Chromecast with Google TV

Don’t forget Google already abandoned Google TV once: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Google_TV" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Google_TV</a><p>I bought it as a gift for someone once and they cancelled it and deleted the SDK.

Oh boy, let me tell you about my LG Google TV (55GA7900). It was awesome when it was brand new, I really enjoyed being able to install various apps (this is pre-roku days where it wasn&#x27;t common place). After a couple years, they moved on to Android TV - but everything still worked and they still pushed out some occasional updates. Well, a few more years went by and it became EOL. LG pushed out one final update which fixed a few things and disabled the update feature altogether (Android 4.2.2). Well guess what? The update was junk and made it where you could not scan for over-the-air channels. The scanner would just crash and no channels would be found. There was no way to go directly to a channel or manual add channels - scan only. So here I was with a smart tv that couldn&#x27;t even watch TV over the air. I&#x27;m sure LG was also to blame, not just Google, but I sure wouldn&#x27;t buy or recommend a google TV. Looks like they are now switching back to Google TV and the poor folks who were duped into getting an Android TV will be the next to experience abandonment.<p>More info on Google TV: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Google_TV" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Google_TV</a>

IMO, Apple TV has been one of the strengths of the iOS ecosystem over Android. Chromecast has a lot of good integrations, but the dongle’s lack of a standalone UI with independent controls made it awkward for communal living room use. Looks like this could be a strong competitor and the price greatly undercuts Apple. I’m excited to try it out.

Here is a link to the US store that works globally: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.google.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;product&#x2F;chromecast_google_tv" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.google.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;product&#x2F;chromecast_google_tv</a><p>The current article link (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.google.com&#x2F;product&#x2F;chromecast_google_tv" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.google.com&#x2F;product&#x2F;chromecast_google_tv</a>) just goes to Google Store homepage for me (Finland).

The Netflix offer is difficult to ignore if you already have the Netflix standard plan, it essentially makes this device cost only $12.05 ($12.99 * 6 = 77.94 - $89.99).<p>That kind of offer isn&#x27;t itself surprising, but it being available to <i>existing</i> Netflix subscribers is unusual.

Is it just me or is Google consistently awful at product marketing? They&#x27;ve already had a Google TV that they killed. They&#x27;ve also already killed Chromecast Audio. Now this thing is called &quot;Chromecast with Google TV&quot;. I think consumers are going to be confused.<p>The ability to bundle in 6 months of Netflix for $40 is so random. Why not offer a YoutubeTV bundle? Where is the product synergy?<p>It&#x27;s nice that Stadia will come later but that the fact that it&#x27;s not available at launch is a huge missed opportunity.

The integration with Google search and Nest devices looks so awesome. An easy to access platform independent watchlist is quite convenient.<p>I am surprised that they gave a button to Netflix as well on the remote. Though it does make sense considering YT and Netflix is what I use mostly on even Fire TV when not watching sports.

On a side note, anyone else get janky behavior trying to scroll on the homepage here? It feels like a janky&#x2F;simpler version of what you see for the Apple product pages.

I still have the Sony TV with built in Google TV, which is a brick now, because I can&#x27;t update it anymore and google has abandoned it. Not doing the same mistake again.

Yeah, screw this. I already have a 2018 900€ Android TV from Sony and it really frustrating to a point this whole OS just makes me angry. It is really bad.

I&#x27;ve been a long time Roku user, who didn&#x27;t like chromecast because I prefer a UI and a hardware remote.<p>The advertising suggests it organizes all services into one screen. That is promising. But I am willing to bet it only covers certain streaming services and wouldn&#x27;t cover Plex (or apps like it).<p>I&#x27;ll read reviews with interest.

This looks like the Apple TV interface for people who don&#x27;t live in the Apple device ecosystem.

Looks great, been waiting to get out of the roku world for too long.

Ridiculous that this doesn&#x27;t work with Stadia at launch.

Compared to LG webOS, which I already have, this doesn&#x27;t seem to bring any value. LG already has the headline features here: voice search and find content across apps. I can search for a title by voice and my LG TV shows me which app offers that title. I have Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Google Play, YouTube, etc. And I can cast to the TV from YouTube on my phone.<p>On top of that I really appreciate how efficient webOS seems to be. Since the apps are just HTML&#x2F;JS the updates are very unobtrusive, sometimes downloading a few kilobytes only. Not at all the horror show that is Android app updates.

It seems to have multiple streaming services (I see The Boys from Prime, stuff from Disney, stuff from Netflix, etc) is that correct? Or do you need to go into Crave&#x2F;Prime&#x2F;Netflix to see the respective shows?

Headsup, for me (Mainland europe), this instantly redirects to the general google store homepage, which is currently selling the &#x27;nest audio&#x27; product above the fold.<p>Not sure where to find the real product page.<p>Edit: Link: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.google.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;product&#x2F;chromecast_google_tv" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.google.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;product&#x2F;chromecast_google_tv</a>

Does this mean the old Chromecast and all its functionality is EOL soon? Given Google&#x27;s track record I don&#x27;t see them supporting it for much longer.<p>Chromecast is nearly perfect for me because I don&#x27;t need to clutter my TV or a device with apps I could always just use my phone apps that already were logged into everything to play videos.

I wonder if you can turn off the full screen ad? I&#x27;d rather pick my own background image.

Is Google TV rebranded Android TV?

I love my little chromecast dongle. Makes my cheapo dumb TV smart enough to play tubitv or vhscast.com from my phone and when people are over they can send stuff from youtube as long as they&#x27;re on wifi.

does somebody here know if you could install live tv providers like you could do with the usual Android based devices? i am specifically talking about this[0] app. It probably highly depends on the availability of the app store or sideloading...<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;play.google.com&#x2F;store&#x2F;apps&#x2F;details?id=se.hedekonsult.pvrlive" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;play.google.com&#x2F;store&#x2F;apps&#x2F;details?id=se.hedekonsult...</a>

I would love for them to open this up to more android apps and support bluetooth pairing. This would be a hit if you could use Steam Link or Xbox Game Streaming.

As a current YouTube TV subscriber this confuses the hell out of me. I can&#x27;t imagine what your average non-techy consumer thinks.

This is just Chromecast with a remote. I don&#x27;t need it, I can just talk to any of the microphones in the house.

Is there a way to use this without the remote? The microphone is a dealbreaker.

I just get a page with a bunch of Nest cameras.

Does it run Plex?

Fire TV is really awesome. Changed my perspective of TV.

Does Google TV provide any content itself, or is this just a wrapper around other streaming services so Google can collect better data on what you&#x27;re watching?