2022 Google Chromecast HD Benchmark Scores — Compared to Chromecast 4K, Firesticks, Fire TV Cube, Nvidia Shield TV, Onn, MECOOL, Tivo, and more

Posted by Elias Saba on — 11 Comments

Google released its 2022 Chromecast with Google TV HD this morning and I picked one up to see how it stacks up against all the popular Google TV, Android TV, and Fire TV streaming sticks and boxes from Amazon, Walmart, Nvidia, Tivo, MECOOL, and more. First and foremost, here are Geekbench CPU and GFXBench GPU benchmark scores to see how much raw performance power the new Chromecast HD has compared to its big brother, the Chromecast 4K, and all the other streaming devices I could get my hands on. Read more ›

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Google releases Chromecast HD as its 1080p streaming device for $29.99

Posted by Elias Saba on

As expected from numerous leaks, Google has released a non-4K version of its Chromecast streaming device. The Chromecast with Google TV HD, as it is officially called, provides what you’d expect from a budget streaming device with few surprises. At $29.99, the cheaper Chromecast competes directly with the Fire TV Stick Lite and Roku Express which cost the same. However, the Chromecast HD comes with the same remote as the 2020 Chromecast 4K, so you get TV power and volume controls on the remote, which the Fire TV and Roku do not offer at this price point. Read more ›

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Android/Google TV News Rundown: 16GB storage minimums, Nest/Fitbit Integration, Tivo TVs, & Software Updates

Posted by Elias Saba on — 8 Comments

Over the last few weeks, there have been several newsworthy bits of information about Android TV and Google TV devices. Here’s a roundup of that news, which includes insight into new internal storage minimums, Nest, Fitbit, and Wear OS hardware integration, Tivo’s more into Smart TVs, and various software updates. Read more ›

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Here’s how Android TV 13’s new expanded Picture-in-Picture features work

Posted by Elias Saba on

Earlier this year, Google indicated that Android TV 13, the upcoming version of its TV operating system, would include expanded Picture-in-Picture (PiP) capabilities as one of its main user-facing changes this year. Google expects the new feature to be used by video conferencing apps and security camera feeds. At Google’s annual Google I/O developer conference this week, the new features were demoed for the first time. Read more ›

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Google Nest Cameras and Doorbells finally work with Fire TVs, Echo Shows, and Fire Tablets through Alexa

Posted by Elias Saba on

Google has announced an update to its Google Nest Alexa Skill that finally adds compatibility with Nest cameras and doorbells. With this update, you can now view live feeds of newer Nest cameras, from 2021, on Fire TVs, Echo Shows, and Fire Tablets by simply saying “Alexa, show my [CAMERA NAME].” For Nest doorbells, you can also now have a two-way conversation from a Fire TV, Echo Show, or Fire Tablet by saying “Alexa, talk to the front door.” Not available yet but coming soon is the ability for Alexa to support announcements when a Nest camera or Nest doorbell detects a person.

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Google said Android TV 12 will begin rolling out ‘early’ this year but then changed it to ‘later’ this year

Posted by Elias Saba on — 2 Comments

Google has posted to its Android developer blog an outline of some of the new features found in Android TV 12 that it wants developers to be aware of. The features explained are ones we’ve already known about and include Frame Rate Matching, Text Scaling, and 4K Interfaces. At the end of the article, Google mentions that Android TV 12 is available as a developer preview for its ADT-3 developer kit and, more importantly, says that Android TV 12 will “begin appearing on TVs later this year.” When the blog post was first published, it said that Android TV 12 would “begin appearing on TVs early this year,” so, the fact that Google felt the need to change the wording of the post is an indication that it’ll still be a while before the next version of Android TV is available on consumer devices.

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Next Google Chromecast will reportedly be a cheaper 1080p device

Posted by Elias Saba on — 7 Comments

Rumors of a new Chromecast streaming device from Google have begun to surface. 9to5Google reported last weak that the next Chromecast is currently in development and is codenamed Boreal, but didn’t provide any further information. Now Janko Roettgers from Protocol, who has a good track record for insider information, has been told by a source that the new Boreal Chromecast device will be cheaper than the $50 Chromecast released in 2020 because it will only support 1080p video and not 4K. Read more ›

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Android TV News Roundup: Chromecast & Walmart Onn get updates, Shield TV may get Android 11, TCL pulls its Google TVs from shelves, and more

Posted by Elias Saba on — 7 Comments

In the past week, there have been a few noteworthy pieces of news regarding Android TV and Google TV devices. Google’s Chromecast with Google TV and Walmart’s Onn 4K Streaming Box have both received minor software updates. Nvidia’s Shield TV has dropped a hint that it may be getting updated to Android 11 in the future. TCL and Best Buy have pulled TCL 6-Series TVs running Google TV off of shelves due to performance issues. Read on for more details about all of these things and more. Read more ›

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Google and Roku reach agreement to keep YouTube and YouTube TV available on Roku devices

Posted by Elias Saba on — 8 Comments

A day before Google was scheduled to remove YouTube from the Roku appstore, Google and Roku have reached an agreement that will keep YouTube accessible on Roku devices and will return the YouTube TV app to Roku’s channel store. The deal is said to be a multi-year agreement between the two companies, but nothing else has been said about the specifics of the arrangement. Read more ›

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Google to remove YouTube from new Roku devices on December 9th

Posted by Elias Saba on — 15 Comments

History repeats itself, only this time it’s not Google leveraging the popularity of YouTube against Amazon and Fire TVs, but against Roku and new Roku devices. Google has stated that it will be removing the YouTube app from the Roku channel store on December 9th, which will prevent new and factory reset Roku devices from accessing the video service, according to Variety. This is a result of negotiations between Google and Roku regarding app distribution terms going nowhere for the past 6 months, which has already resulted in the removal of YouTube TV from the Roku channel store. Read more ›

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