John 14:6

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6

14 March 2014

Google Chromecast device

It's been quite some time since I last posted anything here.  I need to start writing more but there never seems to be enough time for the fun stuff including getting in a nap.  There are way too many distractions it seems like.

By trade I've a hardware person, well, for the last 34 yrs..  I must admit however that electronics or  computer hardware has become hard to follow in the last 10 to 15 years.  The reason is because hardware it changing so rapidly anymore and I believe we can throw out Moore's Law.  I don't usually look at hardware that closely anymore unless I need to replace a computer at work or home.  At work servers are being virtualized so there's really no need for me to keep up with that much lately.  I'm not going to go into how computer virtualization works here though for those that aren't familiar with technology.

Anyway, this is going to be a review about the Chromecast device I received as a Christmas gift.  Yes, I'm a gadget person however not as bad as some people.  I don't run out buy a gadget immediately after it hits the "shelf".   I prefer to wait until a product has matured a little, say when it's reach the 3rd or 4th generation.  I also try to determine whether a product is going to be worth the investment of my time as well as my money.  Is it going to be useful too or is it going to "collect dust" after I'm finished tinkering with it and I move to something else or get so distracted that I don't tinker with it for a year.

You can buy the device from Google directly or a 3rd pary such as Radio Shack, Best Buy or MicroCenter now, for $35.  It's slightly bigger than a thumbdrive, comes with a power adaptor, USB Cable used to power the device.

At the time that I recieved it there was limited app support. What was more curious Chromecast app wasn't support on my Wife's Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1.  And yet it was on my Droid X2, yes I still have my X2.  Yeah, I've had it a while now.  Not sure what I want for an upgrade though.

Anyway, if you're thinking about getting one of these devices be forewarned not that many apps support it.  Not only that most of the newer TV's have all the app support they need.  There are other devices that would fit the bill better than Chromecast.   Like maybe the Apple TV device, Roku or Slingbox, etc....... I'm sure I could spend all night point out other devices with similar capability.

Ciao!
B