[tomtom]

Hey up,

I've just got one of skys little nowTV boxes... theyre a tenner and 'allow' you to sign up for Skys nowTV service and watch films etc.. (like love film online)) for varying prices a month...

But - while you may have to sign up to get a username, you dont have to take on any of their packages. So cost can be zero per month.

AND - it also comes with an iplayer and 5player 'app' on board - so if you watch alot of iPlayer and want an easy way to hook it up to the TV (rather than plugging in the laptop etc..) then its a bargain in my view... it just hooks up to the wireless network and away you go.

For those interested further, its a re-branded 'Roku' box which normally retail for £40-50 IIRC.. so sky are subsidising them to get you hooked up to their services...

TT

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Not quite as cheap but if anyone is in the market for a new PVR, I'm really impressed with my YouView box. Richer sounds have them for £220 for the half terabyte one, £250 for the Terabyte one. It rolls up iPlayer, 4OD, itvplayer, Demand5 and FreeviewHD into one interface. On a very nice to use two week to view guide, you can set recordings for the week ahead or scroll back a week back and see what is available to stream. Also does lots of other stuff like streaming NOW movies etc (at a cost of course). Theres an iOS and Android app for setting things to record from your phone or tablet. Twin freeview HD tuners for recording multiple channels. 

[andyd]

Ahem. Google chrome cast. You guys are so June 2013.

[tomtom]

Ahem. Google chrome cast. You guys are so June 2013.

Get with the programme Andy...

chromecast £30, nowTV box £10....

(the chrome one will do more/be better but if you want a cheapy iplayer option...)

[Jim]

Looking at the chrome cast, purely to put stuff striaght from the tablet to tv. is it any good?
bearing in mind the tv has iplayer etc.. and can play stuff off the network and can pair with youtube on the tablet, will I gain anything?

[andyd]

I get the impression that smart TV technology has become obsolete now.
You'll be able to control the TV with your phone.
You can plug it into any TV.
Other stuff too I'm guessing.
Quite exciting.

[andyd]

Ahem. Google chrome cast. You guys are so June 2013.

Get with the programme Andy...

chromecast £30, nowTV box £10....

(the chrome one will do more/be better but if you want a cheapy iplayer option...)

$35! Not sterling.
Now box needs another effing power supply! I already have 7 plugs behind my TV.

I'm not going to get one until the Mac mini gives up but I'm excited about where things are going.

Phones eh?! Who'd have thought it 

[ben]

Ahem. Google chrome cast. You guys are so June 2013.

good thread as I've been considering something el cheapo to play iplayer/netflix to t'tele..

is chromecast available in the UK now and does it do iplayer?

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

is chromecast available in the UK now and does it do iplayer?

Seems no and no is the answer currently...

Google’s new smart TV dongle Chromecast is getting more love from video publishers: Blip, Hulu, Vevo and Devour all have pledged to add Chromecast functionality to their platforms. But Google may not actually be ready to add too many apps just yet.

Chromecast was announced last week with only a small line-up of native apps supporting the platform: Right now, Chromecast users can beam media from apps for Netflix, YouTube, Google Play Movies and Google Play Music to the streaming stick. A number of other publishers, including AOL and Pandora, will soon follow and, as we reported earlier this week, Vimeo, HBO and Redbox Instant were also preparing to launch on Chromecast.

No sign of it on the UK Google Play store yet, or Amazon.co.uk

That said, if as described it can stream your tablet or android phone screen to your TV, it might still be worth having.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

I already have 7 plugs behind my TV.

That's nowt, I recently had to fit a 5 port network switch cos I've now got three boxes  in the front room that require a network connection, not including the wireless Wii.

[ben]

That said, if as described it can stream your tablet or android phone screen to your TV, it might still be worth having.

well if it can stream the tablet screen, then just run iplayer fullscreen on that and share the screen ?    i'm guessing that isn't supported otherwise you wouldn't need all these folk on board with their apps

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

well if it can stream the tablet screen, then just run iplayer fullscreen on that and share the screen ?    i'm guessing that isn't supported otherwise you wouldn't need all these folk on board with their apps

Doesn't send audio and it sounds rather laggy and buggy at the moment...

This feature has a big "experimental" label slapped all over it, and it should—it's buggy, laggy and crash-prone. However, even in this rough incarnation, it's still a benefit for those odd occasions when you need to share your whole desktop with a room full of people. (Fingers crossed that it will only get better with time.)

What you need to know: There's an important difference between tab casting and screen casting: Only the former can send audio. So if you play a video and screen cast it to your TV, the sound will still play through your computer's speakers, but not your TV speakers. And the video quality can be even laggier than tab casting.

The takeaway: This feature seems most useful for looking at photo slideshows or displaying web pages. For now.