Database Develop

Use regular Android TV dongle as Chromecast

Hello, I have an Android TV dongle similar to this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A8FWITI
and, as the Chromecast uses Android, I was wondering if it would be possible to put the ROM found in the Chromecast into other devices such as these TV dongles so you could use them in the same way as the Chromecast.
Would it be possible or does the TV dongle lack any kind of hardware feature that the Chromecast has? If it was possible I would like to help develop this, but I need someone to point me to the right direction.
I hope you understood my idea :laugh:

Why would you want to do that? Is there anything that Chromecast can do that you can't make with your device?
The purpose of Chromecast is to play content that is sent via a computer, phone or tablet.
With your Android tv device you don't need any other device to send you any content. You can play it from the device itself.
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titooo7 said:
Why would you want to do that? Is there anything that Chromecast can do that you can't make with your device?
The purpose of Chromecast is to play content that is sent via a computer, phone or tablet.
With your Android tv device you don't need any other device to send you any content. You can play it from the device itself.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 4
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Click to collapse
Well, I use my android TV dongle mainly for music and I think it would be much more comfortable to just send and control the music from my phone rather than having to use a mouse or a keyboard, which is what I have now.

Maybe a DLNA app?

You might, in the future be able to adapt the apps from the Chromecast to your device, but chances are the code is hardware dependent, so you'd need to be able to analyse the code and determine that for yourself. A full-on ROM would certainly be hardware dependent.

per the chromecast API, anything can be a receiver and anything can be a controller. the chromecast receiver is not the only receiver possible. its possible for a dev to create an app that can identify itself as "castable." (this is what i heard on launchday from dudes going over the chromecast API, I cannot cite the source directly)

I would venture to say that truecrisis is correct. They announced that Google TV devices will become Chromecast receiver devices in the next update. I saw that a Google TV software engineer indicated it will be part of the OS and not a seperate app. Once the Google TVs get updated to JB with Chromecast, it would make a good blueprint to adding Chromecast to the Android Sticks.

titooo7 said:
Why would you want to do that? Is there anything that Chromecast can do that you can't make with your device?
The purpose of Chromecast is to play content that is sent via a computer, phone or tablet.
With your Android tv device you don't need any other device to send you any content. You can play it from the device itself.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 4
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Click to collapse
I have an old Iconia A500 that I mounted in my kitchen as a media center, but being that my girlfriend and myself have different music accounts and so forth, it's already usually more convenient to just play back content locally from the phones. Having the ability to register the tablet as a chromecast receiver would greatly increase the usability of the device in this use-case. It's not about what chromecast can do, it's about how it does it.

ktix007 said:
Hello, I have an Android TV dongle similar to this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A8FWITI
and, as the Chromecast uses Android, I was wondering if it would be possible to put the ROM found in the Chromecast into other devices such as these TV dongles so you could use them in the same way as the Chromecast.
Would it be possible or does the TV dongle lack any kind of hardware feature that the Chromecast has? If it was possible I would like to help develop this, but I need someone to point me to the right direction.
I hope you understood my idea :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This will be possible. See https://plus.google.com/107130354111162483072/posts/KMMwKTpNpZr

Just run XBMC on that and you can do automatic play using DLNA. I also heard of cheapcast.

wsimon said:
This will be possible. See https://plus.google.com/107130354111162483072/posts/KMMwKTpNpZr
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow! This is great news :laugh:

Try Cheapcast
Try downloading Cheapcast.
It is in the Play Store

It sounds like you want to use the Android TV dongle as a chromecast device. If so, there is already an app called Cheapcastwhich does that. There is no need for you to recreate the wheel here.

Incognitum said:
I have an old Iconia A500 that I mounted in my kitchen as a media center, but being that my girlfriend and myself have different music accounts and so forth, it's already usually more convenient to just play back content locally from the phones. Having the ability to register the tablet as a chromecast receiver would greatly increase the usability of the device in this use-case. It's not about what chromecast can do, it's about how it does it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just create a combined google music account. And you both can upload your music to it. That's what my fiance and I did. Works great. We also signed up for all access. So 2 people have access to Google's All Access Pass for 7.99

[Q] Google Chromecast GDK\SDK\hackathon question

Once the Google Chromecast SDK is released, is this rootable serial number and post 12840 bootloader being unrootable going to be an issue?

Here is what I think it will be.
Google has to watch their ass around these archaic studios, these studios want to own everything.
The SDK will be somewhat limited to protect the business interests at Google with Satan (I mean SONY/Hollywood et al)
If you think that Google is going to open it up to watch any video pirated or not, you are delusional. HDMI is basically owned by these studios and they can step in a company like Google and destroy it. Just like Google TV.
Google probably doesn't want another diabocle like Google TV and want some sort of success with televisions so they are going to listen to the developers but always listen to the wallet first.
Chromecast wasn't meant for the tinkering demographic.
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abuttino said:
The SDK will be somewhat limited to protect the business interests at Google with Satan (I mean SONY/Hollywood et al)
If you think that Google is going to open it up to watch any video pirated or not, you are delusional. HDMI is basically owned by these studios and they can step in a company like Google and destroy it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's a tinfoil hat post if I've ever seen one. We already know Plex has developers working with Google to build casting into their app. Why would Google invite them to do that, knowing that function of their app is to playback any format of locally stored media?

fudsak said:
Well that's a tinfoil hat post if I've ever seen one. We already know Plex has developers working with Google to build casting into their app. Why would Google invite them to do that, knowing that function of their app is to playback any format of locally stored media?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha, that was a great first line!! :good: Not to throw out the A word but dosent appletv and an iPhone do all the things we want chromecast to do? Stream right from the phone. Local videos? all that good stuff...

If that's true, we might see it come to chromecast. The question is, does chromecast have a powerful enough CPU to do that?
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cdrshm said:
Ha, that was a great first line!! :good: Not to throw out the A word but dosent appletv and an iPhone do all the things we want chromecast to do? Stream right from the phone. Local videos? all that good stuff...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chromecast works differently from (at least how I understand it) how AirPlay on AppleTV + iPhone work...
According to my understanding (and HowStuffWorks), AirPlay actually streams from the iPhone or other AirPlay source. The iPhone or other AirPlay source has to be on the same network, powered up and have the content, or be able to get the content.
In the Chromecast world, this is equivalent to how Chrome tab casting from a computer and AllCast/AirCast/KoushCast with rooted a Chromecast work, but those two are more exceptions than the rule.
Chromecast's native behavior, on the other hand, simply accepts a request "hand-off" and goes to retrieve the content itself.
There's a subtle but significant difference there. In the Chromecast model, once the cast request is made, the requesting device (phone, tablet) is no longer necessary for playback (of course, you can't control playback). The phone/tablet/computer can be disconnected from the network or powered off, and the Chromecast will continue to play like nothing happened.
The requesting device simply controls the playback from there. It's much like how you use your remote control to change channels on your TV. Once the TV changes to the selected channel, you see what's on and you don't need the remote unless you want to change channels or adjust the volume.
This also allows playback to controlled from a different device, at least for most applications. That's pretty cool for me, as I might start something for the family to watch, then leave for work and my wife can just take over control, just like passing the remote.
---------- Post added at 08:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:37 AM ----------
abuttino said:
If that's true, we might see it come to chromecast. The question is, does chromecast have a powerful enough CPU to do that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chromecast would just be a Plex client like any other mobile device so Chromecast's CPU would only be involved in decoding the video stream from the Plex server.
The Plex server would be responsible for and burdened with any necessary transcoding duties.

^ Exactly.

Android chrome to chromecast

Hey im new to this chromecast. I can see my chrome browser on the pc but not on android, how can I do that? Sijce here are very experienced users oj chromecast can someone describe the full working potentials this device has?
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You cant do squat with Chrome on Android yet for some odd reason.

Tab casting from Chrome uses the host CPU to re-encode the video and stream it to the Chromecast on-the-fly. Tablet and phone CPUs don't have enough processing power. That's why there's no Chromecast extension for Chrome on your portable device.

Well that sucks bc there is possibilities with this chromecast. I downloaded the allcast and obviously updated my google services. I cast a picture and it doesnt show normal, shows rotated to the left. Can you cast from the gallery vids and photos?
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The man problem is the fact that Android Chrome does not support Chrome Apps and Extensions.
Something I'm told Google is working on...

Asphyx said:
The man problem is the fact that Android Chrome does not support Chrome Apps and Extensions.
Something I'm told Google is working on...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea they better be working on it, this has been out couple months now they need to update more
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Google is working on a way to mirror your android screen to the chromecast and we know this because on kitkat roms theres an option to cast screen but isn't quite working yet. Its only been coded in but thats it.
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tooblackforjack said:
Google is working on a way to mirror your android screen to the chromecast and we know this because on kitkat roms theres an option to cast screen but isn't quite working yet. Its only been coded in but thats it.
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Click to collapse
KitKat roms have Miracast, a different protocol.
Supported by HTC and Samsung since 2012 with their private dongles.
Not new, sorry.

EarlyMon said:
KitKat roms have Miracast, a different protocol.
Supported by HTC and Samsung since 2012 with their private dongles.
Not new, sorry.
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Click to collapse
Yeah ik, i was just informing in case he didn't know sorry.
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EarlyMon said:
KitKat roms have Miracast, a different protocol.
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Click to collapse
Yes, but Google has renamed it to Cast Screen. Clearly, they will be adding support for casting to Chromecasts directly inside of Android. Otherwise, renaming it to match the Chromecast nomenclature makes no sense.

bozzykid said:
Yes, but Google has renamed it to Cast Screen. Clearly, they will be adding support for casting to Chromecasts directly inside of Android. Otherwise, renaming it to match the Chromecast nomenclature makes no sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because MiraCAST isn't confusing enough?
I'm aware that a number of blogs not familiar with Miracast are spreading that rumor. I think it's wishful thinking but we'll see, won't we?
http://www.howtogeek.com/177145/wir...ed-airplay-miracast-widi-chromecast-and-dlna/
http://readwrite.com/2013/11/07/android-kitkat-developers-users
A side note, Android 4.4 KitKat devices can now be certified by the Wi-Fi alliance as being Miracast compatible. That is a big step for Android in being able to stream content from a device to a television by supporting more streaming standards. Now only if the Chromecast supported Miracast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.androidpolice.com/tags/miracast/
So, you believe that WiFi Direct is coming to the existing Chromecast?
Or that in addition to Miracast, they'll be providing a second protocol for phones, with a server (like Koush did)? And people will be able to figure out the two casting options on their devices?
I think that it's far more likely that rather than put both protocols on a phone or into the existing Chromecast, it's more likely that DIAL support plus Miracast *might* appear in a Chromecast 2.
Miracast dongles already exist, it's February and the SDK libraries still aren't out, and in July, Chromecast will be a year old.
Apple TV costs $100 with this feature, a Belkin Miracast dongle is $80, an HTC Media Link HD is $100, the Samsung Allshare Cast Hub was a hundred, is $65 on Amazon now.
It's possible that Google is going to pump this in to the existing Chromecast for the faithful for free, but I'm just not feeling it.
Either way, so far KitKat includes Miracast, not DIAL.

EarlyMon said:
Or that in addition to Miracast, they'll be providing a second protocol for phones, with a server (like Koush did)? And people will be able to figure out the two casting options on their devices?
I think that it's far more likely that rather than put both protocols on a phone or into the existing Chromecast, it's more likely that DIAL support plus Miracast *might* appear in a Chromecast 2.
...
It's possible that Google is going to pump this in to the existing Chromecast for the faithful for free, but I'm just not feeling it.
Either way, so far KitKat includes Miracast, not DIAL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First part:
Since it's (Android) device mirroring functions appear to be in the SDK, but are limited only to OEM developers, my best-guess is that what we'll see is any Chromecast device mirroring will have to be "cooked" into a ROM rather than a loose bit (makes sense - that's how Samsung's AllShare Cast works too).
Hopefully the UX engineers win and make it so the Screen Mirroring option at least combines Google Cast and Miracast device options together, rather than having separate options for Screen Mirroring (Miracast) and Screen Mirroring (Google Cast).
Second part:
Yeah, not going to hold my breath. As I keep saying, screen mirroring is not the core competency of Chromecast.

bhiga said:
First part:
Since it's (Android) device mirroring functions appear to be in the SDK, but are limited only to OEM developers, my best-guess is that what we'll see is any Chromecast device mirroring will have to be "cooked" into a ROM rather than a loose bit (makes sense - that's how Samsung's AllShare Cast works too).
Hopefully the UX engineers win and make it so the Screen Mirroring option at least combines Google Cast and Miracast device options together, rather than having separate options for Screen Mirroring (Miracast) and Screen Mirroring (Google Cast).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both together sounds like a bit much, but it's possible.
Samsung is likely going their own way.
http://www.slashgear.com/samsung-an...ultiscreen-and-overlay-capabilities-28303309/
Second part:
Yeah, not going to hold my breath. As I keep saying, screen mirroring is not the core competency of Chromecast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree.

If you ask me any attempt to make CCast work like a Miracast would be a big waste, Even a downgrade!
No need for Direct Connection for Mirroring as Mirror over IP is far more flexible and less problematical. Not to mention requires no special software support like Miracast does. If they really wanted Miracast type direct mirroring all it would take is some additions to the rom cause hardware wise, the CCast has everything it needs
It may not be part of why the CCast was developed but I don't see Google being as smart as they are leaving that market open to Miracast dongles when they know full well the only thing inhibiting CCast from doing it (and better) is their lack of developing an App that does it for Mobile...
As for the Casting support in the SDK for OEM use I suspect that is more generic in nature and just an exposure of the display system to support Miracast, Perhaps CCast Mirroring and any other 2nd screen tech that comes down the pipe.
I think mirroring feature is a bit overrated myself, it's good for an audience but not for an operator's use.
It's easier to do than what CCast is trying to do because there is no need for a control protocol...Just a simple transcoder for Video and Audio the rest is all done on the Master Display device.
As for that Samsung option I don't expect it to take off due to proprietary concerns. It's meant for Samsung SmartTVs and I bet LG and Sony won't support it. Samsung would be better off building that capability directly into the TV itself.
DIAL is still in its infancy and I expect the protocol to expand as support and adoption of it grows...
Whatever lessons they learned from Chromecast I expect to be addressed whenever they get around to making the second gen CCast.
Wired Networking or at minimum 5Ghz Wireless support is to be expected as would a more robust Video playback Compatibility.
It's not likely that any app that adds CCast support is going to remove it in the future which means as the Apps list grows so too does the chance we have of seeing this supported without the need for a dongle at all.
TV over the Web will work the way it was supposed to and remove the biggest hurdle to achieving full IPTV to date...
The Navigation and Channel Guide no one could figure out how to do....
And who knew the Web Browser was the answer all along.

Samsung is still the largest supplier of flat screen TVs in North America, is it not?
Besides, they've never been shy about adding interfaces to support the future. I have a Samsung TV with a specialized iPod interface as proof. (And I believe that the article did say clearly that Samsung was going to build the new casting into their TVs.)
And none of the TV makers think twice about adding fragmenting features, and Samsung certainly doesn't for their mobile devices.
As for the claim that it's just about making a mobile app and declaring victory for screen casting, you might want to review the API changes that have been evolving for months.
Doing that without library support and not differentiating DRM vs non-DRM cast calls may seem simple to you but it doesn't to me.
Last published, Netflix and YouTube accounted for over 50% of North American broadband traffic.
Screen casting may be an emerging market, or it could just be a flash in the pan.

EarlyMon said:
Samsung is still the largest supplier of flat screen TVs in North America, is it not?
Besides, they've never been shy about adding interfaces to support the future. I have a Samsung TV with a specialized iPod interface as proof. (And I believe that the article did say clearly that Samsung was going to build the new casting into their TVs.)
And none of the TV makers think twice about adding fragmenting features, and Samsung certainly doesn't for their mobile devices.
As for the claim that it's just about making a mobile app and declaring victory for screen casting, you might want to review the API changes that have been evolving for months.
Doing that without library support and not differentiating DRM vs non-DRM cast calls may seem simple to you but it doesn't to me.
Last published, Netflix and YouTube accounted for over 50% of North American broadband traffic.
Screen casting may be an emerging market, or it could just be a flash in the pan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I guess Samsung is the largest supplier of Flat Screens in NA just like Apple is the biggest supplier of Smart Phones in NA...
Until you realize combine all the NOT Samsung Models into an US vs THEM and they are not the Majority by any means...Same with Apple vs Android as opposed to Apple vs Samsung itself.
As for the DRM you forget that DIAL doesn't care and leaves using or not using up to the content provider. It's there if you want it and if not you only have to support the DIscover and Launch capabilities.
Is Sony (who owns a majority of content compared to Samsung) going to cut out DIAL for Samsung's proprietary system?
Doubtful!
And since the CCast and DIAL supports ANY TV with HDMI input it has a far better chance of being adopted as a standard than Samsung's device is.

IMO most of the current desire for screencasting is really a "backup plan" for content that is currently not supported via DIAL. "___ isn't supported so I want to mirror my screen/tab."
So the mainstream correct solution would be to get the desired content providers on-board with Google Cast.
That would leave non-"canned" content for screen mirroring (games in a second screen model, general browsing, presentations, Skype, etc).
I'd love to see a native Skype for Chromecast using the microphone and controls on my tablet/phone with video on the TV but keeping it in sync might be nontrivial engineering on the Skype end.

Asphyx said:
As for the DRM you forget that DIAL doesn't care and leaves using or not using up to the content provider. It's there if you want it and if not you only have to support the DIscover and Launch capabilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can only invite you, again, to look at the actual casting API rather than rely on assumptions.
It's NOT the same as that last July and it absolutely, positively does recognize casting DRM content.
Start here -
https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/m/#!topic/apps-dev/emlKA4C-c90
And then Google for what's happened since, along with Koush's commentaries.
Is Sony (who owns a majority of content compared to Samsung) going to cut out DIAL for Samsung's proprietary system?
Doubtful!
And since the CCast and DIAL supports ANY TV with HDMI input it has a far better chance of being adopted as a standard than Samsung's device is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you even read the article to discover that Samsung is using a superset of DIAL and support by Sony, LG, and Panasonic TV sets is expected?
---------- Post added at 04:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:07 PM ----------
bhiga said:
IMO most of the current desire for screencasting is really a "backup plan" for content that is currently not supported via DIAL. "___ isn't supported so I want to mirror my screen/tab."
So the mainstream correct solution would be to get the desired content providers on-board with Google Cast.
That would leave non-"canned" content for screen mirroring (games in a second screen model, general browsing, presentations, Skype, etc).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you checked out what Vbukit is planning on supporting with Chromecast?
Pretty interesting, I think.
Not sure about getting Skype sorted out.
It seems like every time Skype updates, it's a step backwards, but that's just my off-topic opinion.

EarlyMon said:
Have you checked out what Vbukit is planning on supporting with Chromecast?
Pretty interesting, I think.
Not sure about getting Skype sorted out.
It seems like every time Skype updates, it's a step backwards, but that's just my off-topic opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, Vbukit is a little rough around the edges, but I can definitely see it being useful for presenters and educators especially.
Agree with you on Skype...
Back on-topic, there isn't a lot of technical copyright/DRM concern regarding casting anything you see on the screen - after all, if you can see it on the screen, you've seen it already. It's just that the legal types are not technical, highly likely to make crazy conclusions and assumptions, and get paid no matter what they do - so it's in their best interest to make issue of little things. I've personally seen warnings from the copyright hunters complete with ISP traces down to the router endpoint too, so they are watching and waiting to pounce.
I still hope an optimized device mirroring comes as something deeper within the Android OS itself.
Something akin to RemoteX in the Windows space, which is a "remote render" or offload of the graphic drawing functions. Anything that's not reliant upon a local bitmap could be rendered on Chromecast, rather than sent as large/inefficient bitmap data or CPU-intensive compressed data. That would make some "twitchy" games playable, especially if Chromecast has enough memory/storage to cache bitmaps that it does end up needing. Full-screen video, of course, doesn't benefit, nor does typical FPS games since the entirety of the screen is being updated with bitmaps.
For fun, I played a video on my phone and watched it on my computer (no audio) via TeamViewer. It took me back to the early 90's.
We've waited for apps and other optimized content this long, let's see what Google delivers.

Content providers have been successfully inhibiting HDMI and MHL output from their apps running on Android devices.
I believe that the casting API changes may have them in mind, but that's pure conjecture on my part.
I think it's ridiculous but so long as people check the boxes and agree to the terms of service, they're free to enforce it.

Cast movies/TV shows from iPhone?

I searched and didn't find anything, so I'm asking now
Can I cast movies/TV shows I've synced to my iPhone 6 to my Chromecast? Or should I just buy the Apple TV?

I'm sure it can be done with the correct app. Although I get the Chromecast connection with OPlayer lite (videos in mp4 as per their directions), it doesn't cast. Rocket cast (? name) won't let me access my PC or RavPower streaming device without an upgrade. It does show the two macs in the house, but I didn't try to access them. Hopefully someone who has done this will tell us which app. I have Android devices which work perfectly with all my local and web streaming, but half of the family is Apple so I'd like to know (I'm the tekky).
Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

The best way to do this is through an android device as a proxy, i.e., use AirPlay to send stuff from iOS to the android proxy, which then converts and sends to chromecast. The proxy does not display anything, just as hidden bridge.

OK. I was approaching this from DRM free videos which I'd already set up as mp4's, but I think you are talking iTunes' purchases for which Apple TV is the easy solution due to the Apple infrastructure. I think the Android proxy server idea may break you out of the Apple stronghold. I just want an app that will let me discover local then cast local (not local to the device but to the Wi-Fi environment) videos--if that's possible.
Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

For casting local videos from iOS to Chromecast, it should be very easy, I am surprised that you couldn't find an app on that.
The approach I am talking about is more of generic one, basically AirPlay to chromecast, we are developing such an app. It is AirPlay receiver , in the meantime also a proxy to chromecast

Casting (Google) Photos in 4k with the new Chromecast?

Hi everyone!
After I found out that not only Chromecast 4k but also Sony Android TVs with Chromecast-Built-In would downscale every static content to FullHD or even 720p (to let the TV upscale this again) I wonder if maybe te new Chromecast (with Google TV) can cast Fotos to UHD TVs in adequate resolution. Haven't found anything on the net as well as herein.
Any other idea to cast from mobile android devices to a TV (not limited to android) in high tesolution is welcome of course.

Finally found this in the google support forum and the answer disappointinly is NO
Google Nest Community
support.google.com
Anyone who is interested in this topic can upvote it there.
I really wonder what is the technical limitation for this in the year 2021

There is no technical reason why it can't display high resolution images. My bet is that their stupid fancy slide transitions don't work well at high resolutions. Try using something BESIDES google photos. You probably shouldn't be using that software anyway, since it steals all your data and uploads it to google -- pretty creepy if you ask me, just imagine how you'd feel if somebody YOU KNOW had software on your phone that gave them access to all your data!

Google Photos is just the most prominent example, as one might expect that google products should work together.
And I am not aware of any other cloud based app that can cast photos via Chromecast. The only solution seems to be via the Photoguru-App, but this just works with FireTV and NVidia Shield and not with chomecast.
I am using Google Photos for certain purposes only, but rest assured that I'm on my way of finding a differend solution for this, too.