Google May Soon Be Taking Over Our TV's
By KYW tech editor Ian Bush
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Google has tried before to enter our living rooms, but its Smart TV platform isn't exactly a best-seller. Its latest attempt -- announced and on sale Wednesday -- puts web video front and center.
Maybe you've found yourself in this situation:
"I'm hanging out with my friends, and I want to show them one of my favorite YouTube videos."
That's Google's Rishi Chandra, who says you could huddle around a smartphone or tablet -- "but it's much better to do on this big, beautiful screen."
That's what Google Chromecast does. It looks like a USB thumb drive but plugs into an HDMI port on a TV, linking via WiFi to your home network. Open the YouTube app on your portable device or laptop, and a new option -- a "cast" button -- will appear; touching or clicking that icon will send the video to the big screen.
The $35 Chromecast, which is powered by USB, also works with Netflix.
"It's playing in beautiful 1080p HD, with support for 5.1 surround sound," says Chandra.
Your phone acts as a remote for the video, and you can use other apps without interrupting what's playing since it's pulling content from the 'cloud' instead of streaming from your device -- which also means you can pick up later on your handheld where you left off on your TV.
As a beta feature, Chromecast will allow you to project content from a Google Chrome browser tap to a TV.
It's now available in the Google Play store.
