Internet-to-TV solution : The Google Chromecast

Google unveiled a smart HDMI stick for TVs – unlike most sticks we’ve seen so far, Chromecast runs a simplified version of Chrome OS rather than Android. It integrates with Google services like YouTube, Google Play Music, Google Play Video and the Chrome app (on a phone, tablet or laptop). Long story short, it’s the Nexus Q done right.

How does Chromecast work? Say you’re viewing a YouTube video on your phone (Android or iOS) and hit the Chromecast button. The device will switch on your TV if it’s off, change the input so that the TV displays that feed and start playing.

Multiple devices (you, your friends and family) can add videos to the playback queue, searching for new YouTube videos doesn’t disturb the playback on the TV. It’s not just YouTube, the Google Play Movies and the updated Netflix app supports it too.

You can control playback from the phone – change volume with the volume rocker and skip videos straight from the lockscreen. There’s more – if you have to go out, you can hit the Chromecast button again and playback jumps back to your phone. Or you can move it to a tablet instead, it will continue from where it left off.

Chromecast also handles DJ duties – you can play music from the Google Play Music store and Pandora too (all of this is compatible with iOS devices as well).

Another thing the little stick can show on your TV is Chrome tabs – you can “project” a Chrome tab to the TV and browse photos on Google+ or even watch a video on Vimeo (this feature is still in beta). New features can be added by third party devs through the Google Cast SDK for Android, iOS and Chrome (browsers for Windows, Mac OS and Chrome OS).

Here’s a little demo video of how Chromecast works:

Chromecast is a 2″ stick that plugs into a free HDMI port on your TV and requires external power through a microUSB port. But best of all it costs only $35 (the Nexus Q was ridiculously priced, it would have never worked). It will be available later today in the US – you can snag it from the Play Store, Amazon.com and BestBuy.com. Best Buy stores will carry it from July 28. If you buy a Chromecast, Netflix will give you a free 3 month subscription. Availability in other countries coming soon.

The good: The Google Chromecast is a dirt-cheap wireless video dongle that streams Netflix and YouTube to your TV using Android or iOS tablets as remotes, with Android users also getting access to Google Music and Google TV and Movies. Its small size hides neatly behind your TV and makes it easy to take on-the-go.

The bad: The beta screen-mirroring feature won't work as well as you want it to, so you're largely limited to four apps and without support for several major ones, including Amazon Instant, HBO Go, MLB.TV, Spotify, and Rdio. The lack of a dedicated remote also means you always need a smartphone or tablet nearby.

The bottom line: Google's $35 Chromecast streaming-TV dongle is certainly cheap, but its limited initial app support and total reliance on mobile devices keep it well behind the Apple TV and Roku -- at least for now.

UHDTV a new concept worth 27Lakh !

Ultra high definition television (also known as Ultra HD television or UHDTV) includes 4K UHD (2160p) and 8K UHD (4320p), which are two digital videoformats proposed by NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories and defined and approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The Consumer Electronics Association announced on October 17, 2012, that "Ultra High-Definition", or "Ultra HD", would be used for displays that have anaspect ratio of at least 16:9 and at least one digital input capable of carrying and presenting native video at a minimum resolution .

A television priced at Rs 27 lakh? Yes. Manufacturers like Sony, Samsung and LG believe India is ready to be developed as a market for high-end ultra high definition (UHD) sets with demand for bigger screen sizes expected to grow.Recently these companies have introduced their range of UHD televisions which are priced between Rs 17 lakh and Rs 27 lakh with screen sizes of 84 inches and 85 inches, hoping that they would be able to create a niche segment and get more margins from these high-end products."Now, customer demands for even bigger screen sizes, upwards of 55 inch. For these kinds of large screen sizes, HD is actually not good enough to experience the best picture quality," Sony India General Manager, Marketing Tadato Kimura said. Therefore, it was inevitable to create a better technology to cater to this kind of demand and to complete the large screen experience (with UHD technology), he added.The manufacturers are clear that they will be catering to a select set of customers with the UHD products, which have been also launched worldwide only recently. "Ultra HD TVs are a niche segment....In our opinion, the customer of ultra HD TVs is a pioneer who understands the technology, and seeks the unique experience the product delivers," LG India Marketing Head-Home Entertainment Rishi Tandon said. Expressing similar sentiments, Samsung India Senior VP-Consumer Electronics Atul Jain said: "It is a new technology which is being introduced in the Indian and the global markets. So in many ways, we are creating the market in India at this moment." The UHD TVs have better pixel resolution quality, four times than normal HD TVs, with richer and more saturated colors in much bigger screen size, although they are priced at a premium. At present the biggest screen size that Sony and LG sell in normal HD TVs is 65 inch 3D TVs in the price range of Rs 3.60 lakh to Rs 3.75 lakh. Samsung offers up to 75 inch HD TV for Rs 7.50 lakh. While 4K television technology promises dazzling visuals — providing four times the resolution of current 1080p HD — for the near future it will remain a luxury item well beyond the reach of mainstream consumers. Sony Electronics on Monday began taking preorders of its $699 4K Ultra HD Media Player, preloaded with 10 titles from Sony Pictures Entertainment with more titles skedded to become available in the fall. Consumers who have purchased Sony’s X900A 4K Ultra HD TVs, priced at $5,000 or $25,000 depending on screen size, will receive a $200 introductory discount — but no matter how you slice it, it’s a high entry point for getting the latest and greatest tech.Top of Form

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The company announced the 4K video service at CES 2013, as part of launching its first 4K Ultra HD television models.The FMP-X1 media player is available to order at the Sony Store online and other participating online retailers. Company says the unit will arrive in customers’ homes by July 15, when it also will be available at retail.The 10 titles that will be bundled with the 4K player — which Sony says has an estimated value of $300 — are: “The Amazing Spider-Man,” “Bad Teacher,” “The Karate Kid” featuring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, “The Other Guys,” “Battle: Los Angeles,” “That’s My Boy,” “Salt,” “Total Recall 2012,” “Taxi Driver” and “The Bridge on the River Kwai.” In early fall, Sony plans to launch Video Unlimited 4K, which will provide more feature films, TV episodes and a variety of short-form video in native 4K format. Company did not disclose outside studio partners for Video Unlimited 4K. Downloads of feature film titles as 24-hour rentals or for purchase will start from $7.99 and $29.99, respectively. Sony, in an effort to make Ultra HD more affordable, introduced 55- and 65-inch 4K models priced at $5,000. But 4K’s benefits are negligible on smaller screens, and the top-of-the-line 84-inch unit costs a cool 25 grand. “Due to the shape of the human eye, viewers who are unable to purchase larger (4K Ultra HD) TVs might have to sit so close to their screens that it may be difficult to actually seen ‘enough’ of the picture, which seems to defeat the purpose of upgrading,” Bernstein Research analysts wrote in a report last week. The FMP-X1 has a hard drive capacity of 2 terabytes; video is output in 2160p (3840 by 2160 pixels). The 4.8-pound disc-shaped device measures 9.8 x 2.1 x 9.8 inches.For the content on the service, Sony is using 4K encoders from EyeIO but isn’t divulging details of the compression rate for its 4K video. However, according to Sony, the 10 movies will take up about 400 gigabytes total on the FMP-X1, or an average of 40 GB per pic.Sony said it will provide in-home premium service activation on qualifying X900A TVs free of charge, which will ensure compatibility of the TV with the 4K Ultra HD Media Player. Consumers can visit 4kactivation.com to check if their Sony 4K Ultra HD TV qualifies for this free service.Ultra-high definition TV is on track to become a mass-market proposition by 2017, according to Vassilis Seferidis, Director, European Business Development, Samsung Electronics.Speaking at the Futuresource Entertainment Summit 2013 in London, Seferidis based his prediction on the take-up of high definition since its introduction. He noted that major operators had launched HD services when penetration of HD sets had reached the order of five per cent.“Our estimation is that ultra-high definition will become mainstream by the year 2017. The question is whether operators will wait for penetration to reach this five per cent level before introducing channels. There are good indications that will start earlier as well.” He noted that a number of operators such as Sky Deutschland were already experimenting with U-HD production, describing it as “the natural next step” for resolution.“Ultra-high definition is a market that’s going to happen, basically driven by consumer demand, but also by operators and manufacturers, who want to differentiate their products,” he asserted, advising that there was an eight-year window of opportunity to grow this market to mainstream. “We expect this will happen by 2017.”