For those interested apparently DIAL is the tech used to deliver content on the Chromecast. YouTube and Netflix are the two maintaining and developing it with other companies also involved in planning and implementation. .
I posted elsewhere that Google's approach for streaming Netflix content is superior, IMO. The approach of having the iPhone tell the Apple TV what it wants to play, but letting the ATV actually go out and fetch the content and do the "heavy lifting" makes perfect sense, and I've posted about this over a year ago. The big issue for me is the number of network hops that have to happen. If I want to play a Netflix show and want to use my iPhone/iPad to find the show I want, I then hit play and send it over AirPlay to my TV. If I'm lucky, my ATV is hard-wired via ethernet to my router. Even then, my iPhone is doing a wireless hop to the router which then goes across the internet to get the content from Netflix. OK, no way around that...no big deal so far. But then my iPhone has to re-transmit the content it's getting wirelessly again back to my router, which then transmits it to my ATV. If I'm not so lucky, the router-to-ATV connection is wireless as well. The Google approach would be superior for any internet-based content (iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon VOD, etc.). The battery savings is a definite plus as well, but I do think that's being blown a bit out of proportion. Someone would need to do some measuring to see just how much battery drain the Netflix streaming plus Airplaying causes in the course of an hour or two.
But that's where the Chromecast advantages end. The superiority of using your iPhone as the UI for Netflix is not an advantage, because you can already choose to use the approach described above. The ATV has the advantage that, in addition to using the iPhone as the Netflix UI, you can *also* use a traditional remote and your TV to navigate the Netflix UI. I do agree that *most* people nowadays have a smartphone of their own, but even when you do,: a) You don't always want to use it (I may be in the midst of using my normal remote and don't want to have to put it down, fire up my phone, fire up the Netflix app on my phone, etc., when all I wanted to do on my TV is pick back up on the most recent Arrested Development episode I left off on); b) You may have a guest over who wants to surf through some Netflix options and you don't want to go through the hassle of getting their phone set up to access your WiFi).
And let's not forget that there are real advantages to the Apple AirPlay mirroring functionality. You can put your iPhone/iPad screen up on the TV, send photos there, videos you've shot, etc. And there are games that are coded to use the ATV as a 2nd output, showing gaming controls on the iPhone but the "action" on the TV. The Chromecast approach won't work for that. The best they can do is casting a web browser tab, and I believe that only works from a laptop.
Lastly, you should know better than to repeat the false claim that you can't use your iPhone for other things when you're AirPlaying. That's only true of AirPlay *Mirroring*. I can AirPlay my Pandora station over to my ATV, leave that app on my iPhone and do other things, and Pandora keeps playing on my ATV. The same is true with AirPlaying a movie using Plex, and I'd imagine any other use case that doesn't involve AirPlay Mirroring.
Circling back to the one advantage of the Chromecast...if anyone here bought one, I'm curious to know what happens if you start up a video on Netflix, cast it to your Chromecast, then go on to watch a different Netflix video on your smartphone. I'm assuming that works fine, but here's what I'm wondering about: The video playing on your TV is now "on its own". How do you pause it? Can you regain control of that first video on your smartphone or has it been cast loose into the wild? I know that if you *didn't* start looking for and playing a different video on your smartphone that you'd be able to use your smartphone for pause/playback controls.
ok, I was wrong about the not being able to use the phone. Still disagree about the remote. Nobody uses the ATV remote to control home theater or TV. The ATV is always an additional remote that you have to find. The whole idea of navigating a menu on a TV is archaic and unnecessary. Apple was just following the TV industry. Every "smart TV" out there does the same stupid on screen navigation system.
And even if Airplay can serve as a workaround for some scenarios, the fact is Apple set up a menu system that encourages developers and users to do it the wrong way. For instance, it may be possible to rent a movie on iTunes, play it on my iPhone, and stream it to my ATV. However, when I bought an ATV, I tried doing it the way Apple intended, which is to turn on your ATV select a movie from the menu and start watching. No one will ever make that mistake with Chromecast because it isn't capable of doing it the wrong way.
This isn't a huge problem for Apple. It can be easily fixed. They just need an app that provides the ATV menu and navigation. It could be part of iTunes or a standalone app. If Apple were smart, they would instruct you to download the app when you set up your ATV and then push the app to all your devices associated with the AppleID.
Apple should also drop the price of ATV. My guess is Chromecast reduced the cost by combining several of the components onto a single circuit board. Apple needs to do the same and get the price down to at least $50.
ok, I was wrong about the not being able to use the phone. Still disagree about the remote. Nobody uses the ATV remote to control home theater or TV. The ATV is always an additional remote that you have to find. The whole idea of navigating a menu on a TV is archaic and unnecessary. Apple was just following the TV industry. Every "smart TV" out there does the same stupid on screen navigation system.
And even if Airplay can serve as a workaround for some scenarios, the fact is Apple set up a menu system that encourages developers and users to do it the wrong way. For instance, it may be possible to rent a movie on iTunes, play it on my iPhone, and stream it to my ATV. However, when I bought an ATV, I tried doing it the way Apple intended, which is to turn on your ATV select a movie from the menu and start watching. No one will ever make that mistake with Chromecast because it isn't capable of doing it the wrong way.
This isn't a huge problem for Apple. It can be easily fixed. They just need an app that provides the ATV menu and navigation. It could be part of iTunes or a standalone app. If Apple were smart, they would instruct you to download the app when you set up your ATV and then push the app to all your devices associated with the AppleID.
Apple should also drop the price of ATV. My guess is Chromecast reduced the cost by combining several of the components onto a single circuit board. Apple needs to do the same and get the price down to at least $50.
You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. If you want to use the Apple TV EXACTLY like the chromecast- you can. With no remote. Why do you keep bringing up a remote as if its a disadvantage. It's totally useless if you're using it for streaming only. It's only function is as a set top box. Chromecast streaming and airplay streaming- in terms of difficulty is 100% identical. The only difference is that the ATV will have better quality and less lag as its device to device instead of in the cloud. You are totally clueless.
To summarize:
-Chromecast is a streamer with no remote
-Apple TV is a streamer with no remote
-Apple TV is also a set top box with a remote
-Chromecast streams via cloud which has more lag than Apple TV which streams device to device.
So ya, it's ONLY advantage is the price point. Unless you are a windows/android house, then it's better for streaming than the ATV.
I think he's just trolling, I mean who gives up a Macbook Pro, even if you don't like using OSX in which I can't imagine why, it can still handle pretty much every OS you can throw at it.
I'm not confused. I understand the Apple TV interface perfectly. It's a piece of shit. To type in the password it puts up a keyboard on the screen and then makes me push a button to move from one letter to the next until I reach the desired alphanumeric character and select it. There is nothing confusing about that. It is a total piece of shit interface.
Once, then it remembers and you never have to see it again...
...then you can use the iOS keyboard in Apple Remote on an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.
btw it's not a "keyboard", it's more of a game console scroll and select interface.
...I own a Mac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air, 4 iPhones, Apple TV, 3 iPod touches...
....I do use Airplay. There are two MAJOR problems with Airplay: (i) it drains the battery, (ii) prevents me from having access to my phone while I'm streaming...
So why are you using your "main" phone for airplay when you apparently have 3 others, 3 iPod touch's 2 laptops and a PC which will all do the exact same thing?
The approach of having the iPhone tell the Apple TV what it wants to play, but letting the ATV actually go out and fetch the content and do the "heavy lifting" makes perfect sense, and I've posted about this over a year ago.
I'm not confused. I understand the Apple TV interface perfectly. It's a piece of shit. To type in the password it puts up a keyboard on the screen and then makes me push a button to move from one letter to the next until I reach the desired alphanumeric character and select it. There is nothing confusing about that. It is a total piece of shit interface.
Secondly, the brilliance of Chromecast is that it uses the iPhone or Android device to provide the interface and then it streams the content from the cloud. Why is that a bad comparison. Airplay only works by streaming from the portable electronic device (e.g., iPhone) which drains the battery.
Pause for a second and maybe the clarity of my argument will sink in. I think you'll realize that Chromecast just kicked Apple's ass in a area that Apple has historically been king.....user interface and simplicity.
No, you're still confused. Let me clarify because you don't seem to be bright: What is the interface of AirPlay?
The big question is how does Google plan to stream advertising to you on one of these things, They can not continue to give away hardware and not have some sort of revenue stream to make up the loss. Maybe this is hobby like Apple TV was for many years, But I do not believe Apple ever gave away hardware and hopes to make up the loss somewhere else.
The strategy you are talking about is called "loss leader." No, Apple has never sold loss leaders.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris_CA
Because Apple doesn't innovate?
And where/when has Apple "whined" about the competition?
tom95521 fantasizes about Apple being envious of this cheap Android web player dongle, like a classic movie villain who has been foiled again by Capt. Hero.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OllieWallieWhiskers
doesn't a power cord defeat the purpose of a dongle?
I find articles such as this to be very amusing. The article was written with a significant slant without hands on experience. It provides pundents with ammunition without first hand trials and comparisons. I will wait and see it first hand. Particularly amusing are the references to copying and innovation while holding up Apple as an example. In the words of Steve Jobs' "Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal". One needs only look at iOS7 for a real world example of Jobs' legacy. The interface is clearly inspired by several other OS's.
I understand the premise though. Without the slant the article would never be featured. Sacrifice integrity for notoriety. As I said, thank you for the amusement.
Slant, yes. But also factually correct about what Chromecast is, its features and limitations, and how it works. Most fandroid responses in these forums are like yours: just squirming and fussin' because you can't find anything factually incorrect about the article. So, lash out if you must at DED's slant, or other targets like iOS7. Your "amusement" sounds more like nervous laughter to convince yourself that it's OK that Chromecast falls short of the competition. The one thing you cannot do is say that DED is wrong about what Chromecast does, how it functions, Google's past TV failures or Schmidt's misplaced swagger.
There's a lot of competition for content delivery into the living room. And while I'm partial to AppleTV, there is some very strong competition from Xbox, PS3, the "Steam box" from Valve, Roku, and various off-brand streaming media devices. This dongle is a waste of a perfectly good HDMI port.
That being said, Apple TV does have my attention and it's a serious product. But iPhones and iPads aren't the best in my opinion so I can't get an Apple TV. Which is unfortunate because I was actually excited about that device.
Enough with the FUD.
Your don't need any iOS device to use AppleTV.
You don't need a Mac.
Just plug it in and use it, the way you would use a Roku.
I'm an Apple zealot and I hope chromecast is widely successful. Why should I be scared? I'll be streaming content from the internet to my Sony TV using my iPhone as the control. What matters most about Chromecast is that any iPhone app developer can include a chromecast button in their iPhone app to allow me to switch a streaming video from my iPhone to my TV. That means I can browse through TV or movie content on the internet using my phone, select the content and hit play and it shows up on my TV. Fantastic! I couldn't care less whether its Apple or Google that provides this functionality. Its going to be awesome.
Ironically Apple f'ed up with the Apple TV interface. They make me navigate an onscreen menu using a 1980's style dumb ass remote. It is probably the most pathetic user interface Apple has ever produced. Then some bright engineer thought to fix the problem by virtualizing the dumb ass remote in an iPhone app. Sorry, but a virtualized dumb ass remote is still a dumb ass remote.
Google nailed it with this one.
Have you used AirPlay? Watching some video on your iPad or iPhone or in iTunes you just send it to AirPlay and Apple TV begins playing. There's no "navigate an onscreen menu using a 1980's style dumb ass remote" to deal with, and no remote is needed.
Also, you don't have to wait for developers to add Chromecast support to their apps. Virtually anything that plays back audio or video can automatically use AirPlay.
I posted elsewhere that Google's approach for streaming Netflix content is superior, IMO. The approach of having the iPhone tell the Apple TV what it wants to play, but letting the ATV actually go out and fetch the content and do the "heavy lifting" makes perfect sense, and I've posted about this over a year ago. The big issue for me is the number of network hops that have to happen. If I want to play a Netflix show and want to use my iPhone/iPad to find the show I want, I then hit play and send it over AirPlay to my TV. If I'm lucky, my ATV is hard-wired via ethernet to my router. Even then, my iPhone is doing a wireless hop to the router which then goes across the internet to get the content from Netflix. OK, no way around that...no big deal so far. But then my iPhone has to re-transmit the content it's getting wirelessly again back to my router, which then transmits it to my ATV. If I'm not so lucky, the router-to-ATV connection is wireless as well. The Google approach would be superior for any internet-based content (iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon VOD, etc.). The battery savings is a definite plus as well, but I do think that's being blown a bit out of proportion. Someone would need to do some measuring to see just how much battery drain the Netflix streaming plus Airplaying causes in the course of an hour or two.
That's not how Netflix works on Apple TV. If you watch Netflix or YouTube or Vimeo or anything else from Apple TV, it plays directly from the cloud. There's no relay through your phone. Google didn't invent this.
I posted elsewhere that Google's approach for streaming Netflix content is superior, IMO. The approach of having the iPhone tell the Apple TV what it wants to play, but letting the ATV actually go out and fetch the content and do the "heavy lifting" makes perfect sense, and I've posted about this over a year ago. The big issue for me is the number of network hops that have to happen. If I want to play a Netflix show and want to use my iPhone/iPad to find the show I want, I then hit play and send it over AirPlay to my TV. If I'm lucky, my ATV is hard-wired via ethernet to my router. Even then, my iPhone is doing a wireless hop to the router which then goes across the internet to get the content from Netflix. OK, no way around that...no big deal so far. But then my iPhone has to re-transmit the content it's getting wirelessly again back to my router, which then transmits it to my ATV. If I'm not so lucky, the router-to-ATV connection is wireless as well. The Google approach would be superior for any internet-based content (iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon VOD, etc.). The battery savings is a definite plus as well, but I do think that's being blown a bit out of proportion. Someone would need to do some measuring to see just how much battery drain the Netflix streaming plus Airplaying causes in the course of an hour or two.
You can't say "Google's approach for streaming Netflix is superior" when Apple's approach is actually for you to use the AppleTV to stream Netflix directly. Apple doesn't even require that you own any iPhone, iPad, or Mac to use AppleTV. That's a simpler approach.
This [link to Apple page describing the iOS Remote app] has been around well before that.
If you want to go around posting sales pitches, maybe you should know your competitors product.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Corrections
That's not how Netflix works on Apple TV. If you watch Netflix or YouTube or Vimeo or anything else from Apple TV, it plays directly from the cloud. There's no relay through your phone. Google didn't invent this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton
You can't say "Google's approach for streaming Netflix is superior" when Apple's approach is actually for you to use the AppleTV to stream Netflix directly. Apple doesn't even require that you own any iPhone, iPad, or Mac to use AppleTV. That's a simpler approach.
Wow, touchy bunch. I'm quite familiar with the Remote app for iOS and do use it when I think it's appropriate. There are, in fact, two ways to watch Netflix shows on the Apple TV:
1) Navigate to the Netflix app on your ATV. You can do this using an "old fashioned" remote control like the one that came in the box, or by having the ATV learn the commands from another remote you own, or (as in my case) using a learning remote like the Logitech Harmony series of remotes. Using this method has the disadvantages of being less efficient to navigate through (more clicks) and you have to force other people to watch you navigate around. Sometimes you *want* people to watch you do it (e.g., when your family are trying to form a consensus on what to watch), but other times it would be nice to utilize the ATV to play some movie trailers or other shows while you are simultaneously using your iPhone running the Netflix app to find what you want to watch next and get ready to hit "Play". The iOS app called Remote is great for entering text searches, but is otherwise just as inefficient for navigating through the menu system on the ATV. All that said, if you use this first approach for watching Netflix shows, the end result is that the ATV will stream the show from the internet, just as the Chromecast does.
2) The other approach is to fire up the Netflix app on your iPhone/iPad, find what you want to watch, click Play, and then use AirPlay to send it to the ATV. This provides for a more efficient method of finding the content you want and allows other people to use the ATV for other things while you're searching for the show you want, but has the disadvantage that once you start it this way, you're doing extra network hops and using your iPhone/iPad to do the actual streaming from Netflix. This can also introduce issues with playback pausing on occasion since you'll be using up more of your local network bandwidth.
What I'm arguing for is the best of both worlds. Use option #2 but when you hit the AirPlay button, it directs the ATV to do the streaming from internet (Netflix) itself, and not consume unnecessary CPU cycles on your iPhone or unnecessary bandwidth in your local WiFi network.
Again, that's the *only* thing I really give the Chromecast credit for. And as others have pointed out, even though I sometimes want to navigate/find my Netflix show using my iPhone, there are other times when I actually *want* to use a UI on my television to search for and find shows.
For anyone out there in agreement with me, I'll throw out a workable workaround which allows you to combine some of the pros of both approaches: You can use the Netflix app on your iPhone to search for and find the show you want, then add it to the Instant Queue. Then, use the ATV UI to launch the Netflix app, choose your Instant Queue, and select the show you just added.
Comments
http://www.dial-multiscreen.org/
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott R
I posted elsewhere that Google's approach for streaming Netflix content is superior, IMO. The approach of having the iPhone tell the Apple TV what it wants to play, but letting the ATV actually go out and fetch the content and do the "heavy lifting" makes perfect sense, and I've posted about this over a year ago. The big issue for me is the number of network hops that have to happen. If I want to play a Netflix show and want to use my iPhone/iPad to find the show I want, I then hit play and send it over AirPlay to my TV. If I'm lucky, my ATV is hard-wired via ethernet to my router. Even then, my iPhone is doing a wireless hop to the router which then goes across the internet to get the content from Netflix. OK, no way around that...no big deal so far. But then my iPhone has to re-transmit the content it's getting wirelessly again back to my router, which then transmits it to my ATV. If I'm not so lucky, the router-to-ATV connection is wireless as well. The Google approach would be superior for any internet-based content (iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon VOD, etc.). The battery savings is a definite plus as well, but I do think that's being blown a bit out of proportion. Someone would need to do some measuring to see just how much battery drain the Netflix streaming plus Airplaying causes in the course of an hour or two.
But that's where the Chromecast advantages end. The superiority of using your iPhone as the UI for Netflix is not an advantage, because you can already choose to use the approach described above. The ATV has the advantage that, in addition to using the iPhone as the Netflix UI, you can *also* use a traditional remote and your TV to navigate the Netflix UI. I do agree that *most* people nowadays have a smartphone of their own, but even when you do,: a) You don't always want to use it (I may be in the midst of using my normal remote and don't want to have to put it down, fire up my phone, fire up the Netflix app on my phone, etc., when all I wanted to do on my TV is pick back up on the most recent Arrested Development episode I left off on); b) You may have a guest over who wants to surf through some Netflix options and you don't want to go through the hassle of getting their phone set up to access your WiFi).
And let's not forget that there are real advantages to the Apple AirPlay mirroring functionality. You can put your iPhone/iPad screen up on the TV, send photos there, videos you've shot, etc. And there are games that are coded to use the ATV as a 2nd output, showing gaming controls on the iPhone but the "action" on the TV. The Chromecast approach won't work for that. The best they can do is casting a web browser tab, and I believe that only works from a laptop.
Lastly, you should know better than to repeat the false claim that you can't use your iPhone for other things when you're AirPlaying. That's only true of AirPlay *Mirroring*. I can AirPlay my Pandora station over to my ATV, leave that app on my iPhone and do other things, and Pandora keeps playing on my ATV. The same is true with AirPlaying a movie using Plex, and I'd imagine any other use case that doesn't involve AirPlay Mirroring.
Circling back to the one advantage of the Chromecast...if anyone here bought one, I'm curious to know what happens if you start up a video on Netflix, cast it to your Chromecast, then go on to watch a different Netflix video on your smartphone. I'm assuming that works fine, but here's what I'm wondering about: The video playing on your TV is now "on its own". How do you pause it? Can you regain control of that first video on your smartphone or has it been cast loose into the wild? I know that if you *didn't* start looking for and playing a different video on your smartphone that you'd be able to use your smartphone for pause/playback controls.
ok, I was wrong about the not being able to use the phone. Still disagree about the remote. Nobody uses the ATV remote to control home theater or TV. The ATV is always an additional remote that you have to find. The whole idea of navigating a menu on a TV is archaic and unnecessary. Apple was just following the TV industry. Every "smart TV" out there does the same stupid on screen navigation system.
And even if Airplay can serve as a workaround for some scenarios, the fact is Apple set up a menu system that encourages developers and users to do it the wrong way. For instance, it may be possible to rent a movie on iTunes, play it on my iPhone, and stream it to my ATV. However, when I bought an ATV, I tried doing it the way Apple intended, which is to turn on your ATV select a movie from the menu and start watching. No one will ever make that mistake with Chromecast because it isn't capable of doing it the wrong way.
This isn't a huge problem for Apple. It can be easily fixed. They just need an app that provides the ATV menu and navigation. It could be part of iTunes or a standalone app. If Apple were smart, they would instruct you to download the app when you set up your ATV and then push the app to all your devices associated with the AppleID.
Apple should also drop the price of ATV. My guess is Chromecast reduced the cost by combining several of the components onto a single circuit board. Apple needs to do the same and get the price down to at least $50.
Well that's utter nonsense.
You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. If you want to use the Apple TV EXACTLY like the chromecast- you can. With no remote. Why do you keep bringing up a remote as if its a disadvantage. It's totally useless if you're using it for streaming only. It's only function is as a set top box. Chromecast streaming and airplay streaming- in terms of difficulty is 100% identical. The only difference is that the ATV will have better quality and less lag as its device to device instead of in the cloud. You are totally clueless.
To summarize:
-Chromecast is a streamer with no remote
-Apple TV is a streamer with no remote
-Apple TV is also a set top box with a remote
-Chromecast streams via cloud which has more lag than Apple TV which streams device to device.
So ya, it's ONLY advantage is the price point. Unless you are a windows/android house, then it's better for streaming than the ATV.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ash471
I'm not confused. I understand the Apple TV interface perfectly. It's a piece of shit. To type in the password it puts up a keyboard on the screen and then makes me push a button to move from one letter to the next until I reach the desired alphanumeric character and select it. There is nothing confusing about that. It is a total piece of shit interface.
Once, then it remembers and you never have to see it again...
...then you can use the iOS keyboard in Apple Remote on an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.
btw it's not a "keyboard", it's more of a game console scroll and select interface.
Have some advice (***LANGUAGE WARNING***):-
Quote:
Originally Posted by ash471
...I own a Mac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air, 4 iPhones, Apple TV, 3 iPod touches...
....I do use Airplay. There are two MAJOR problems with Airplay: (i) it drains the battery, (ii) prevents me from having access to my phone while I'm streaming...
So why are you using your "main" phone for airplay when you apparently have 3 others, 3 iPod touch's 2 laptops and a PC which will all do the exact same thing?
(see my earlier post for what you need to do)
HTFU
Quote:
Originally Posted by ash471
...the brilliance of Chromecast: It uses the iPhone as the interface for the TV...
Brilliant, yawn, been there, done that.
HTFU
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott R
The approach of having the iPhone tell the Apple TV what it wants to play, but letting the ATV actually go out and fetch the content and do the "heavy lifting" makes perfect sense, and I've posted about this over a year ago.
Over a year?
This has been around well before that.
If you want to go around posting sales pitches, maybe you should know your competitors product.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ash471
I'm not confused. I understand the Apple TV interface perfectly. It's a piece of shit. To type in the password it puts up a keyboard on the screen and then makes me push a button to move from one letter to the next until I reach the desired alphanumeric character and select it. There is nothing confusing about that. It is a total piece of shit interface.
Secondly, the brilliance of Chromecast is that it uses the iPhone or Android device to provide the interface and then it streams the content from the cloud. Why is that a bad comparison. Airplay only works by streaming from the portable electronic device (e.g., iPhone) which drains the battery.
Pause for a second and maybe the clarity of my argument will sink in. I think you'll realize that Chromecast just kicked Apple's ass in a area that Apple has historically been king.....user interface and simplicity.
No, you're still confused. Let me clarify because you don't seem to be bright: What is the interface of AirPlay?
ok, I was wrong about the not being able to use the phone.
LOL. You were wrong about a lot of things, hence: you're confused but I don't blame you. Maybe you're excited because it's being "cheap".
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maestro64
The big question is how does Google plan to stream advertising to you on one of these things, They can not continue to give away hardware and not have some sort of revenue stream to make up the loss. Maybe this is hobby like Apple TV was for many years, But I do not believe Apple ever gave away hardware and hopes to make up the loss somewhere else.
The strategy you are talking about is called "loss leader." No, Apple has never sold loss leaders.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris_CA
Because Apple doesn't innovate?
And where/when has Apple "whined" about the competition?
tom95521 fantasizes about Apple being envious of this cheap Android web player dongle, like a classic movie villain who has been foiled again by Capt. Hero.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OllieWallieWhiskers
doesn't a power cord defeat the purpose of a dongle?
That's "innovation."
Quote:
Originally Posted by tbruinsma
I find articles such as this to be very amusing. The article was written with a significant slant without hands on experience. It provides pundents with ammunition without first hand trials and comparisons. I will wait and see it first hand. Particularly amusing are the references to copying and innovation while holding up Apple as an example. In the words of Steve Jobs' "Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal". One needs only look at iOS7 for a real world example of Jobs' legacy. The interface is clearly inspired by several other OS's.
I understand the premise though. Without the slant the article would never be featured. Sacrifice integrity for notoriety. As I said, thank you for the amusement.
Slant, yes. But also factually correct about what Chromecast is, its features and limitations, and how it works. Most fandroid responses in these forums are like yours: just squirming and fussin' because you can't find anything factually incorrect about the article. So, lash out if you must at DED's slant, or other targets like iOS7. Your "amusement" sounds more like nervous laughter to convince yourself that it's OK that Chromecast falls short of the competition. The one thing you cannot do is say that DED is wrong about what Chromecast does, how it functions, Google's past TV failures or Schmidt's misplaced swagger.
There's a lot of competition for content delivery into the living room. And while I'm partial to AppleTV, there is some very strong competition from Xbox, PS3, the "Steam box" from Valve, Roku, and various off-brand streaming media devices. This dongle is a waste of a perfectly good HDMI port.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GloriousUnseen
That being said, Apple TV does have my attention and it's a serious product. But iPhones and iPads aren't the best in my opinion so I can't get an Apple TV. Which is unfortunate because I was actually excited about that device.
Enough with the FUD.
Your don't need any iOS device to use AppleTV.
You don't need a Mac.
Just plug it in and use it, the way you would use a Roku.
The UK is a clown country that censors the internet. I wouldn't expect Apple to care about what happens in that sort of place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ash471
I'm an Apple zealot and I hope chromecast is widely successful. Why should I be scared? I'll be streaming content from the internet to my Sony TV using my iPhone as the control. What matters most about Chromecast is that any iPhone app developer can include a chromecast button in their iPhone app to allow me to switch a streaming video from my iPhone to my TV. That means I can browse through TV or movie content on the internet using my phone, select the content and hit play and it shows up on my TV. Fantastic! I couldn't care less whether its Apple or Google that provides this functionality. Its going to be awesome.
Ironically Apple f'ed up with the Apple TV interface. They make me navigate an onscreen menu using a 1980's style dumb ass remote. It is probably the most pathetic user interface Apple has ever produced. Then some bright engineer thought to fix the problem by virtualizing the dumb ass remote in an iPhone app. Sorry, but a virtualized dumb ass remote is still a dumb ass remote.
Google nailed it with this one.
Have you used AirPlay? Watching some video on your iPad or iPhone or in iTunes you just send it to AirPlay and Apple TV begins playing. There's no "navigate an onscreen menu using a 1980's style dumb ass remote" to deal with, and no remote is needed.
Also, you don't have to wait for developers to add Chromecast support to their apps. Virtually anything that plays back audio or video can automatically use AirPlay.
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Originally Posted by Scott R
I posted elsewhere that Google's approach for streaming Netflix content is superior, IMO. The approach of having the iPhone tell the Apple TV what it wants to play, but letting the ATV actually go out and fetch the content and do the "heavy lifting" makes perfect sense, and I've posted about this over a year ago. The big issue for me is the number of network hops that have to happen. If I want to play a Netflix show and want to use my iPhone/iPad to find the show I want, I then hit play and send it over AirPlay to my TV. If I'm lucky, my ATV is hard-wired via ethernet to my router. Even then, my iPhone is doing a wireless hop to the router which then goes across the internet to get the content from Netflix. OK, no way around that...no big deal so far. But then my iPhone has to re-transmit the content it's getting wirelessly again back to my router, which then transmits it to my ATV. If I'm not so lucky, the router-to-ATV connection is wireless as well. The Google approach would be superior for any internet-based content (iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon VOD, etc.). The battery savings is a definite plus as well, but I do think that's being blown a bit out of proportion. Someone would need to do some measuring to see just how much battery drain the Netflix streaming plus Airplaying causes in the course of an hour or two.
That's not how Netflix works on Apple TV. If you watch Netflix or YouTube or Vimeo or anything else from Apple TV, it plays directly from the cloud. There's no relay through your phone. Google didn't invent this.
Or even DLNA, which I prefer since you don't need a dongle or a set-box to use. Well that's if your TV has it built in that is.
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Originally Posted by Scott R
I posted elsewhere that Google's approach for streaming Netflix content is superior, IMO. The approach of having the iPhone tell the Apple TV what it wants to play, but letting the ATV actually go out and fetch the content and do the "heavy lifting" makes perfect sense, and I've posted about this over a year ago. The big issue for me is the number of network hops that have to happen. If I want to play a Netflix show and want to use my iPhone/iPad to find the show I want, I then hit play and send it over AirPlay to my TV. If I'm lucky, my ATV is hard-wired via ethernet to my router. Even then, my iPhone is doing a wireless hop to the router which then goes across the internet to get the content from Netflix. OK, no way around that...no big deal so far. But then my iPhone has to re-transmit the content it's getting wirelessly again back to my router, which then transmits it to my ATV. If I'm not so lucky, the router-to-ATV connection is wireless as well. The Google approach would be superior for any internet-based content (iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon VOD, etc.). The battery savings is a definite plus as well, but I do think that's being blown a bit out of proportion. Someone would need to do some measuring to see just how much battery drain the Netflix streaming plus Airplaying causes in the course of an hour or two.
You can't say "Google's approach for streaming Netflix is superior" when Apple's approach is actually for you to use the AppleTV to stream Netflix directly. Apple doesn't even require that you own any iPhone, iPad, or Mac to use AppleTV. That's a simpler approach.
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Originally Posted by hill60
Over a year?
This [link to Apple page describing the iOS Remote app] has been around well before that.
If you want to go around posting sales pitches, maybe you should know your competitors product.
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Originally Posted by Corrections
That's not how Netflix works on Apple TV. If you watch Netflix or YouTube or Vimeo or anything else from Apple TV, it plays directly from the cloud. There's no relay through your phone. Google didn't invent this.
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Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton
You can't say "Google's approach for streaming Netflix is superior" when Apple's approach is actually for you to use the AppleTV to stream Netflix directly. Apple doesn't even require that you own any iPhone, iPad, or Mac to use AppleTV. That's a simpler approach.
Wow, touchy bunch. I'm quite familiar with the Remote app for iOS and do use it when I think it's appropriate. There are, in fact, two ways to watch Netflix shows on the Apple TV:
1) Navigate to the Netflix app on your ATV. You can do this using an "old fashioned" remote control like the one that came in the box, or by having the ATV learn the commands from another remote you own, or (as in my case) using a learning remote like the Logitech Harmony series of remotes. Using this method has the disadvantages of being less efficient to navigate through (more clicks) and you have to force other people to watch you navigate around. Sometimes you *want* people to watch you do it (e.g., when your family are trying to form a consensus on what to watch), but other times it would be nice to utilize the ATV to play some movie trailers or other shows while you are simultaneously using your iPhone running the Netflix app to find what you want to watch next and get ready to hit "Play". The iOS app called Remote is great for entering text searches, but is otherwise just as inefficient for navigating through the menu system on the ATV. All that said, if you use this first approach for watching Netflix shows, the end result is that the ATV will stream the show from the internet, just as the Chromecast does.
2) The other approach is to fire up the Netflix app on your iPhone/iPad, find what you want to watch, click Play, and then use AirPlay to send it to the ATV. This provides for a more efficient method of finding the content you want and allows other people to use the ATV for other things while you're searching for the show you want, but has the disadvantage that once you start it this way, you're doing extra network hops and using your iPhone/iPad to do the actual streaming from Netflix. This can also introduce issues with playback pausing on occasion since you'll be using up more of your local network bandwidth.
What I'm arguing for is the best of both worlds. Use option #2 but when you hit the AirPlay button, it directs the ATV to do the streaming from internet (Netflix) itself, and not consume unnecessary CPU cycles on your iPhone or unnecessary bandwidth in your local WiFi network.
Again, that's the *only* thing I really give the Chromecast credit for. And as others have pointed out, even though I sometimes want to navigate/find my Netflix show using my iPhone, there are other times when I actually *want* to use a UI on my television to search for and find shows.
For anyone out there in agreement with me, I'll throw out a workable workaround which allows you to combine some of the pros of both approaches: You can use the Netflix app on your iPhone to search for and find the show you want, then add it to the Instant Queue. Then, use the ATV UI to launch the Netflix app, choose your Instant Queue, and select the show you just added.