If there’s a downside to Google’s device, it’s that there aren’t yet a huge number of apps available for it. It’s the modern-day version of hogging the remote. In other words, if you’re streaming a YouTube video and your wife starts up Netflix, she’ll boot you off the TV. Any number of people in the same household can “beam” to the Chromecast from any number of devices, but the last one to go gets control of it.
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This all works with multiple users across different platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows, Mac and, of course, Chrome OS.
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My tablet, however, was free to do other things. I fired up Netflix next and also found the cast icon which, when pressed, directed the Chromecast to start streaming my selection.
Pretty much every app works the same way. It’s actually an ingenious setup based on some impressive technological gymnastics. The only communication between the two devices are instructions, where the phone (or tablet) is acting as a remote control. In this way there’s no actual streaming going to the device from the phone, which means the phone isn’t using power and is free to do other things like check email or surf the web. Pressing it passed on instructions to the Chromecast to retrieve that same video online and start playing it on the TV. I fired up YouTube on my phone and played a music video, only to find a new “cast” icon on the interface. Boom – connection made and it was off to the races. Next up, I downloaded the free Chromecast app to my tablet and phone and, when I launched them, they immediately found the dongle. I popped it onto the back of my TV, switched to the proper input and connected it to my wi-fi network. Setting up the Chromecast couldn’t be easier. Roku’s Stick, for example, will sell for a comparatively whopping $59 when it hits, although realistically that’s still pretty cheap. Even with a $4 Canadian premium to make up for the weakening loonie, it’s still a veritable bargain compared to all other comers. Alternatively, it can be powered via a regular electrical plug, but one of the great things about these sticks is that they can eliminate one cord from the nasty spaghetti mess found behind the typical home entertainment system.Ĭhromecast also has a big price advantage. The dongle plugs into a TV’s HDMI port and sucks power from its USB port, so it’s basically invisible behind the set.
Like the Roku Streaming Stick, it’s tiny. In assessing the combatants, it’s hard to deny that Chromecast has a lot going for it. The third participant in the fray is, of course, Apple, but more on that in a second. Roku announced earlier this month it would be launching its device in both Canada and the United States in April but with Google getting past the post first, the battle to control the living room streaming experience is now most definitely on. The device, which has been popular in the United States since its release there last year, became available in Canada for $39 through Amazon.ca and Google Play as of Tuesday evening, as well as 10 additional countries. Don’t look now, but Google has beaten Roku’s Streaming Stick into Canada with the international expansion of Chromecast, its own streaming dongle for HDTVs.
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