• @Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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    15211 months ago

    In place of the Chromecast, the company will offer the newly announced $99.99 Google TV Streamer,

    They’re replacing it with a very similar product. Nothing to see here.

    • LaggyKar
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      11 months ago

      A more expensive, clunkier product, with a bunch of needless fluff in it.

      • fraksken
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        2411 months ago

        For which they will be able to offer subscriptions in a year or 2.

      • @Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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        1211 months ago

        Now with AI!

        I’m not sure why they didn’t just call it the chrome cast gen whatever though.

            • @MagicShel@programming.dev
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              611 months ago

              I think overall it’ll never be able to create quality entertainment.

              But Ow! My Balls! isn’t quality entertainment. I’m sure it can create all kinds of clips of things smashing into groins for ultra low-brow entertainment. Probably today.

        • Natanael
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          211 months ago

          Or literally just reuse the Android TV name

      • @NegativeInf@lemmy.world
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        011 months ago

        You mean twice the ram (1 gig more than the shield), 4 times the storage (32 gigs), and a better remote (chirping find my remote feature, programmable button, and less shitty volume buttons)?

        Yep. Sure sounds worse considering it also supports all the same features of the chromecast 4k and AV1 decoding.

            • SkaveRat
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              5111 months ago

              until they decide that their new device needs more sales, so they depricate the protocol and you can’t use it anymore

                • @MimicJar@lemmy.world
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                  5511 months ago

                  They killed support for the first gen Chromecast and the YouTube “app” has been broken for 3+ years. They’ll just stop supporting it one day and you’ll have to buy a new one.

                • @kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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                  411 months ago

                  That’s the only reason I had to replace my previous 2 steaming devices.

                  The streaming backend got updated and the app in my device no longer supported it. And there was no updated app made available for that device.

        • LaggyKar
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          2811 months ago

          None of which changes the fact that it’s more expensive and clunkier, and none of which feels necessary.

          • @NegativeInf@lemmy.world
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            411 months ago

            Yes! I hadn’t seen that highlighted anywhere in articles really, only saw it on the damn Google Store after looking just now.

            Seems an all around solid update on the previous device.

                • @Dasnap@lemmy.world
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                  111 months ago

                  My wife is used to FLauncher and will probably get annoyed if I change the Shield’s interface (again…) but maybe I’ll try it out on the Google TV Chromecast I have for holiday trips.

                  • @damo_omad@lemmy.world
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                    111 months ago

                    I’m in the same boat, so when I changed to Projectivity I made it look pretty much the same. It’s now just so much easier to manage.

          • LaggyKar
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            411 months ago

            You can get an Ethernet adapter for the Chromecast

              • LaggyKar
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                111 months ago

                This TV Streamer costs significantly more than a CCwGTV combined with an adapter.

            • @woelkchen@lemmy.world
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              1811 months ago

              What do you mean regular Chromecast?

              Just regular Chromecast, not that Google TV stuff. That round dongle that does nothing but accept casting streams via that cast button in many Android apps.

              • @NegativeInf@lemmy.world
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                -211 months ago

                So the one from 2013? Sure. It was fine for that. This is a different thing, as not every device, service, or whatever supports casting. I wish they did, but they don’t.

                Secondarily, I don’t want to use a screen to control a screen. I prefer a physical remote that I can have muscle memory for.

                But I get why people liked the device. I did too. But fortunately or unfortunately, it’s been 10 years and technology has moved. Which is probably why they are giving this a new name being an generally good upgrade on the last Chromecast 4K.

                Christ, this one even has a built in Ethernet port and doesn’t put strain on my HDMI port by just dangling there.

                • @woelkchen@lemmy.world
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                  811 months ago

                  So the one from 2013? Sure. It was fine for that. This is a different thing, as not every device, service, or whatever supports casting. I wish they did, but they don’t.

                  Well, the story is about Google ending that line of products.

                  • @NegativeInf@lemmy.world
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                    -511 months ago

                    With a direct successor product that contains all the same features as the last Chromecast device. If you are mourning the loss of the casting only Chromecast, that died long ago production-wise.

                • @saltesc@lemmy.world
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                  11 months ago

                  Yeah, I have a smart TV and would appreciate some faster processing in there. Or if I can flash a simplified ROM, but dunno if those exist. As long as I get control over what it does, I’d take it. Can just Velcro it on the back of the TV so it’s invisible.

                  • @NegativeInf@lemmy.world
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                    -111 months ago

                    I have a smart TV as well, but refuse to connect it directly to wifi. As I tried that when I bought it and it insta-bricked itself and had to go through the hassle of returning a delivered TV.

                    A custom ROM for this device would be interesting. I know that the Chromecast 4K can do a custom ROM, but only if it was running an older os version before you flash it, as the bootloader couldn’t be unlocked after.

        • @Evilcoleslaw@lemmy.world
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          311 months ago

          It’s also twice the price of the Onn 4k Pro (Walmart house brand) that’s built on the same chip and has the same features running the stock Google TV experience.

        • @sanpo@sopuli.xyz
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          -211 months ago

          They’re supposedly using pretty much the same chipset. So the most important part is still underpowered, these Android boxes generally work fine even with 2-3GBs of RAM.

            • @sanpo@sopuli.xyz
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              1111 months ago

              It’s supposed to use S905X3 with ARM Cortex-A55.

              There’s already plenty of devices on the market with this chip, and it’s fine, but in real world as a user you won’t really see any improvement over something like a nearly 10 year old Nvidia Shield that’s still using a more powerful chipset.

              Which is sad for a new device…

              • @NegativeInf@lemmy.world
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                111 months ago

                Does Nvidia even make new mobile chipsets still? At least… Relatively cheaply? I know there’s something of an Nvidia tax.

                • @sanpo@sopuli.xyz
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                  211 months ago

                  I don’t think so. Maybe they’ll have something new for the next Nintendo Switch?

                  In fact, the Shield is using the same chip as the Switch (same for the newer revisions).

      • @Telodzrum@lemmy.world
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        311 months ago

        The low-power streaming box is dying. It’s not completely without reason, 4k playback is actually a bit demanding.

        We are in a place where the 2017 nVidia Shield is beginning to show its age and that leaves the AppleTV as the only powerful and capable consumer set top box on the market. This new option from Google will at least provide some competition and an option outside of Apple’s ecosystem.

        • @Evilcoleslaw@lemmy.world
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          211 months ago

          This $100 box from Google runs on the same SoC as the $50 streaming box from Onn (Walmart). The only major differences are the Google box as 4GB of RAM vs 3GB, a 1Gb Ethernet port instead of 100Mb (both have WiFi 6), and the Google box has a USB Type C port for power/data and would need an OTG adapter/hub while the Onn box has a Type A and a barrel plug for power.

          • @Telodzrum@lemmy.world
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            111 months ago

            TBH, the biggest issue there is the 100Mb port on the cheaper box. That is actually too low to stream a quality high-bitrate video file.

    • @woelkchen@lemmy.world
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      2011 months ago

      They’re replacing it with a very similar product. Nothing to see here.

      Like they do with messengers every couple of years.

    • katy ✨
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      711 months ago

      and before that they already replaced it with google tv with chromecast