Google Chromecast: Well worth $35

A few days ago, Google's Sundar Pichai announced the launch of Google Chromecast, a small $35 HDMI dongle that promises to change how you view streaming content on your TV. I ordered mine the same day on Amazon and received it today. Here is my brief review.UnboxingThe Chromecast package is small measuring no larger than the size of a DVD box. It comes with the Chromecast dongle, a microUSB cable that plugs into a wall outlet to charge the dongle, and a HDMI extender. There is no instruction manual. The box carries three lines of instruction as seen in the image below.[gallery ids="1202,1203,1204,1214"]SetupI plugged in the dongle via the HDMI extender to my 2006 LG Plasma TV and changed to the appropriate TV Input Source. Initially I tried without the HDMI extender and didnt see the expected Setup display on screen. I am not sure if this is a problem with my TV or the product itself. Once I plugged in via the provided HDMI extender, things worked smoothly.I used my HTC One Android Jelly Bean phone for Setup. I downloaded the Chromecast app from the Google Play store and pretty soon, the app was able to find the Chromecast dongle on my network. I am assuming the discovery was via Bluetooth. I was asked to verify  a code on the screen and once done, the Chromecast app was able to sync with the TV. I was asked to provide my wifi password for network communication. The setup took all of 5 minutes and I was good to go.[gallery ids="1205,1206,1207,1208,1209,1210"]Supported AppsFor now, Google says Chromecast is supported on iOS, Android, PC and Mac OS for Youtube, Netflix and Google Play Movies. I tried Netflix and Youtube on my Macbook Air running OS X 10.8.4(2013), HTC One running Android Jelly Bean, Apple iPhone 4S running iOS6 and iPad 4th Gen running iOS6. On both the apps on all platforms, things were very smooth and simple. The apps have a small square icon on the top right corner that allows the user to cast the video on the TV. Once selected, you are good to go.[gallery ids="1217,1216,1215,1213,1212,1211"]There is also a Chrome browser extension for Google Cast services that I used to stream video content running on my Google Chrome browser to my TV. I tried this with different video sources like DailyMotion, Amazon Instant Video, etc. The only downside to this is that the entire tab gets cast which means that on Fullscreen video mode, the laptop/phone is unusable for other things. With Youtube streaming it is possible to have the cast running while you work on other things on the laptop. Hopefully developers will make use of the Google Cast SDK and enable it for their video streaming services.ExperienceI think the Chromecast dongle is a good investment for $35. It is cheap enough to be an impulse buy and offers a simple and clutter-free way to stream Netflix and Youtube content (49.4% of North American internet traffic) onto your TV. It is faster and simpler to setup than any set top box or streaming service hardware for now. It is not the same as Airplay and this article summarizes the difference between the two. It does some of what Roku does for $50 (or $100 for the best Roku experience) but I would argue that Chromecast is much more simplistic and easier to use.If you are a consumer of iOS based content on iOS based devices, Airplay is still your best bet. It allows you to do some of what Chromecast does along with streaming your own content (which Chromecast doesnt). If you use a lot of Roku channels for content, Roku box is the way to go. But if you are like me and stream from the internet using Netflix, Youtube or a browser based streaming service like Amazon Instant Video, the Chromecast cannot be beat for $35.