Google Chromecast: The Best $35.00 Stocking Stuffer
 |
| ...Ever |
When I received one of these, tech junkie as I am I thought "ehh, I have a Jail-broken Apple TV - I can stream anything." Not thinking, "even though.. I had to literally jailbreak it (yes that is legal) to get past the restrictions of displaying my media.
Conversely, Google (and Chromecast by extension) work on most computers and mobile devices, the Chromecast is simply an HDMI plug, USB plug for power which wireless streams and mirrors content from almost any phone, tablet, or PC right to your Television.
However, it was finding out the price that had me looking for a catch and I gave it a whole year before recommending it. For my business, I'm actually carrying these around with me now for the holidays for when I run into people who have great TVs and all the devices and either pay too much money or use a wire.
The guide below is a hodgepodge tutorial of questions which I hear from my customers, and hopefully it can help this holiday says.
Please email me at dshocklee@simpleassistme.com if you require additional info of assistance.
Merry Holidays.
Derek Shocklee
Founder
The guide below was a tutorial that i put together for a customer who needed a SimpleAssist. There's a lot more to Chromecast than you may know!
Below are some quick tips I wrote up for thing like reconnecting or for your future reference.
Conversely, Google (and Chromecast by extension) work on most computers and mobile devices, the Chromecast is simply an HDMI plug, USB plug for power which wireless streams and mirrors content from almost any phone, tablet, or PC right to your Television.
However, it was finding out the price that had me looking for a catch and I gave it a whole year before recommending it. For my business, I'm actually carrying these around with me now for the holidays for when I run into people who have great TVs and all the devices and either pay too much money or use a wire.
The guide below is a hodgepodge tutorial of questions which I hear from my customers, and hopefully it can help this holiday says.
Please email me at dshocklee@simpleassistme.com if you require additional info of assistance.
Merry Holidays.
Derek Shocklee
Founder
The guide below was a tutorial that i put together for a customer who needed a SimpleAssist. There's a lot more to Chromecast than you may know!
Chromecast Tip Guide
Below are some quick tips I wrote up for thing like reconnecting or for your future reference.
I like it
because it's solid, and I'll do everything I can to help and replace / return
if necessary.
I like the
Chromecast as opposed to other "dongles" as it
just "works".
- The Chromecast device only needs to be configured once
to connect to the network (see setup below) so it can be seen on the
WiFi network (when you take it with you somewhere, you'll run it through
the setup using the Chromecast app - see here for some neat tips and
tricks)
- If you ran setup once it was already set, it could
have connected directly to the Chromecast device directly (not through
router) and disconnected it from the network. In that case you could
simply unplug it from the TV and Power (soft reset) and try reconnecting
via setup in any Chromecast (Mobile or PC) app.
- If all else fails (although these things are built
well, so it usually doesn) is a Factory Reset which will either fix If
that doesn't work, you could connect and factor reset the device (hard
reset), but that's not usually necessary
Setup
- Chromecast PC setup: https://cast.google.com/chromecast/setup/
Mobile: Chromecast App from App Store Note: Setup
is a one time thing that connects your device initially directly to the
Chromecast one time to connect your chrome-cast to your WiFi network
Tips
- Chrome is a web-broswer on PC and Chrome for Mobile
is a web broswer for mobile devices (tablets) and smartphones
- if you want to unplug the Chromecast from HDMI and
connect to another TV in the same house, you don't need to reset up (you
only have to run setup again if it loses connection to the network
- If you want to travel with it, the best thing would
be to use your 4g mobile data router - as long as they can find it
each other wirelessly initially (direct connection) and then via a shared
network, you should be not have an issue.
- Some cool basic
tips + Casting
Ready Vs. Casting a Tab
- Once setup, the Chromecast app is not
absolutely needed on any particular device (except Chrome on PC) which you
can get by itself on the Chrome Web store (by itself =without running
setup), since many apps for these devices are Chromecast Ready on apps and
web.
- Mirroring (Duplicating Audio/Video via casting) of a
device work presently on PC and Android - iOS let's you cast from
the Chrome app so that gives much more access.
- Once the Chromecast is setup, the only requirement
is that the device is connected to the same network and to use it, you are
using either Chromecast ready apps (iOS or Android) or Chrome on that
device (this is not well known but if you can cast from the app like you
do on your PC. See here "Google
adds casting to Chrome for Mobile App"
That said,
it's good to have the Chromecast app on the devices which is why I advised to
download (so you can use it when traveling etc). Here is a link to the
Chromecast basic setup on general setup etc - http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/chromecast/
What's great
is that the Chromecast is pretty solid in that way - if it does have an
issue it will usually soft reset (power down / power up) and you can always
factory reset (clears configuration) from the that would return it to out
of box mode. These options can be initiated via the Chromecast app
on mobile/PC. (that would be step 2 if there was an issue).
Again, once
we set it up again the key is that is doesn't have to be setup again on the
other devices - they just have to have either Chromecast ready apps or Chrome
(as of this summer you can cast from Chrome Mobile on iOS and they will have
mirroring soon) That means if someone is at your house and the want to
show you a video, they can simply connect to your network - open up YouTube or Hulu and hit the chromecast button) - Chromecast works with pretty much any
device, it's just having the apps (most of the popular ones) or Chrome browser
installed (which most people do)
This is just the first of several tips about all the amazing things you can do with your holiday gadgets for home and business this year.
Follow our online presence by visiting the links at the top, or check out our all in one social portal at http://www.simpleassistme.com/#!social/cst7 about..
-Derek
Founder
SimpleAssist - www.simpleassistme.com
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