[ale] EzCast vs Chromecast

Sparr sparr0 at gmail.com
Fri Jan 10 20:49:35 EST 2014


On Fri, Jan 10, 2014 at 7:13 PM, JD <jdp at algoloma.com> wrote:

> Asked for and received a chromecast for Xmas. It doesn't do things that I
> expected, like playing **any** youtube video. Over 50% of the youtube
> videos I
> tried to play wouldn't. Pick any official Olympic 2012 video - won't play.


"won't play" as in you encountered a software malfunction, or "won't play"
as in you encountered a Youtube message saying the video isn't allowed to
play?


> Plus
> controlling it locked up the current app on the Nexus4 phone about 20
> times in 3
> hrs of testing.
>

Which app(s) locked up? You reported it to their developers, right?

Since plugging in my chromecast, I've had my living room devolve into a
"youtube party" a few dozen times when friends have been hanging out. All
told, perhaps 1000 videos (a hundred hours of video?) played, selected by
30 different people from 20 different devices (mostly Android phones). Not
a single video failed/refused to play. Not a single device or app locked up.


> I suppose if you are willing to run Chrome on a PC (not me), then anything
> the
> browser can see, can be streamed. I wouldn't know.
>

That is very much not how a Chromecast is meant to be used. The ability to
send video from your PC's Chrome tab to the TV is a very tacked on thing,
and not part of the purpose of the device at all. The chromecast is meant
to play media from the network, specifically from the internet.


> For more gotchas ...
> http://blog.jdpfu.com/2014/01/06/chromecast-what-good-is-it
> a blog article. With google being nasty towards independent developers,
> that
> turns the chromecast into a very specific device, for about 4 specific
> uses.
>

What do you mean about being nasty towards independent developers? I recall
one story about an API change breaking an app using the beta SDK.


> If I wanted a DLNA client and didn't already have a game console, then the
> WDTV
> line is where I'd start.  I like to watch content from my network and
> don't want
> to fight with some 3rd party to make that possible (Roku/Chromecast).
>

Google is not writing apps for the chromecast aside from the ones for their
services. There will be a DLNA client for the chromecast as soon as someone
writes one. If you feel like paying a few thousand dollars in licensing
fees, and some undisclosed amount per copy, feel free to publish your own!
No one is stopping you except the DLNA patent holders.
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