My First Weekend With Chromecast

The dust has settled. The fan fare has subsided. The ticker tape has been cleaned off the streets. The reviews are in. Chromecast has (sort of) settled into its spot on the couch amongst the other streaming devices in the market.
 
When it was first released, everything I saw about it left me filled with a bunch of “but, what about?” questions. Sadly it seemed I couldn’t get any concrete answers to those questions, so my only logical choice for answers was to get one for myself. Off to Amazing Prime I went to order one!
 
But alas, none available until August 15, 2013. That’s OK… I can wait. Then came a couple of interesting emails from Amazon –
 
We have no estimated delivery date
         followed a few days later by
We now have an estimated delivery date of October 19th thru the 29th
 
Oh well. No big deal. I mentioned this on Google Plus, and a fellow Geek by the name of Tim Martin came to the rescue. Seems Tim purchased about 4 of them, using at least 2 to integrate at the office, and had one extra. Awesome – just give him the one from Amazon whenever it comes in. A quick H.I.R.L. (that’s Google Plus talk for Hangout In Real Life for those of you who don’t do Plus) with Tim to pick it up, and to talk all things Geek, then back home I went to see what this little powerhouse can do!
 
OK. Into the HDMI port, download the app, add to my network. Simple – in about 3 minutes flat the Chromecast was ready to go. But ready to go do what? Well, there in lies the disappointment in my opinion. Fact is, as of yet, it only does 2 things that can’t be done on any other streaming  device. And one of those two things isn’t really extraordinary.
 
 
The Netflix app is simply that. No real surprises there. Unless you are of the relatively small percentage of the population who’ve yet to experience Netflix, it is exactly what’s to be expected.
 
The two things that are unique to Chromecast are Play Movies/TV and desktop casting. Yes it’s cool that Google even has Play Movies/TV, but for me it begs the question – “if it already has Netflix, what’s the point?” Maybe it’s just me, but I have yet to find anything in Play Movies that I can’t also find in Netflix. TV shows, maybe – Netflix is usually a bit behind when it comes to television shows.
 
To me, the not-so-extraordinary feature is desktop casting. Many people seemed pretty excited about this, but I personally see no “wow factor” in it. The fact is, if you have your PC (but more than likely laptop) with you in front of the TV, and cast your Google Chrome browser content to it, you’re still sitting in front of the TV using your computer system. Only now, you’re essentially looking at 2 monitors showing the same thing. You still have to look at your computer to point/click for the most part. I guess this is awesome if you want to share what’s on your browser with the rest of the family in the living room. But, how often does that happen?
 
My afore mentioned friend Tim showed me what IS awesome about desktop casting though – using it in the office for presentations. Especially if you have multiple parties who have individual content to share at the same presentation. Each party can add their content to the Chromecast queue, and it will broadcast in that order. Now THAT is pretty awesome! But if Chromecast is to be your media streaming entertainment device at home, what good is this?
 
Look, I get it – this little $35 nugget is poised for the future of online streaming. And there is no argument that the price point is unparalleled. My problem is that it simply seems unfinished. Maybe that was Google’s plan all along – release it now, bring developed apps later to keep the price down. I don’t know. I don’t work for Google. I just think that maybe they could have waited until there was more to it. After all, Ford didn’t release his first car with no wheels with the promise that it was only going to get better as each wheel was added.
 
Would I recommend the Chromecast to someone looking to Cut The Cord? Probably not, especially if they are looking for a more robust experience. But again, the $35 price point is its saving grace.
 
As for my first weekend with Chromecast, I can’t lie – it was more like a couple of hours. My wife asked, “so what’s so special about this thing?” Sadly, I had no answer for her. But I did say the same thing many others have said in other reviews – Hopefully new content will get added soon…

Yes – your Roku CAN do that

 As I mentioned in the series “The Truth About Cutting The Cord”, your Roku device can stream or “cast” content from your device(s). I mentioned an app called PlayTo in Part 4. However, to clear up some questions that arose about how to use it, I’d like to present a similar app called Twonky Beam.

Twonky Beam works essentially the same as PlayTo, but I find it to be a bit more stable. Please note that I’m not one to normally do video reviews and demonstrations, so this video is a bit clunky! But I wanted to offer a real-time demonstration, so please forgive my noob-ness!

//www.youtube.com/get_player

Download Twonky Beam from Google Play

The Truth About Cutting The Cord – Part 4: Optimizing Your Experience

 Now we come to the final chapter in the Cord Cutting saga. In part 1, I hope I cleared up any confusion you may have had about why you or anyone else would want to abandon a cable or satellite subscription. As mentioned, although we all will have different reasons for doing so, I believe the greatest of all reasons is simply content. Specifically, the ability to choose what to watch, when you want to watch it and (in most cases) free of commercials.

 In part 2, I provided some insight into the type of equipment you will want to purchase to make it all work. As I mentioned in that chapter, you may find better, more robust, and faster equipment. I just wanted to present what I chose, especially from a cost-conscious perspective. The way I see it, at the pace of technological growth these days in the gadget-sphere, there really is no need to dip into your kid’s college fund to have an awesome, Cord-Cut set up.

 Finally, in part 3, I gave you what I feel are the key apps to bring it all together. Once again – you may come across others that blow the ones I mentioned out of the water. If so, please feel free to share! As with all things tech-related, I’m always on the lookout for ways to do things better!

 In this final chapter, I’d like to offer some suggestions for getting the best out of your cord free lifestyle, specifically using the apps/services I suggested. I’m basically going to walk you through the setup steps I took to achieve the best television viewing experience for my family. Of course your family will have different viewing habits and tastes, but I think these tips will be helpful for you to get started – you’ll just need to tweak them a bit to fit your and yours.

 A. Television Shows

**WARNING** – this section details the use of torrent downloads. Be sure  you fully understand any laws that may impact your individual downloading and use of torrents, as well as any impact on data usage these downloads may have on your specific internet plan with your ISP. If you are any way in doubt, the safest thing to do is to simply skip this section. I take no responsibility for any negative impact that may occur from following this procedure.

First, start by downloading/installing BitTorrent. Of course, there are other torrent tools out there, but I personally choose to use BitTorrent.

If you are hesitant about Cutting The Cord because there are television shows you simply don’t want to miss, remember that I mentioned the website showRSS. Granted, showRSS does not have EVERY show available, but the list is pretty impressive.

The UI is pretty straight forward – simply select the show you want from the drop down, then select “Get the public feed address”. You will then need to place this feed address into BitTorrent by selecting Add Torrent. The cool thing about BitTorrent is that you won’t need to copy/paste the address from showRSS – it already recognizes that link once you select “Get the public feed address”.
 It’s a good idea to Add Alias to the feed that you add to BitTorrent to make it easier to recognize in your feed list. Once you have your feed entered into BitTorrent, you will also want to right-click on either the main “Feeds” header, or on one of the feeds in the list and select “RSS Downloader”. From that screen, you will tell BitTorrent where to save your shows (as you see in my example, it’s my external E:TV drive), as well as select the alias you entered from the “Label for new torrents” drop-down. This helps keep things nice and simple to find, in case you need to go into that drive to look for something specific.

Also, I found that it’s a good idea for organizational purposes to go into the “Preferences” menu and tell BitTorrent to save all torrents in my external media drive as well. Otherwise, you will find that it saves the torrents in your “My Documents” folder, and the actual shows in your media drive. This may not be a big deal to you, but I’m a bit picky about keeping things together! Once you have all of your shows set, you’re done! As each show becomes available, BitTorrent will download them and place them into your specified location.
Next, simply launch your Plex Server, right click on the tray icon, and select Media Manager. Under “My Library”, select the “Add Section” + sign. Select the type as TV Shows, then select “Add Folder”. From the “Add Folder” drop-down, select your media drive and navigate to the folder you told BitTorrent to save all of your shows in (as mentioned above, mine are saved in E:|TV), then save.
Restart your Plex server, and that’s it! From your Roku, launch the Plex channel, and enjoy! Of course, you may have also noticed the Movies section in Plex – you will follow the same procedure as you did to TV Shows to tell Plex where to stream your movie collection from. Plex has a beautiful UI which includes show art, complete descriptions, as well as show theme music.
B. Steaming From Tablet / Phone
 With the recent launch of Google’s Chromecast, one of the most talked about features is the ability to “cast” video content from your tablet and / or phone. This is an awesome feature, but don’t worry Roku faithful – you can do this too! There are several apps in the Google Play store to use to make this happen – I test drove a few and finally settled on PlayTo.
As you may also notice, this app also works for GTV as well as Apple TV. For Roku, simply install the PlayTo channel from the Channel Store. Then, download the app on the devices you want to stream (or “cast”) from, and you’re all set. So, how does it work? Simple!
 First, you will want to tell PlayTo where to stream (or “cast”) to. Simply select the small, TV icon in the upper right corner. PlayTo will recognize your Roku (or, each on if you have more than one) on your network. Check the box to remember the device selection, then tap the actual device to save and close the menu.

 As you can see, you can also customize the name of the device you want to stream to in case you have more than one – just to keep things simple!

 Let’s say you’re watching a YouTube video on you’re Nexus 7 and you want to watch on your Roku. As in any other situation in which you want to share a YouTube video (i.e. – to Google Plus), simply select the Share icon on your device.
From the share options presented, select PlayTo –
 Your video will stat to play through your Roku! And, without selecting the actual PlayTo Roku channel – it merely serves as the network connection between your device and the Roku. PlayTo also allows you to play any audio, video, or photos stored on your device through your Roku. It also includes an extensive online selection of content that you can stream from your device to your Roku. Have DLNA or any other devices containing media on your network? Select “Home Media” and PlayTo will recognize that device and the media that is able to be streamed to your Roku!
 Finally, don’t forget about the Roku app itself. It serves as a remote, and offers a Play To Roku feature, but it only streams music and photos stored on your device.
 Don’t forget to explore the Roku Channel Store. The usual suspects are there – Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon – but there are many more awesome channels as well.
 And, that’s it! I hope that the steps I’ve provided from Part 1 thru Part 4 will help in your decision as to whether or not you will “Cut The Cord”. Or, if you already have, I hope I’ve provided some information that may help better your experience. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please feel free to let me know!
 Happy Streaming!






Flipping back to Flipboard

 For as long as I can remember, I have been on a quest to find an application that allows me to view all of my social media streams/pages in one convenient location. I’ve gone through a few throughout the years – from the “ok” to “goodness – that’s awful!”. 
 During my quest, I came across Flipboard and had settled on it. At the time however, I always felt something was missing. Specifically, Google Plus. But, I lived with it. I’ve always enjoyed Flipboad’s layout, its cover page and beautifully smooth transitions.
 But over time I noticed I wasn’t using it as much, so I uninstalled it and just went back to opening social media apps individually. In fact, I actually forgot about Flipboard until recently when Flipboard’s Owen Thomas announced a new web interface. So, I decided to give it another shot. And I’m glad I did!
 Flipboard now has every social media outlet that I use – from Google Plus to SoundCloud. All packed within its beautiful UI. The display is especially awesome on my Nexus 7! There have been a few updates since my last use as well, namely faster feed updates and Flipboard launches very quickly. And of course, there is the ability to search and add new topics to your Flipboard. The read later function comes in handy, and the magazine creation feature adds an extra punch!

Many of you will read this and say, “well, duh!” But for those of you like me, who had abandoned Flipboard for one reason or another, I suggest you give it another look-see!
Download Flipboard from Google Play or iTunes

Moto X’s Camera App Download

There have been tons of rumors and great anticipation of the Moto X. It seems that everywhere you turn, especially on Google Plus, there’s a new nugget of info! But let’s be honest with ourselves – we Geeks love this kind of stuff, don’t we?
 
Just as it seemed Chromecast took all the attention away from the daily Moto X-ing, Android Police got their hands on the Moto X camera app and shared it with the rest of us! They’re just cool like that!
 
  I’ve installed it on my Galaxy Nexus and must admit that, even with the current limitations, it’s a pretty cool camera app. It won’t over write your existing camera app as long as you’re not using a Motorola phone (in fact, it won’t install on a Motorola phone). It will create an app icon that looks exactly like your current camera icon, so you may want to separate them. Not everything works on it, such as Panorama, HDR, and Slow Motion mode, but it’s still pretty cool.

I specifically like touching anywhere on the screen to take a single shot, or holding on the screen to take a burst of shots. Also, zooming in and out is a simple matter of swiping up and down on the screen.

If you’d like to give it a try, I’ve made the apk available here –
 
 
Enjoy! Thanks once again to our friends at Android Police!