Google Chromecast: The little dongle that could

Last week, Google made a product announcement that caught much of the tech sector by surprise: the Google Chromecast, a small (and inexpensive) dongle that allows you to stream content to your TV from a phone or computer. There are many, MANY competing devices and technologies out there which attempt to do the same or similar (tivo, boxee, DLNA, home theater PC, just to name a few). The problem with most of these devices/standards is that they are complicated, overkill, or just don’t work. And then there is the laziness factor (reaching for the HTPC keyboard when I am already comfortable settled on the couch or in bed).

After quickly sliding my credit card in the DVD slot of my laptop hoping they would take my money faster, (and then checking out through Amazon Prime since apparently the DVD slot trick didn’t work), I can say, the Chromecast is small, elegant, super easy to set up, and super easy to use.

Upon delivery, it comes in a well-designed, easy to open box within a cardboard sleeve. It is clearly designed for retail, complete with a little loop on the top that a retailer could use to hang the product from a peg board. I bet we will see the chromecast in various physical retail locations soon.

Inside the box is the dongle itself in addition to a tiny (and brief) set up/warranty guide, and a few adapters. Google includes a mini USB cable (for powering the device through your TV’s USB port, and also a USB wall outlet adapter. There is also an HDMI extension cable in case your particular tv doesn’t allow the chromecast to fit into an HDMI port directly (mine did).

Set up was easy and literally took me about 3 minutes. You plug in the chromecast – that is barely larger than the size of a quarter to your tv, provide power (via a USB port on the TV or the wall USB adapter), and switch your TV to the proper HDMI input. Once you do, you are given a splash screen with the following URL: “go to google.com/chromecast/setup”

Once you do (on a computer connected to the same WIFI network), you are presented with a few simple setup screens, which allow you to configure your WIFI network and password, as well as rename the chromecast if you choose (for example “Living Room” or “Bedroom”).

If you don’t have chrome installed on your computer (which I did not), you are automatically routed to a site to download the latest version. I have been using firefox for years, and given that there is an SDK for chromecast, I hope that at some point there will be a firefox-compatible chromecast plugin (but side note – brilliant strategy by Google to encourage more adoption of their browser, which I am certain is not by accident). Editor’s Note: Author has been appropriately kicked, and told he should be on Chrome by now.

I streamed content from my mac book pro (using chrome) as well as an iphone 5. Both worked well, with no major issues.

Despite Google’s announcement regarding limited support of streaming websites, I was able to successfully stream the following video sites from my macbook pro to the chromecast: youtube, Netflix, HBO GO, xfinity TV, Hulu (but video quality was just Meh) and you can even stream web pages (with or without video content). From my iphone 5, I successfully streamed Netflix and youtube (the only apps that support chromecast at this time).

The one common site I was not able to stream from via the mac was Amazon Video On Demand (VOD). At one point I received an odd error message (that I had exceeded the number of streaming devices on my account), and when I refreshed the page it just didn’t work. Hopefully Amazon VOD support is coming in the future.

The overall experience is great, but I strongly preferred streaming from the Mac. I’m not sure why given how chromecast works, but videos loaded much more quickly from the mac and also more quickly switched to high resolution. Streaming from the iphone resulted in slow loading times and a lag in the video quality bumping to HD. (side note, the chromecast doesn’t really “stream” from a computer or phone, what you are really doing is sending the chromecast a web address, and from that it is able to load the stream directly on the device over the internet).

I saw some articles that local file streaming is do-able if you are willing to endure some workarounds, but I did not attempt this.

The Chromecast does what it says, and it does it well – stream a limited number of video sites from your computer/phone to your TV. It’s an easy and portable solution (which may make it ideal for road warriors, assuming you can set up a local WIFI access point and avoid a hotel’s crappy wifi connection).

There are some lingering questions, but given the product just launched a week ago, I assume these will be answered in the future:
– What other video sites will be supported? It would be great to see Amazon VOD (likely), and Itunes (not likely given Apple’s iron fisted preference for a closed ecosystem). Slingbox support would also be awesome.
– Will there be native support for local file streaming?
– Will there be browser plugins for other common broswers, like Firefox, Safari, and IE?

If you are looking for a cheap, easy video streaming solution and most of your content comes from a limited number of sources (e.g. Youtube, Netflix), then the Chromecast is for you! If you have a unique or highly customized AV setup, you may want to wait or look at other options (for one thing, the chromecast doesn’t have a digital optical output, and I don’t know if it supports 5.1 Dolby or DTS audio).

Testing platform:
ISP – Comcast, average download speed 67.82 mbps
Router: Asus draft RT-AC66U router (draft ac)
Macbook pro core i7 2.2, 8gb ram, crucial m500 SSD
LG 55” 3d TV
Iphone 5 running IOS version 6.1.4 (youtube v 1.4.0.6375 and Netflix v 4.2.0)
Google chromecast (1st gen)