Chromecast vs Google TV

Will Chromecast take the glory away from Google TV?

posted on Jul 24th 2013 by Edgar Cervantes

Screen Shot 2013-07-24 at 9.51.11 AM

Google has just announced a new HDMI dongle called Chromecast, formerly rumored as Chromekey. The nifty device can stream content from your devices to your TV. It supports Android and iOS devices, as well as most Windows, Mac and Chrome OS computers. At $35 it’s an amazing deal, but we are a bit afraid that it might hurt Google TV.

What does the Chromecast do?

In a nutshell, it works just like Google TV’s (relatively) new YouTube Android feature. Chromecast plugs into your TV via HDMI and listens to your other devices. You can stream videos from services like YouTube, Netflix and other streaming services. Streaming music and photos also in the equation.

In addition, one can mirror any Chrome tab on your computers. This is a beta feature, so it may not be perfect or completely smooth just yet, but it works. The idea is to display only the content, so it’s not screen mirroring as we know it. Chromecast will only display the content within the tab you want to see on your TV. You won’t see the whole desktop and even the URL bar is excluded from the stream.

Screen Shot 2013-07-24 at 9.52.05 AM

Chromecast’s advantages over Google TV

The Chromekey lacks much of the functionality Google TV offers, but it also has its strengths over our favorite smart TV platform. Take Chromecast’s version of screen mirroring as an example. Screen mirroring is a feature Google TV users have been begging for. It’s actually one of the main reasons why many users choose to go with Apple TV, which supports full screen mirroring.

Users can also stream from services like Pandora and Netflix. So if you don’t use many apps, the Chromecast might indeed be enough to please your digital needs. In short, think of it as a much cheaper, much smaller Nexus Q with more functionality. Also, carrying a $35 price tag will give the Chromecast a huge advantage over any other option.

Will Chromecast beat Google TV

chromecastOverall, Google TV still has much more functionality than Chromecast. Google TV runs on its own, has its own apps, plays great with live TV and does have smartphone/tablet features. What worries us is the future of Chromecast. The device only costs $35 and is all but guaranteed to be a success.

If it does become a hit (which is very likely), Google will give it more attention and features. It is a possibility that in the long run Chromecast will get all the features it lacks to completely blow Google TV out of the water. Maybe a good merge is in the plans? Or maybe this could be the beginning of Google TV’s death?

We are not sure, but you can be certain that we will keep our eyes wide open on Google. After all, do you think there is room for 2 smart TV platforms at Google?

[Via Chromespot]

About The Author
Edgar Cervantes is a Contributing Editor for GTVsource.com and has posted 167 articles. .

  • JoeTi

    I only see chromecast as a gap-fill product (just bought mine, FYI). I can’t do what my Revue GTV, eldest GTV offering, does with Chromecast. This is a Airplay/appleTV/roku competitor. My Vizio has internet aps instead of this. In reality, it should be the other way around. Mirroring should be native in my Nexus devices AND my GTV but it is not there yet. Will this kill GTV? No way. Its not nearly as robust and I have a need for the additional offering GTV provides as it is just as important as my DirecTV service at this point.

  • Alex Chapin

    I think that this is better than Google TV for the masses, especially if they are cord cutters. Better in the sense that most people already have smartphones and/or tablets, this is cheap, and it is an easy way to get to online content. I think there will still be a role for a Google TV type device, but I bet the Chromecast will be more popular.

  • mattj78

    Google mentioned that they invisage other devices get chromecast ability I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t add the functionality to GTV

  • br14nw

    You should rename this site Chromecastsource or CCsource.

  • Craig S.

    I can’t imagine them not implementing full Chrome-casting/DIAL connectivity into Google TV if only because it already features some of it in the YouTube app… My Google TV’s all show up in the YouTube Chrome-casting portion of the YouTube player in the bottom right corner… I bet it’s fully coming with firmware 4.x later this year… But yeah, even if they did implement it fully, it makes ya kinda wonder how long Google TV is going to be sticking around??? Good thing the upgrade path is cheap… Haha! Google TV’s layering over cable providers set-top boxes doesn’t seem to be the way things are going anyway… It seems like it’s getting to the point where the regular TV stream is actually going to come via TCP/IP like what Microsoft has done with Verizon and Comcast on the XBOX 360 and like Roku has done with Time Warner and Apple is going to do, so all that stuff is probably going to be Chrome-casted to these sticks if Google abandons GTV entirely…

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