Google Chromecast - Several Weeks In

The first thing to say is that I'm an Apple TV owner. I've had it since version 1, have a tonne of iTunes content in the cloud, and am generally speaking very happy with it. I thought I'd give the Google alternative a go because before I was an "Apple guy" I was a "Google guy" and despite all the apple stuff I've got I'd happy go back to Google in a flash if they could make products that were as good (for me, I recognise that this is very subjective!) as the Apple Alternatives.

The unboxing experience is pretty good. Basically in the box is the device, a power block and a USB lead. In my case the power supply was American, but to be honest I've got plenty of powered USB ports around the TV so this wasn't a problem.

I plugged in and had the whole thing setup connecting to my wireless network in about 5 minutes. I was able to start streaming one of the Doctor Who episodes I'd purchased via the Play Movies app on my iPhone pretty immediately. Using my iPhone as a remote control seemed to work very well, and (unlike Apple's AirPlay) as rather than streaming from my iPhone to the Chromecast it makes it's own connection to the

One thing I'm hoping not to do is compare the Chromecast to the AppleTV they're very different pieces of technology. In essence all the Chromecast is is an online video player, that's enough for a lot of people but the AppleTV does more.

So I've been using it for a few weeks and here's my main comments;

• I miss having a remote. I've got young children who should go to sleep around 8, but tend to come down into the lounge around 8:30 - just in time to catch things in Walking Dead I'd prefer them not to see. The problem is that my WiFi connection on my phone has shutdown so when I pick it up to hit "pause" it has to connect to WiFi and then find the Chromecast and then work out it's playing a video so the "pause" button is enabled and then, after I've pressed it, pause the live video. This doesn't always work - in fact it rarely works. In fact I've learnt that the only way to ensure it connects properly is to shutdown the app and re-open it - hardly ideal
• Google Play is cheaper than iTunes. Mostly. Frankly it's good to have an alternative, but the one thing I did find frustrating is pricing not defaulting to High Definition (HD). It's very frustrating that when I see something at £9.99 I have to click on it to see the HD price. Even more frustrating is if it's showing £3.49 which turns out to be the rental price! There just doesn't seem to be any consistency, some items don't appear to have a price until you click on them. I find this frustrating. £1.99 for a classic album though - can't beat that!
• Virgin Media is my ISP, I have fibre broadband, the HD content is crisp and clear. However there's just the small part of me that can't get used to not knowing what HD I'm watching. Is it 1080p or 720p? I have no way of knowing. None. When I buy an iTunes download I can see it's 1080p. I saved £2 buying on Google Play but have I still got 1080p? Who knows*
• YouTube private video's don't play. This is quite odd. I can play Netflix so why not YouTube private videos? Clearly there is some kind of authentication handover for Netflix so why haven't Google done the same with YouTube?
• The "Beta" Chrome plugin for screen/ tab sharing doesn't work. Doesn't work at all. I've tried multiple chromecasts and multiple networks - no joy. Fix it
• I've had a few errors both on the iPhone and actually on the Chromecast itself. Sometimes I've had to shutdown the app and restart it, sometimes I've had to unplug the power from the Chromecast to get it working again. Consumer devices don't do this. Not the good ones anyway
• £30 is an absolute bargin

*- Yes. I know. The obvious point is that if I can't tell the difference what's the point in complaining? Fair point.

And here's what I'd like to see in Version 2;

• IR receiver. I'd like to use a remote. My existing remote works for the AppleTV and works well, I'd like to use it for Chromecast but there wouldn't be any point unless ...
• Apps on Chromecast. iPlayer, Netflix, Play, etc. I'd like these as Apps so (when combined with a remote) I don't have to play around with my iPhone/iPad to get things to play 
• I'd like to be able to prevent other people interrupting my movie by just choosing to play from their device to Chromecast (usually accidentally). This is more of an issue when I'm using the Chromecast at work where it's on the public wireless, along with the Apple TV's, than it is at home but I'd still like this recognised by Google as being a real problem

Carrying on the "improvements to play" theme;

• 1080p HD as the *default* for downloads and for pricing. If it's not in 1080p then differentiate it somehow
• Bundles. There are some really good bundles on iTunes, both movies and TV shows. Lets get some on play!
• Fix the interface. It's terrible. Terrible. Not just on one device but on all devices. Play Music on my iPhone is a mess - the person who decided that what I really wanted to do when I open it is see my music presented to me in a random order with randomly generated playlists inserted into it. I mean in what way was this a good idea?
• Seriously with the interface. Fix it.

In summary though it's a pretty good device. It has a few niggles but it's only version 1 and it's pretty cheap so it's quite easy to forgive it's imperfections. If you're an Android user should you get one? Definitely. You'd be absolutely mad not too. If you're an iPhone user then it's not quite as clear cut, but I'd still recommend it.

Using AppleTV (and Airplay) with BT Home Hub 3.0

If you're reading this post then you're probably experiencing one of the following issues;

• Your Apple TV can connect to the internet over Wi-Fi but can't see your iTunes Library (that you're sharing via Home Sharing) on a another machine on your home network
• Airplay Devices you own (such as iPod's, iPhone's, iPad's, etc) cannot see your Apple TV (despite them all being able to access the Internet via the Home Hubs Wi-Fi

You've probably tried;

• Doing a "hard reset" of the Home Hub - always a good place to start when you have an issue!
• Adding in the AppleTV ports to the list of forwarded ports (although this doesn't always work as sometimes you get a conflict)

And still no Airplay on your devices, and no iTunes library on your AppleTV.

Here is the solution (well, what worked for me anyway!);

• Go to Your Home Hub 3.0 login page (see here if you're having problems finding it) and login (if this is the first time you've logged in it will ask you to change the password from the "admin password" on your Hub Settings fob)
• Click "Settings" 
• Click "Wireless" (on the left)
• Change Security from "WPA & WPA2 (Recommended)" to "WPA2 only"
• Re-enter the Wireless Key as specified on your Hub Settings fob (you could pick another, but that just complicates the process and means everything will have to reconnect and login again)
• Scroll to the bottom and click "Apply"

And that's it, assuming everything is connecting properly and this was the only problem (and you've chosen the same Wireless Key so that everything doesn't have to reconnect - always a good idea!) then everything should, as if by magic, start working.

BT Home Hub 3.0 Wireless Security Settings

iTunes: How to Download 1080p Content By Default (If Available)

By default iTunes is set to download HD content (TV Shows and Movies) in 720p and while this is the maximum supported resolution for the AppleTV 2 the new Apple TV supports up to 1080p and, if you've paid for the HD content, you might as well see it full size!*.

Start with opening iTunes and bring up "Preferences" and select the green "Store" icon;

iTunes Store Preferences > Store Tab

In the second section at the bottom there is a drop down, showing "720p" in the image above, you can change this to "1080p" to download the maximum high-definition format (well, until maybe the iPad 4 anyway ...).

If you want to check it's working just go to a HD item in the iTunes store and take a look at the settings on the left;

Alcatraz, Season 1 Showing 1080p HD Download as Default (click to enlarge)

Of course not all HD content is currently 1080p but there are a few titles which offer free previews in 1080 like the BBC's Sherlock.

To go straight to the option screen from the TV/ Movie screen just click on the "(Downloading xxx)" indicator on the left, it's actually a link and will take you straight to the settings page to change your option.

*- Disk space permitting of course! A 22 episode series HD will take you around 3.5GB (SD 600mb, HD 720p 1.4Gb, and HD 1080p 1.6Gb) per episode. That's around 80Gb for the complete series. Looking at West Wing that's over half a terabyte for all seven seasons for 1080p!

Apple TV (2nd Generation) Buyers FAQ

Q: It says it does HD, is that 1080p?
A: No. It does 720p. There has been a lot of speculation recently about Apple launching "HD+" which would be 1080p content in the iTunes Store. At the moment (December 2011) this is just speculation and nothing has been released yet. It is unlikely that Apple TV will start doing 1080p before Apple has started selling content.

Q: Does it work right out of the box?
A: Yes - and no. You need to have a home network on which there is at least one machine which is running iTunes with home-sharing turned on, the Apple TV needs to then connect to the same network and be able to see this machine. You also need an HDMI cable.

UPDATE (Dec-11): If you have purchased either Music or TV Programmes (*not* Films) from the iTunes Store then these will be available as soon as you start-up your Apple TV and it connects to a network which has access to the internet.

Q: Can I put "x" from my iTunes library on it?
A: No. That's not how it works. The Apple TV streams media from another source (typically your iTunes library, iCloud, or one of the (few) supported internet services like YouTube, Vimeo, etc, or from AirPlay supported devices like the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch) it has a very small amount of local storage for buffering but you cannot "put" an item on that storage for viewing later.

Q: Can I use it as an external hard drive for media?
A: No, that's not how it works either - see above.

Q: Does it always have to be connected to the internet?
A: No. But it always has to be able to see it's source. As an example I took it, my wireless router, and my laptop running iTunes and my iPhone on a caravan holiday in South Wales. Despite the wireless router not having an ongoing connection to the internet the Apple TV was able to play streamed media from both the laptop and the iPhone when they were all connected to the router.

Q: Does it have to use Wi-Fi?
A: No, it has an ethernet port (and that's how I use mine). For performance reasons I find it works better with a wired connection (my wireless is provided by a Virgin Media Wireless-N box).

Q: Can I watch BBC iPlayer on it?
A: Directly No, but you could for example use Airplay to mirror iPlayer content  from either an iPad or an iPhone to it.

Q: Can I use my iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad as a remote control?
A: Yes, just install the Apple Remote application from the iTunes store and connect the device to the same network (so it can see the Apple TV) and turn on Home-sharing in the remote app.

Q: Does it play DVD's?
A: No. There is no DVD slot for a start. If you have the time and inclination you could use some software like HandBrake to convert your DVD's, add them into iTunes and then stream them to the AppleTV but the honest answer has to be "No".

Q: So would you recommend one?
A: Yes. Wholeheartedly.


So what other questions would people considering buying an Apple TV want to ask? Leave a comment and I'll try both to answer questions and to keep this FAQ up to date.

Apple TV (V1) unable to play Purchased Video (White Screen)

This blog post attempts to give a way of fixing the problem described above (which is related to account authorisation when using Multiple Apple ID's from iTunes not being correctly passed through to the Apple TV when you do a Sync).

This fix will only be of use to you if you have just factory-resert your Apple TV, performed a new Sync of your videos, you actually use multiple Apple ID's (i.e. you and your partner have separate accounts), and you are seeing the white screen instead of your video.

NOTE: This problem relates to an issue with the FIRST VERSION of the Apple TV. It does not occur on Apple TV 2.


Symptoms
When you select a video (film or TV program) that you have purchased from the Apple Store (i.e. it includes Apple DRM) the screen fills with white and at the bottom you see the "progress" bar which continues to count up but the picture remains just solid white.

There is no audio.

Cause
Your Apple TV has not been authorised to play video's for the specific user account that purchased the video.

Replicating The Problem
I've always though this this should be the most important section when describing any IT-related problem. How do you know you've fixed a problem you can't replicate? Needless to say working out exactly what caused this required quite a lot of time!

First of all you need two Appe ID's both of which have to have purchased a video (of some description) from the iTunes Store. Of course this is fairly easy to setup given the number of "free" videos and email services like GMail out there.

Let's call the accounts [1] and [2]. [1] has the free pilot episode of Stargate: Universe while [2] has the free recap of Lost.

Perform a factory reset of your Apple TV and then perform the initial setup from iTunes when it appears. Use account [1] to register your Apple TV and then sync both videos.

Attempt to play the video from [2] (Lost) on the newly refreshed Apple TV. You will see the white screen as despite iTunes allowing you to Sync the video it does not have the keys to actually play it.

Fixing the Problem
Ah yes, the important bit! Apple provide a potential solution to the problem here - IT veterans will recognize it as our perenial favourite the "turning it off and on again" answer to everything.

Assuming Apple's recommendation hasn't worked try the following:

• Go to the "Settings" and then the "General" menus
• Select "iTunes Store"
• Log in with the Apple ID that purchased the video (following the example above this would be account [2])
• Go back to the main menu and select "Downloads" and then "Check for Downloads"

Now when you try and play the video it will work (as the Apple TV has now been authorised to play videos from this account). You should be able to repeat this with as many additional accounts as necessary.