Chromecast in SA.

Compton_effect

Compton_effect

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Well. My Chromecast finally arrived from the US. And all it cost me was R440 (2 cool t-shirts for my sister's kids in Atlanta, I sent them ones from Big Blue with the Rhino superimposed over the Dodo).
Nifty little device. Works like a charm from my laptop or my desktop pc.
But fraking Android needs the app from Google Play and its not available in the country.:mad:
Anyone here know where I can get the latest APK?
 
Thanks. I found a good link on a New Zealand site too.
Anyone else on the forum have a Chromecast? And what is your impression of it?
If google spends some time on it - it will become a pretty impressive piece of hardware.
 
Some feedback to anyone that is interested.
The little stick was worth every cent. Its very easy to quickly cast a youtube clip to the big screen now. One move and the kids are watching Mickey-Mouse-Clubhouse, and I get the tablet back.
Yesterday afternoon I cast the streaming webpage of the latest SpaceX launch onto the tv and watched it with the kids - almost blew the speakers.
I was lazy when I set up my home theater - I also have a WD TV Live - and bought PlayOn for the media server (Was in too much of a hurry for XMBC setup). Seems they will be releasing their entire channel range on PlayCast - their Chromecast service - in October. It will be included in my package by default. :D
The only issue so far is Netflix. I'm set up through Unotelly to have a US location and it works great on all the other devices - but I can't cast to the Chromecast - it just shows a spinning wheel.
 
Compton_effect is there any buffering knowing its wireless. i'm using xbmc and wd player which allows you to cast youtube videos
with your phone.
 
Youtube has no buffering on it. And the same for Netflix and Youtube though the WD TV.
As for it being on Wireless - the only thing between it and the router is a brick wall - they are practically back to back.
I'm wondering if I should drop the resolution on the dongle and see what happens.
At the moment its just a nuisance, seeing as both devices are on one screen, but if this works I'll pick up a decent LCD monitor with speakers and a HMDI port and set it up in the kids playroom. Or the main bedroom :whistle:
 
Mine arrived on a flight from the US tonight. Should collect it in the next couple of days.
 
Compton_effect said:
Some feedback to anyone that is interested.
The little stick was worth every cent. Its very easy to quickly cast a youtube clip to the big screen now. One move and the kids are watching Mickey-Mouse-Clubhouse, and I get the tablet back.
Yesterday afternoon I cast the streaming webpage of the latest SpaceX launch onto the tv and watched it with the kids - almost blew the speakers.
I was lazy when I set up my home theater - I also have a WD TV Live - and bought PlayOn for the media server (Was in too much of a hurry for XMBC setup). Seems they will be releasing their entire channel range on PlayCast - their Chromecast service - in October. It will be included in my package by default. :D
The only issue so far is Netflix. I'm set up through Unotelly to have a US location and it works great on all the other devices - but I can't cast to the Chromecast - it just shows a spinning wheel.
Click to expand...

The problem you're having with netflix is that google's dns is hardcoded into the chromecast that's why netflix isn't being routed with unotelly. There is a workaround on xda either by rooting or having a dd-wrt router. Should have mine this week, will post my solution.
 
Doodler said:
The problem you're having with netflix is that google's dns is hardcoded into the chromecast that's why netflix isn't being routed with unotelly. There is a workaround on xda either by rooting or having a dd-wrt router. Should have mine this week, will post my solution.
Click to expand...

I am thinking of getting this - specifically for the Netflix and Hulu+ so am keen to see if the workaround helps.
 
Can you use this thing to just play media from a hard drive or is it only for online video streaming? A friend of mine doesn't have internet but needs a media player and I'm looking into the various options.
 
mercurial said:
Can you use this thing to just play media from a hard drive or is it only for online video streaming? A friend of mine doesn't have internet but needs a media player and I'm looking into the various options.
Click to expand...

Online for streaming media (at the moment). I think Plex is working on bringing a Plex client to the Chromecast but I'm not sure of a timeframe and what capabilities it will have.
 
Hey

Where did you order at that price ? I would like to buy one.
 
I set mine up very easily.

Works perfectly with Youtube but I tried "casting" a Pinkbike video. Video worked well but there wasn't any sound.

So very limited use at the moment.
 
Doodler said:
The problem you're having with netflix is that google's dns is hardcoded into the chromecast that's why netflix isn't being routed with unotelly. There is a workaround on xda either by rooting or having a dd-wrt router. Should have mine this week, will post my solution.
Click to expand...

Nice one. Thanks. So just like my Netflix app for my tablets - I'll have to hack it.
 
Just as a side-note, I've managed to set mine up and get Netflix and Hulu+ to work without a dd-wrt router. As long as you can find a way to telnet/ssh into your router, you should be able to add an iptables rule to get around the DNS issue. I managed to do this with a Netgear DGND3700V2 router.
 
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