Gadgetory

earlier this week Google announced its affordable home entertainment accessory I'm Taylor Martin this is PocketNow and this is Google chromecast Google is no stranger to the home theater industry in October 2010 Google launched Google TV with a handful of partners yet three years later Google TV hasn't really taken off last year Google pivoted into an entirely different direction and introduced the Nexus Q at i/o 2012 the Nexus Q is a central device that bridges the gap between the television and the devices we carry in our bags and pockets each day our Android tablets and smartphones and it was set for a quite hefty $300 after some backlash over the price Google decided not to release the Nexus Q and to go back to the drawing board one year later entered the Nexus Q part to chromecast how does it work how does it compare to the Nexus Q and how easy is it to set up that's what we're here to find out instead of a big heavy overpriced orb with a built-in amp Google went simple and cheap chromecast is a size of a USB thumb drive and plugs into the HDMI port on a display or television and it streams online videos YouTube Netflix and Google Play movies in TV and music it requires an external power source via microUSB and it costs only $35 set up is quite simple plug the device into the HDMI port on your television and the USB cable into the other end of the dongle the display will then prompt you to download and install the chromecast application onto your computer when you run the application it will discover nearby chromecast devices use the unique code to determine which chromecast to connect to and enter the password to your wireless network for setup that's it next is streaming connect your iOS or Android device to the same wireless network open the YouTube application Netflix or Google Play Movies and choose a video select the chromecast icon in the upper right corner to toggle between playback on the phone or through the television once the playback begins your mobile device or computer then becomes the remote for your playback your mobile device can control volume skip forward and back play pause and stop you and other people around with iOS Android Windows devices or Mac not windows phones or BlackBerry's can add music or videos to the playback queue and all-around it's a great social streaming experience what the Nexus Q never really could be however there are some caveats worth mentioning unlike similar devices chromecast does not allow you to stream local content from your devices only online content and you cannot mirror your device's screen to your television but that's only a small setback for such a cheap and otherwise very capable device in our short time with chromecast we can honestly say it's been more reliable and easy to use than the Nexus Q ever was not to mention it fits in your pocket and travels unbelievably well with the Netflix promotion the total price of the device comes out to just over $11 if you're currently a Netflix subscriber and if you only use it once in a blue moon it's certainly worth it best of all more streaming options will be added to the list of supported services over time and what's better than watching PocketNow videos on the big screen from the comfort of your couch plain and simple you'd be crazy not to pick up a chromecast for your own living room if you enjoyed the video and found it helpful be sure to click the thumbs up button below and subscribe find us on Twitter Google+ and Facebook at pocket now you can find me on twitter at casper tech i'm taylor Martin and I'll see you soon