Sunday, January 4, 2015

Chromecasting

.
The Chromecast dongle finally received Google approval for use in New Zealand in December 2014 and is available in most electronic stores for about $60. This tiny device turns a legacy TV into a smart TV. Simply plug it into the HDMI port and put the flying lead into a USB port for use as a power source. Initial setup is that the wireless network is identified and password given. This is a one time requirement. A Smartphone, Tablet, Chromebook or PC can be used as a remote control for the device which allows the internet streaming of Web pages, TV shows, Movies and Youtubes. It is also possible to mirror the Remote devices screen to the TV screen. At the moment only 'Quickflix' ($13 per month) is available for NZ but 'Netflix' is coming in March. This allows instant viewing of the latest TV series and movies over a broadband connection. Phones and tablets have many applications that are designed purely for Chromecast .