009 said:
. Google also told us in 2005 that they had no intent on showing promoted content in their search results whereas the majority of the first page of results on Google is now promoted content.
Click to expand...

really?
The most I have ever seen is 3-4 items and they have a highlighted background of yellow and where did google say they never were going to put ads in the search?
 
nilk said:
That's interesting, but I don't think it's relevant to what I'm talking about. Airplaying YouTube videos from an iOS device is suboptimal because the stream passes over wifi twice (or 3 times if your Apple TV is on wifi, too) just to get to your TV, and you can't use the device for something else while it's playing. There's no reason why the Apple TV couldn't play the stream directly, it even has it's own YouTube client.
Click to expand...

I don't know where you are coming from as I can use my ipad mini for other things while I'm streaming youtube videos to my appletv. As far as going through the ipad before being passed to Apple TV, so what. It isn't like your YouTube video makes it to your house in one hop. So what is one more hop?

Follow up: hands on reports on the chromecast device are not very flattering. It does less than the $49 Roku and you can only stream something you view in chrome. Basically it only seems to be good for streaming Netflix if you are on the road in a hotel that doesn't already have Netflix.
 
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MegamanX said:
really?
The most I have ever seen is 3-4 items and they have a highlighted background of yellow and where did google say they never were going to put ads in the search?
Click to expand...

Oletros said:
Can you point where Google said that?

By the way, what he said it totally correct
Click to expand...

First off, you can read this article to see how Chromecast works -- I'm not making this stuff up. The description of how it works comes from Rishi Chandra himself.

On the whole, "when did Google say that promoted content was bad", then you guys have kinda short memories. Google's hallmark was that their search results were actually what was found to be relevant by their algorithms with promoted content clearly delineated and given minimal screen real-estate compared to relevant results. Relevant results were key in all of Google's early messaging.

Here is Larry Page in his interview with Playboy in 2004 (my emphasis):

PAGE: We built a business on the opposite message. We want you to come to Google and quickly find what you want. Then we’re happy to send you to the other sites. In fact, that’s the point. The portal strategy tries to own all of the information.

PLAYBOY: Portals attempt to create what they call sticky content to keep a user as long as possible.

PAGE: That’s the problem. Most portals show their own content above content elsewhere on the web. We feel that’s a conflict of interest, analogous to taking money for search results. Their search engine doesn’t necessarily provide the best results; it provides the portal’s results. Google conscientiously tries to stay away from that. We want to get you out of Google and to the right place as fast as possible. It’s a very different model.
Click to expand...

Here's Google's Search Results circa 2005:

jeeves-004.jpg


Here's Google's Search Results today:

pizza_1024x768_not_subtle.jpg
 
BC2009 said:
First off, you can read this article to see how Chromecast works -- I'm not making this stuff up. The description of how it works comes from Rishi Chandra himself.

On the whole, "when did Google say that promoted content was bad", then you guys have kinda short memories. Google's hallmark was that their search results were actually what was found to be relevant by their algorithms with promoted content clearly delineated and given minimal screen real-estate compared to relevant results. Relevant results were key in all of Google's early messaging.

Here is Larry Page in his interview with Playboy in 2004 (my emphasis):



Here's Google's Search Results circa 2005:

Image

Here's Google's Search Results today:

Image
Click to expand...

Good post, and you actually do read playboy for the articles! :p

Btw be prepared for some pedantic, nitpicky replies to the source you posted.
 
The amount of non-techies I know that don't know the first few results displayed in Google are ads (even though it says so and is highlighted) is scary.

Lots of ineptitude out there that Google can take advantage of. Some people just have this seemingly strong inability to read search results and click the first thing that comes up.
 
ChazUK said:
The amount of non-techies I know that don't know the first few results displayed in Google are ads (even though it says so and is highlighted) is scary.
Click to expand...

Now this is a legitimate problem. Most of time, doing a search gives you local advertisement hits that usually lead you to what you want anyway. Try to do some computer related searches though, and you'll get tons of adverts that are usually more harmful than good.

Like do a search for "microsoft security". The ad result it gives you looks hinky at best. I wouldn't click on it, but someone with a little less computer common sense just might, and end up getting themselves in a bit of trouble.
 
BC2009 said:
First off, you can read this article to see how Chromecast works -- I'm not making this stuff up. The description of how it works comes from Rishi Chandra himself.

On the whole, "when did Google say that promoted content was bad", then you guys have kinda short memories. Google's hallmark was that their search results were actually what was found to be relevant by their algorithms with promoted content clearly delineated and given minimal screen real-estate compared to relevant results. Relevant results were key in all of Google's early messaging.

Here is Larry Page in his interview with Playboy in 2004 (my emphasis):



Here's Google's Search Results circa 2005:

Image

Here's Google's Search Results today:

Image
Click to expand...

That is your counter. Top 3 results are paid ads and have a yellow background on them. They do not count against the first page results. On page 1 Google will have the same time number of people non ad results. They still are not going against what page said. I know first thing I do when I get a search is jump to just below the ads and start there.
 
BC2009 said:
First off, you can read this article to see how Chromecast works -- I'm not making this stuff up. The description of how it works comes from Rishi Chandra himself.
Click to expand...

And what Rishi Chandra say is exactly what the OP said. Chandra didnt put all the FUD you wrote, Chandra said that the Chromecast takes the content from the cloud like the OP said.
 
Oletros said:
And what Rishi Chandra say is exactly what the OP said. Chandra didnt put all the FUD you wrote, Chandra said that the Chromecast takes the content from the cloud like the OP said.
Click to expand...

Chandra was asked two direct questions by The Verge about monitoring videos and using it as an ad platform. Chandra rebuffed both. My only point is that Google's track record is to say one thing and do another. Hardly FUD -- I'm just not being naive. Google is a corporation that is intent on making money. Why sell the Chromecast at or below cost if it will not be used to make them money? There is only one answer: in order to gain a foothold so it can be used in the future to make money. That is not FUD -- that is reality.

Now, there are parts of what the OP said that are correct. But there are two things that are off.....

1) He said that the Chromecast is opening the stream to YouTube, but from what Chandra said, the Chromecast is connecting to Google's servers and Google is just pushing whatever content it needs down the pipe. The Chromecast does not connect anywhere but Google (except for the WiFi-only feature for mirroring Web pages where it replicates the actions you do on the smartphone browser on the screen). Its a slight difference, but one makes the device independent of Google and able to go anywhere on the Web, and the other requires Google to be the middle man and broker the content that gets sent.

2) He begins with this part (my emphasis):

From my understanding of what Chromecast is doing, is effectively running an invisible version of an OS on the stick. either Chrome or Android. That way ,while it can just display the output of your screen to the large screen, it can in fact take over the processing intensive tasks from your device for displaying on the big screen.
Click to expand...

That part really threw me because the Chromecast is hardly taking over processing of "intensive tasks". It's not designed to be a server to offload things to, but rather just a receiver for whatever content Google pushes to it. The real processing of "intensive tasks" is actually happening on Google's servers.

That said, I think you are correct too. Re-reading his whole comment he is basically saying that it is not streaming directly from the device but getting the content from Google. However, I read it differently with all the embellishment in there. Ultimately, the Chromecast is a Google receiver for a streaming channel that is personalized to you and controlled via your smartphone, tablet or PC.

----------
MegamanX said:
That is your counter. Top 3 results are paid ads and have a yellow background on them. They do not count against the first page results. On page 1 Google will have the same time number of people non ad results. They still are not going against what page said. I know first thing I do when I get a search is jump to just below the ads and start there.
Click to expand...

That is your counter to my counter? :rolleyes:

----------
Renzatic said:
God forbid I search for "pizza" and get Domino's and Pizza Hut as the first hits.

Oh, and a local pizza restaurant. Google does suck pretty bad with those advertisements.
Click to expand...

What you see there is still 100% counter to Google founding philosophy. That's my point. What Google says today holds little credence 5 years down the road. If Google says they are not monitoring the content you watch on Chromecast for targeting ads today it does not mean that they will not be doing that in 5 years. If Google says Chromecast is not intended as an "ad platform" today does not mean that it won't be in 5 years. Google's strategy is to get a foothold and then leverage that foothold to their advantage.

I don't think its bad that Google is trying to make money, but I think they should be a bit more up-front about it. Instead they try to portray themselves as this benevolent entity that likes to give things away for free for the good of humanity. When in fact they are money grubbing power-hungry corporation just like Microsoft and Apple and Samsung.

----------
Renzatic said:
Don't be dense. What's so bad about what he's showing? Other than the fact they're advertisements, they're likely giving him exactly what he's looking for.
Click to expand...

I never said it was a bad thing, but it was exactly what Google criticized the competition for. Google's way is what gained them ubiquity. Now they are slowing changing their ways that people no longer go to "search" something but instead go to "google" it instead. The bad thing is the hypocrisy and the less-than-up-front nature of Google.

I simply don't trust that what Google says today with regards to putting the user's best interests first will hold when Google has a virtual monopoly on something. Chromecast has to make money at some point or else it has no point for a corporation like Google.
 
BC2009 said:
1) He said that the Chromecast is opening the stream to YouTube, but from what Chandra said, the Chromecast is connecting to Google's servers and Google is just pushing whatever content it needs down the pipe. The Chromecast does not connect anywhere but Google (except for the WiFi-only feature for mirroring Web pages where it replicates the actions you do on the smartphone browser on the screen). Its a slight difference, but one makes the device independent of Google and able to go anywhere on the Web, and the other requires Google to be the middle man and broker the content that gets sent.
Click to expand...

You understand that Google own Youtube, right? So when one opens a Youtube stream, it comes from Google's servers. This would be like complaining that iTunes is using Apple's to deliver content.
 
er and Netflix and next week maybe HBO and the week after maybe Amazon and maybe even Apple (if they could ever get a deal done! :) )

BC2009 said:
1) He said that the Chromecast is opening the stream to YouTube, but from what Chandra said, the Chromecast is connecting to Google's servers and Google is just pushing whatever content it needs down the pipe. The Chromecast does not connect anywhere but Google (except for the WiFi-only feature for mirroring Web pages where it replicates the actions you do on the smartphone browser on the screen). Its a slight difference, but one makes the device independent of Google and able to go anywhere on the Web, and the other requires Google to be the middle man and broker the content that gets sent.
Click to expand...
 
as of July 27, 2013

Google Chromecast HDMI Streaming Media Player
by Google

3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (145 customer reviews)

Price: $35.00 Eligible for free shipping with Amazon Prime.

Temporarily out of stock.

Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information. Your account will only be charged when we ship the item.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
 
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