New Chromecasts out + SlingTV support in the next few weeks

[PedroDaGr8]

Some big news out of google today, especially for sports fans. For those of us that have cut the cable, there is some great news on the chromecast front. First, new chromecasts came out today available now. The new chromecast adds 802.11ac and 5Ghz 802.11N support for higher speed transfers (should help/fix the issue of stutering when streaming a tab on your TV), more memory for deeper buffering of videos, faster processor, the ability to play games etc. all for the same $35 price.

Additionally, they announced that SlingTV support will be available for the chromecast in the next few weeks. SlingTV is the service that gives you most of the major channels (ESPN, ESPN2, Food Network, etc.) for $20 over your internet connection. For those of us who cut the cable, this is a great way to get some of the major channels you used to watch for a reasonable price. Oh yeah, they also have a $5 sports add-on pack that adds ESPNU, ESPNNews, SEC Network plus some others. Additionally, you can cancel and start up again at anytime. So for example, if you don't watch TV during the summer months, cancel and startup again in the fall.

[Darrell KSR]

Man... this is very interesting.

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[dan_bgblue]

Help a guy out. What is the upside of this over Dish + the Hopper?

[PedroDaGr8]

Help a guy out. What is the upside of this over Dish + the Hopper?

They are very different things with different targeted markets.

Chromecast is a device that adds SmartTV like capabilities to any television. Truthfully, it does the Smart TV functions better than most Smart TVs. It makes streaming YouTube Videos, EspnNow, Netflix, etc. incredibly easy, from your laptop, iphone/ipad or android device. You can even stream tabs from Chrome on the television, this is useful when you want to let others see what is on the page (or it used to be the only way to get certain types of video on the chromecast). The recent version adds a whole bunch of upgrades to the old one.

As for SlingTV, one of the biggest issues with cutting the chord (getting rid of cable or satellite) is how to get your sports fix or the few limited channels that you actually watched and care about. With sling TV for $20 you get a whole bunch of streaming channels in full HD over your internet connection, channels like ESPN, Food Network, CNN, etc. This is dramatically cheaper than most peoples cable bills, so for many people it is an incredible deal. They pay for internet, pay $20 (or $5 more if you want the rest of the sports channels) and get the TV they REALLY wanted to watch and that is it. The downside until recently was that SlingTV was typically only on your PC or mobile device (or Amazon Fire/Roku). It was not easy to get it on your television and basically impossible if you only had a chromecast. Google announced today during the chromecast announcement that SlingTV was finally coming to the chromecast in the next couple weeks. I am unsure on if you can watch SlingTV on more than one TV at the same time, so it might not replace households with lots of TVs, but for people like me it is an ideal fit.

[SalsaKat]

Ooh, I've been wanting to switch to Sling but the requirement to get new hardware to get it on the TV has been the limiting factor for me. Will it work with my existing Chromecast or will I have to get the new one to support Sling?

[PedroDaGr8]

Ooh, I've been wanting to switch to Sling but the requirement to get new hardware to get it on the TV has been the limiting factor for me. Will it work with my existing Chromecast or will I have to get the new one to support Sling?

From all indications, it will work with the existing Chromecast. I haven't read a single time indicating it is available on the new chromecast only.