This post is brought to you by Squirrels, maker of Reflector 2.
Our phones and tablets are packed with great content, from videos and movies to articles and games. It’s a bit of a shame that the contents of our mobile devices are so often confined to a small, handheld rectangle of a screen.
The latest update to HBO Now on Android and iOS gives subscribers the ability to stream their favorite shows to their TV via a Chromecast. The new feature comes less than a month after HBO Now made its debut on Android following Apple’s exclusive three-month deal.
Google today announced a new Apple AirPlay competitor called Google Cast, which lets you stream audio from a whole bunch of popular apps to Cast-compatible speakers. The search giant has teamed up with a number of popular services for its launch, including Pandora, Rdio, and NPR One.
It’s been over two and a half years since Apple TV was updated, and while Apple’s been happy resting on its laurels, its biggest competitors are passing it by.
Google’s Chromecast is now more popular than Apple TV, reports Parks Associates, which says streaming media players become more popular than ever in the first three quarters of 2014, as 10 percent of U.S. households bought at least one new streaming device.
I’m a huge fan of Popcorn Time, the Mac App that lets you stream torrents to your Mac and even (if you’re a Windows user) to your Apple TV.
The one thing Popcorn Time doesn’t have is an iPhone or iPad app. But that’s all about to change, and Popcorn Time for iOS could land within the next couple of days.
The Rickrolling meme will never die, and if Dan Petro has his way, you may soon be able to drive down your neighborhood and rickroll every TV on the block in seconds.
After finding a vulnerability in Google’s Chromecast Wifi implementation, Dan Petro built a device for less than $100 out of a Raspberry Pi, a touchscreen, wireless cards and 3D-printed pastic case. It’s name: The Rickmote Controller. It’s superpower: Takes over any Chomecast-equipped TV within Wifi range and plays Rick Astley’s legendary “Never Gonna Give You up.”
Check out this video of the Rickmote in action:
Tim Cook swears Apple TV isn’t just a hobby for the mothership anymore, but according to the latest estimates, it might be time for Apple unleashed some new non-hobby Apple TV features if it wants to catch up to Roku and Chromecast.
New data from Parks Associates reveals that while the Apple TV streaming box has been available for over seven years, Chromecast has already surged past Apple TV in 2013, making Google’s tiny stick the most popular streaming device in the U.S.
If you’re a big fan of Rdio — after Spotify, the other major streaming music subscription service, which just happens to have much better iOS apps — and you also have a Google Chromecast, good news: Rdio for iOS now supports Google’s streaming HDTV dongle.
Today Google released Photowall, an iOS and Android app that beams photos through a Chromecast to be displayed on a TV. Photos can be doodled on and rearranged in a grid interface that updates as new photos are added.
Photowall works with the Chrome browser by providing a URL that anyone on the same network can access in Chrome to add their own photos and make edits. Once all photos are uploaded, a video can be made and published on YouTube.
Google put together a quick video to show how Photowall works:
Google has finally released its official iOS app for the Movies & TV section of its Play Store. The universal app is available for free in the App Store, but it comes with several severe limitations.
First off, you can’t buy content through the app due to Google not wanting to give Apple a 30 percent cut of all in-app purchases. Another con is the lack of offline playback, meaning you can’t cache a video to watch later when Wi-Fi isn’t available. And for some odd reason, video only plays back in standard def on the iPhone.
The app is pretty barebones, but it is nice for the Chromecast, Google’s little streaming dongle that plugs into the TV. Chromecast users with iOS hardware have previously been limited to Netflix and Hulu Plus, but Google Play offers more recent movie and TV selections.
Source: App Store
Google has today announced that an additional ten applications for Android and iOS now support Chromecast streaming. VEVO, Red Bull.TV, Songza, and more have been updated to allow users to enjoy news, sports, and music on their $35 dongle.
While Android may be running away with the lion’s share of the smartphone market, there’s still no doubt about what rules the roost when it comes to tablets. New data from InfoScout reveals that roughly 40% of iPads sold on Black Friday were purchased by Android smartphone users.
The Apple TV and Google Chromecast are pretty cool, but I know I’m not the only one who wishes I could stream whatever media I want to whatever device I want, without worrying about proprietary standards.
Until we get a universal API, we have AllCast for Android, an app that can stream content to an Apple TV, a Roku, an Xbox, a Samsung Smart TV, and so on. You name it, and AllCast supports it… except, perplexingly, for ChromeCast.
The HBO Go apps for Android and iOS have today been updated with support for Google’s Chromecast. The feature works on Android smartphones and tablets running Android 2.3 Gingerbread and above, and on iPhones and iPads running iOS 6 and above.
The Hulu Plus app for iOS has been updated today with support for Google Chromecast. You’ll find a new ‘Cast’ button within the app that will stream your favorite shows to your television with the help of the $35 dongle.
“We know you’ve been enjoying the Hulu Plus app on Chromecast with your Android phones/tablets and iPads over the last few weeks. Today, we are excited to add the Chromecast integration for Hulu Plus to your iPhones.”
The addition of Chomecast integration will finally give iPhone users the ability to use their app as a custom remote. From the Hulu Plus ass you can control videos on Chromecast connected to your TV while also browsing the app on your iPhone to queue up your next choice. The update is available for free in the App Store.
Source: Hulu
The Hulu Plus apps for Android and iOS have today been updated with support for Google Chromecast. You’ll find a new ‘Cast’ button within the app that will stream your favorite shows to your television with the help of the $35 dongle.
Although Apple didn’t show off an Apple TV refresh yesterday (despite the secret shipment of new Apple TVs they got in last week), it’s still coming in the form of a software update, and All Things D has some new details on what we can expect.
Unlike Apple, Google likes to make its hardware compatible with all of your other gadgets — regardless of which platform they’re running. So you may have purchased a $35 Chromecast dongle to work with your iOS devices. If so, you’ll be interested in Google’s new Chromecast app, which lets you set up and manage your dongle from your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Google announced a new version of its YouTube app for iPhone and iPad is hitting the App Store today. YouTube 2.0 includes a bunch of new features, including the ability to watch a video while searching for the next great thing to watch.
The app sports better Chromecast integration as well, complete with a new preview screen that lets you queue up videos to push to your TV. There’s also a “play all” feature that allows users to watch every single video in a playlist without having to queue anything up.
The free update is available now in the App Store and Google Play.
Here’s a video of the new features:
Apple TV manages to grab most of the spotlight for streaming set-top boxes, but when it comes time to actually view content, Americans are using Roku far more frequently than Apple’s little hobby.
A new study from Parks Associates found that while the Apple TV is used by 24% of U.S. consumers with a streaming video device, Roku has managed to best that with a 37% usage rate among households with such devices.
Never heard of the British Oreo? You will on this week’s CultCast! Of course we’ll also cover the week’s best Apple stories, including what’s new in iOS 7 beta 5; our own Leander Kahney’s new book about Jony Ive; the strange new buzz around the upcoming Jobs movie; plus we pitch our favorite tech and apps in a little segment we call Faves ‘N Raves.
Have a few chortles whilst getting caught up on this week’s best Apple stories. Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the audio adventure begin.
Show notes up next!
It feels like Apple is falling way behind. But I don’t think that’s true.
I believe Apple puts enormous brain power and good judgement into envisioning the Next Big Thing. It takes them a long time to get it to market. But once it’s there, they iterate to perfect the original vision.
In the year or two after Apple launches an iPhone or an iPad, everybody falsely believes Apple can do nothing wrong.
But then, as we get further away from the last launch and closer to the next one, everybody falsely believes Apple can do nothing right.
Completely separate and unrelated to false perceptions about Apple, Google lately has been on fire. And lately they’ve been kicking butt not only in their traditional role of algorithm-based Internet services, but also in Apple’s sandboxes—namely design and hardware.
Apple has never been the kind of company that copies out of a lack of vision. Nor have they avoided copying.
What’s great about Apple is that they develop an ultra-clear vision about how to maximize the user experience, then they make that experience happen regardless of whether the solutions have to be invented, copied or—most commonly—Apple’s own unique spin on something invented elsewhere.
There are many ways in which Apple should not copy Google. But there are six ways Apple should copy Google and, in doing so, make Apple a better company with better products.
Apple has reduced the price of the refurbished Apple TV to $75. That’s $10 cheaper than its original price tag, and $24 cheaper than a brand new model. It’s believed the drop may have been made in response to the Google Chromecast, which has been selling fast since it went on sale last week for just $35.
Is Google ready to give up on Android and make the Chrome platform its new priority? That’s the question posed by AppleInsider’s Daniel Eran Dilger in a new report that suggests the search giant is looking to distance itself from the world’s biggest mobile operating system and all of the intellectual property issues that come with it.
But I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you. Android’s not going anywhere.
This week on the ‘ol CultCast: why Google’s new Chromecast is great for us Apple fans; the 5S might be the biggest S-upgrade ever; Apple’s earnings make a low-cost iPhone look likely; how to best connect your iDevice to your car stereo; the Dev Center gets hacked; and then, Tim Cook sings Barbie Girl!
Have a few laughs and get caught up on this week’s best Apple stories. Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the audio adventure begin.
Thanks to Bitcasa for sponsoring this episode. Show notes up next.
