As you regular readers know, I like Google. Google is not perfect but they have many great apps. In the past I have been disappointed in their corporate decisions to do away with some of their more desirable apps. For instance iGoogle homepage, Calendar Sync and Google Reader to name a few.
I learned something else disappointing this week.
Over the past year or so I have become a fan of Google’s Chrome browser. Before any of you run out and switch to Chrome from Firefox, (my old favorite) remember the most important thing when deciding on a browser is, "How do you like it?" You do not have to change but you could always try various browsers from time-to-time and find out what you may like. It is easy to change back at any time.
I use a Google tablet, the Nexus 7 2013 I also use the Chrome browser as my default browser on the Nexus. In recent months I have purchased Google’s Chromecast which basically allows you to turn your almost Smart TV into a full fledge Smart TV for $35. As I originally wrote this past January, it is an excellent device at an excellent price.
Basically, if you are using the Chrome browser on your computer you can play a video in your browser, or music or slideshow which you already know. If you have a Chromecast device hooked up to your TV you can "send" that media to your TV to enjoy it on a full screen and hear it through better speakers. This makes it a much more pleasurable experience than watching or listening on a smaller screen.
When you have something playing, or getting ready to play, in your computer’s browser you click the Chromecast button and it automatically appears on your TV. It is a very easy to use and it shows quite a good picture and sound.
So I have three Google products running, their tablet, their browser and their Chromecast. They are all in excellent working order. This week my wife and I missed one of our favorite TV shows, "Castle." If you go to ABC.com you can view their shows shortly after they air on the site. This is true for most of the networks.
I started up my tablet, went to ABC.com, got "Castle" running and guess what? No Chromecast button so I could not send this show to the TV. Please note: I could, once I hooked up my notebook computer, but that was not my intention.
I Googled for what I was doing wrong and there was not a tremendous amount of information about it online. So I called Google support and guess what? Even though I am running all Google products in working order they do not yet have a way to "Cast a Tab" with an Android tablet or phone. I asked if it was being worked on and they "thought so" but there is no expected completion date.
What are they thinking? But who am I? What are your thoughts?
