Become a master caster with these Google Chromecast tips and tricks

Chromecast has become a staple in living rooms across the country, thanks in no small part to the clever device’s rapidly growing app support. Capable of streaming Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Spotify, and literally hundreds of other services, at just $35, Chromecast is a worthwhile investment for those looking to smarten up their TV on the cheap.

In addition to its staple video and music streaming, Chromecast offers a bevy of other useful features that can easily get overlooked. From mirroring your full desktop on your TV to turning your big screen into a personal photo album, there are plenty of tips and tricks you can use to get a richer Chromecast experience. To help you master your Chromecast, we’ve put together a breakdown of our favorite lesser-known features that allow you to get the most from your streaming adventures, whether you’re new to the device or a Chromecast vet.

First things first: You’ll want to download the Google Cast extension for your Google Chrome Browser via the Chrome Web Store. This extension allows you to send content to your Chromecast from your browser, and it’s crucial when executing many of the tips and tricks listed below.

Setting up Chromecast

If you’ve already setup your Chromecast, skip to the next trick, but we wanted to help you get things rolling in case you’re new to the product and just pulling it out of the box. Here’s the essential equipment: a TV with an HDMI input, Wi-Fi accessibility, a free USB port or power outlet, and a computer, smart phone, or tablet with either Google’s Chrome browser or the Chromecast app installed. Simply plug the device in to your TV’s HDMI port, give it power, then visit the Chromecast setup page to download the necessary app, and the Chromecast will walk you through the rest.

Note: If after connecting your Chromecast to your Wi-Fi network, you still can’t “see” the Chromecast from your Chrome browser casting extension or compatible apps (such as Netflix), you may need to make some adjustments to your Wi-Fi router. Visit the aforementioned Chromecast page for troubleshooting help.

Connect Chromecast to Google Home

If you’ve already got a voice-operated Google Home device and you are looking to use your voice to search YouTube or to see the weather on your Chromecast-connected TV, you’ll be happy to learn that you can quickly connect your Chromecast to your Google Home ecosystem.

Make sure the two devices are on the same network, then open the Google Home app and find the “More settings” tab. From there, click the “TVs and Speakers” tab, where you’ll see a list of connected devices. To link the Chromecast to Google Home, just tap the plus symbol in the bottom of the screen. Once added, you’re off to the races.

Use Chromecast as an audio streaming device

Bluetooth is great for streaming audio to newer hi-fi systems and wireless speakers, but what about all those notifications? You can bypass those, and still use your phone while you jam out thanks to a slew of iOS and Android music apps with Chromecast support, including Pandora, Google Play Music, and Spotify.

If you’ve got modern A/V receiver, amplifier, or powered speakers with an optical input, using the Chromecast to stream is as simple as setting your TV audio to “external speakers,” (typically in the settings menu under sound), and connecting an optical cable from your TV’s audio output to your audio device’s optical input. Have an older amplifier with only analog inputs? Just get an optical to RCA adaptor online and plug into the RCA input of your sound system.

But you want better sound, you say? While most modern TVs will do just fine pumping out your stereo signal, you may get better sound quality by simply connecting your Chromecast directly to an HDMI input on your A/V receiver and using your phone as both the controller and the viewing window to see what’s playing.

Mirror your Android phone using Chromecast

Fans of vertical integration will appreciate that Google has brought Android and Chromecast together, allowing users with most Android devices to “mirror” content from those devices to a big screen via Chromecast. The service is available on most Android devices with Android OS 4.4.2 or higher. To start mirroring, simply connect your Android device to the same Wi-Fi network as your Chromecast, open the Google Cast app and tap the navigation drawer in the top left. Tap the “Cast Screen” button, select your Chromecast, and voila! All that is on your phone is now available for viewing in the bright lights of your HDTV. To end casting, open the navigation drawer again, tap the Cast Screen button, then select Disconnect.

Experience 3D virtual reality without the clunky headset

This tip is a bit more expensive and complicated than others on our list, as you’ll need a 3D TV, an Android phone, and Google’s freemium cardboard app to pull it off. If you find yourself in this category, keep reading. To use the feature, you’ll first want to activate SBS mode on your 3D TV, typically via your television’s settings menu. Then, download the cardboard app on your smartphone and launch it. After that, simply mirror the content of your smartphone to your television as directed above, and put on your 3D glasses packaged with your TV, allowing you to enjoy a 3D experience akin to virtual reality from the comfort of your living room.

Score free offers from popular apps

Google often goes out of its way to thank its Chromecast users with an abundance of monthly freebies. The tech giant offers deals for apps like Hulu and Google Play among others, many of which include access to free movies, extended streaming trials, and months of unlimited music. Simply visit Google’s Chromecast offer page to see a list of available offers, or if you prefer, access them through the options menu in iOS or Android.

Stream a slideshow using Google Slides

Got a slideshow you want to broadcast on the big screen? If you use Google Slides, you can stream your presentations over Chromecast. First, make sure that whatever device you are streaming from is on the same Wi-Fi network as your Chromecast. Then, click the “Present” button in the upper-right corner of your slideshow to open a drop-down menu, and select “Chromecast.”

How to stream local videos

Although Chromecast doesn’t work like an Apple TV or Roku, you can nonetheless stream videos stored on your computer or network if Chrome supports the file type on your PC or Mac. With a Chrome browser open, hit CTRL+O for PC or Command+O for Mac and locate the video you wish to play. This gives you the option to choose local videos from an installed hard drive, an external hard drive plugged in to your computer, and some network locations.

Check out the natively supported file formats here or move onto our next tip for playing additional file types.

This do-it-yourself autonomous cooler will follow you wherever you go

Why it matters to you

This self-driving DIY cooler won’t make your arms and back suffer if you want a cool drink on the beach.

OK, so having to lug your cooler down to the beach on a hot day probably does not rank up there in the top hundred problems the world faces. But, hey, we’re all for innovative uses of technology.

With that in mind, we have to applaud California-based hacker-engineers Aaron and Davis of Hacker House [who asked to have their last names withheld]. The duo leant their considerable expertise to constructing a robotic cooler — designed to trundle along automatically behind its owner, like a faithful dog which happens to contain chilled beverages.

“The cooler is controlled through an Android IoT app called Blynk,” Aaron told Digital Trends. “In the GPS streaming mode, the cooler will actively follow you. In the GPS waypoint mode, the user can send the cooler to a specific coordinate or instruct it to follow a path of coordinates. There is also servo inside the cooler that opens and closes the lid at the tap of a button. In the future, we’re interested in using computer vision and LIDAR to detect obstacles. We’ll probably have to add more computing power for that.”

Like any hacker worth his or her salt, Aaron and Davis are not hoarding the creation purely for themselves, however. They have posted instructions on the website Hackster.io, which details how similarly thirsty geeks can construct their own unit — using off-the-shelf DIY products, an Arduino, and a few other bits and pieces. The total build time is in the vicinity of 10 hours and, while it’s one for the slightly more advanced makers out there, at least you know there is a great relaxation-based reward at the end of it.

“I don’t think we’ll commercialize this one,” Aaron said when we asked if there is the chance of a possible Kickstarter or similar down the line. “We usually open source all of the code, materials, and instructions for our projects to show everyone that with the accessibility of today’s technology, you don’t need to be an engineer to create almost any device you can imagine.”

System memory sticks based on Intel’s 3D-memory tech won’t appear until 2018

Why it matters to you

Intel’s revolutionary 3D XPoint memory technology evidently won’t appear in mainstream system memory sticks for quite some time, but now we know Intel’s starting point.

Intel introduced its Optane-branded line of products in April in the form of “cache” sticks to speed up the data access process of hard drives. Offered in 16GB and 32GB capacities, these modules are based on Intel’s new 3D XPoint memory technology that combines the speed of traditional system memory (volatile) and the storage capability of a solid state drive (non-volatile). But where are the Optane-based system memory sticks Intel promised?

According to Mike Ferron-Jones, Intel’s director of datacenter platform technology marketing, Optane system memory sticks won’t appear until sometime in 2018. He said they will be big in capacity, affordable, and persistent, meaning all information stored within these memory sticks (DIMMs) won’t disappear when the host machine is turned off as seen with standard memory in PCs.

“Intel persistent memory will allow users to improve system performance dramatically by putting more data closer to the processor on nonvolatile media, and do it in an affordable manner,” he said. “This will truly be a game-changer when it comes to the way applications and systems are designed.”

The typical system memory stick only stores data while the PC is turned on. It connects to a special slot on the motherboard providing a fast, direct pathway to the processor. In turn, NAND Flash is a type of memory capable of storing data even while the PC is off, but it’s nowhere as quick as traditional memory sticks. These products connect to slower ports on the motherboard via PCI Express (also used by add-in cards) and SATA (also used by hard drives).

3D XPoint bridges the two technologies while also stacking memory cells vertically so that the resulting memory devices aren’t constrained capacity-wise by physical horizontal limitations. That’s one of the big selling points with “3D” flash-based technology, as the skyscraper-like structure provides faster data access because the information is sent to and from “floors” of storage “offices” rather that across a city-wide grid of cells.

That said, 3D XPoint promises to become the next step in the evolution of memory due to its speed, storage capability, and potential capacity. But many were seemingly disappointed that Intel launched 3D XPoint in the form of Optane-branded cache sticks to increase hard drive performance instead of full-blown solid state drives and system memory sticks.

However, Intel claims that these “cache” modules improve overall system performance by up to 28 percent, and hard drive performance access up to 14 times faster than a PC without an Optane module. Connecting to the M.2 slot (2280-S1-B-M) located on a compatible PC’s motherboard, they reside between the processor and SATA-based storage devices (hard drive, SSD, and others), and speed up performance by storing commonly used data and programs. But here’s the catch: Optane products only work with Intel’s seventh-generation processors.

Ferron-Jones indicated that Optane-branded system memory sticks won’t appear until Intel releases its “Cascade Lake” Xeon processor refresh in 2018. Intel partners began testing the memory sticks earlier this year, but when these system memory sticks will hit the mainstream retail space remains unknown.

Facebook fined for misleading officials during WhatsApp acquisition

Why it matters to you

After repeated conflicts with government officials, Facebook will have to take care to be more transparent as it continues to expand.

Facebook has received a fine of 110 million euros, or $122 million, from a European antitrust regulatory body for misleading officials during the company’s acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014.

The penalty concerns the linking of Facebook and WhatsApp accounts. When filing for the acquisition, Facebook stated to members of the European Commission, the group responsible for maintaining fair competitive practices in the region, that it would not be possible to automatically match user profiles on the two platforms.

According to the Commission’s statement, the technical possibility did exist back in 2014, and Facebook was aware of it. Two years later, the social media giant enabled the feature.

The Commission said it could and would have fined Facebook more, but the company has cooperated with the investigation thoroughly and admitted fault. The penalty has no bearing on the merger.

By cooperating with the European Commission, Facebook saved itself from being fined roughly another 140 million euros, which would have represented one percent of its revenue.

“Today’s decision sends a clear signal to companies that they must comply with all aspects of EU merger rules, including the obligation to provide correct information, and it imposes a proportionate and deterrent fine on Facebook.” said Margrethe Vestager, a member of the commission responsible for competition policy. “The Commission must be able to take decisions about mergers’ effects on competition in full knowledge of accurate facts.”

This news follows Facebook coming under scrutiny earlier in the week from Dutch and French officials for not being transparent about its collection of data, as well as how that data is used and provided to advertisers.

France’s privacy commission handed Facebook a small fine amounting to 150,000 euros, or $167,000, after the company was found to have collected “a massive compilation of personal data” for targeted advertising without users’ knowledge. The Netherlands’ Data Protection Authority is weighing a penalty as well, but has noted the company has so far cooperated with orders to end specific data collection practices.

The city of Zurich is reconstructed in 3D using only image and video data

Why it matters to you

Dynamic 3D modeling like this could help urban planners design smarter and more livable cities.

The city of Zurich, Switzerland has been reconstructed in 3D using millions of images and videos. Developed by researchers at ETH Zurich, the Varcity platform pulls from huge volumes of image data and uses algorithms to automatically stitch it all together.

There are millions of images of every major city in the world, many of which are shared openly online. The ETH Zurich team realized they could collect this image data — from standard photos captured by tourists to videos streamed through public webcams and use triangulation to replicate regions in detail.

“We combined all sources to provide a complete view of a city,” Hayko Riemenschneider, Varcity project manager, told Digital Trends. “The more data we have of an area, the more precise our models get.”

The team used machine-learning algorithms — developed over five years as a European Research Council project — that semi-automatically analyze the images and created a rough sketch of the city. “There is no manual 3D artist modeling work involved at all,” Riemenschneider said. “This makes the solution scalable to the whole city.”

They then augment the models with on-the-ground knowledge of the area in question. “Having knowledge — again, automatically deduced — about what part of a 3D model is a building, what part is a floor, and what part is a window or a balcony, allows to compress the data, or to abstract the data in a cartoon-like yet still 3D version,” Riemenschneider said. The idea behind abstraction is to help conceal faces and objects to maintain privacy. “Hence, even if data get lost in the wild, privacy is preserved,” he said.

The Zurich model is meant to demonstrate the algorithms that support Varcity. The researchers think their platform can help design smarter and more livable cities.

“There are a number of applications such as urban city planning, architectural design, traffic modeling, autonomous navigation and tourist guidance, as well as catastrophe response planning,” Riemenschneider said.

To showcase their model, the researchers have created a short video, which they will showcase in a Zurich cinema on Frida.

Android Pay coming to Canada, Spain, Brazil and others, debuts peer-to-peer payments

Android Pay is expanding to new markets, and expanding its U.S. capabilities.

Even though Android Pay is available in 10 markets right now, it’s been a relatively slow, plodding expansion for Google’s mobile payment platform. At Google I/O 2017, the company announced that it is expanding to a further five markets in the coming months, launching in Canada, Brazil, Russia, Spain and Taiwan. There have been numerous hints that Android Pay was imminently launching in Canada and Russia, so it’s nice to finally see the plan put on paper.

At the same Google I/O session, Google also detailed some interesting new ways that people will be able to make payments, both to vendors and retailers, and to one another through its first peer-to-peer operation.

• There’s the Google Payment API, which saves verified credit and debit cards to a Google account and allows users to quickly make payments in-app or on the mobile web. This is different to Android Pay because it’s not platform-specific — you can likely use it on iOS in addition to Android — and is not tied into Android Pay, so it can be used in all countries Google operates.
• There’s peer-to-peer payments using Google Assistant. You’ll be able to say things like “Ok Google, send $10 to Jane for pizza,” and a connected debit card will send the payment through. Pretty easy.
• A Card Linked Offers API will allow customers to see targeted offers based on location. Panera Bread is the first company on board with the enterprise, and users will see marketing offers when in store, often tied to a loyalty program like MyPanera. Pretty neat.
• Finally, Google is making it easier for loyalty cards to be added to its various marketing partners. If a customer is making a payment at a particular store that has hooked its loyalty program into Android Pay, users will get a notification asking whether they want to add their card and, once added, will begin collecting points with every transaction.

While personally I’m most excited about Android Pay coming to Canada, there are a lot of small improvements to the way users can send payments and use their loyalty that should make the experience better for everyone. That’s not to say all markets will get the above features — it’s likely the loyalty and peer-to-peer options will remain U.S.-only for a while yet — but it’s a good foundation.

What are you most excited about for Android Pay? Let us know in the comments!

How to make a custom icon for Android

Theming icons with a pack is pretty awesome. But they can’t do everything.

Icon packs have holes. Icon packs sometimes miss. And when you’re theming your phone, maybe what you need isn’t in an icon pack at all. That’s OK. We don’t need no stinkin’ icon packs. We can edit together our own custom icons! It’s easy. All you need is some kind of photo editor — be it the latest Photoshop or free cloud-based editors like Pixlr — and a little creativity.

Finding your image

Most customization-oriented launchers like Nova Launcher let you set any image you want as an app icon. With that kind of freedom, it can be a bit daunting finding inspiration for your icons. While most custom icons are theme-driven, here are some more ideas for custom icons or where to pull them:

• Game elements: Inventory items in a lot of games, like these Dark Souls items, are easy to set as icons because most are designed to fit into a square and transparent PNG images of the items are easily found on fan sites and game wikis.
• Emoji: Emoji are already square images that are mobile friendly and can be seen as an otherworldy code by a large portion of the population. Using emoji as custom icons means you can disguise apps by how they make you feel, what they remind you of, or one of the hundreds of symbols that you feel represent the app in your eyes.
• Music: If you want to show off your intense love of your favorite group or band, make their already-square album covers into custom icons. ABBA’s SOS for the dialer? Metallica for Chrome? Can You Feel The Love Tonight for Tindr? Wait, that one could be a problem…
• Logos: Sports teams, name brands, heck even a lot of movies and bands have their logos online in transparent PNG images, ready to be set as a custom icon. If you’re a sports fan, your team’s logo is the easiest app drawer icon in the theming world, and in most cases it won’t need any editing at all.

If the image you found was a transparent, square image, congratulations! You can apply it as-is. If it isn’t, there’s a few edits you may need to make:

• If your image doesn’t have a transparent background, you need to delete the background that is there and re-save the image as an image type that supports transparency, such as PNG.
• If your image is a rectangle rather than a square, you will only be able to set the center square as your icon, as Android icons must be square. Most image editors will add extra blank space around your icon by increasing the Canvas Size until the height and width numbers match. Also make sure your icon is centered within the square so you’re not doing a lot of repositioning while setting the icon in the launcher.
• Image sizes aren’t quite as important to custom icons as they are to wallpapers, but there are a few things to remember. If an image is too small, the app icon will be blurry on your home screen. If an image is too big, its fine details could get lost in the small shortcut it displays in. I tend to aim for 500-pixel square, transparent PNG images.

Applying a custom icon

The method for applying a custom icon can vary a little depending on the launcher you use. Here are the processes for applying a custom icon on the most popular launchers, and how to apply a custom icon even if your launcher doesn’t support custom icons itself.

Nova Launcher

Long-press the shortcut you wish to change.
Tap Edit.

Tap the icon box to edit the icon.

Tap Gallery apps.
Tap Documents.

Navigate to and select your custom icon.

Make sure your icon is centered and completely within the bounding box before tapping Done.
Tap Done to commit the changes.

Enjoy your new icon

Action Launcher

Long-press and hold the app shortcut you’d like to edit.
Drag the icon up to Edit.

Swipe up the menu to reveal the list of sources for your icon.

Tap My photos.
Navigate to and select your custom icon.

Return to the home screen to enjoy your new icon.

Awesome Icons

Have a launcher that doesn’t support custom icons but want one anyway? Not a problem! Just use Awesome Icons to create a home screen shortcut with a custom icon.

Open Awesome Icons.
Tap Create shortcut.

Tap the app icon under Launch.

Tap your desired app.
Tap the app icon under Icon.

Tap Picture.

Navigate to and select your custom icon.
Make sure your icon is centered and completely within the bounding box before tapping Crop.

Tap OK to create your new custom shortcut.

The only limits for custom icons are your own tastes and your imagination! What custom icons have you used in a theme? Got a great idea for some custom icons but don’t quite know how you could pull it off? Leave your ideas in the comments below!

Daydream works in the Android O Beta, so be careful

The Android O Beta isn’t going to kill your Daydream sessions.

Good news, developers and bleeding edge enthusiasts! If you’re planning to enroll your Google Pixel to the Beta Program for Android O, the Daydream app and its connected experiences are still available to you. There have been similar previews in the past that disabled access to VR services out of concern for performance issues, but clearly Google feels confident Daydream performance hasn’t been negatively impacted which is great.

That having been said, be careful. Betas are often very unfinished, and there are a lot of things that could negatively impact Daydream as you explore this new version of Android.

Read more at VR Heads!

LG ‘V30’ will support Google’s Daydream VR: One big, important clue

For starters, LG’s next flagship will probably use an OLED screen.

At the Google I/O 2017 keynote presentation, Google let slip (well, it was surely intentional) an important clue about an unannounced Android phone. In addition to confirming that the Galaxy S8 and S8+ will get Daydream support via a software update later this year, Google’s Clay Bavor told attendees that LG’s next flagship phone would also be Daydream ready.

Since we’ve already seen the flagship LG G6 this year, that sure sounds a lot like the LG V20’s successor.

What’s interesting about this proclamation about Daydream support is that the spec currently requires an AMOLED display, because LCDs have so far lacked the super-low latency required for a smooth, comfortable VR experience. This would be a first for LG, which has in the past relied exclusively on IPS LCD panels in its top-end devices. So either there’s been some breakthrough in LCD panel latency we don’t yet know about, or (more likely) the LG V30 will go with OLED, which has a proven track record in both VR headsets and VR-enabled phones.

AMOLED has a proven track record in both VR headsets and VR-enabled phones.

LG has invested billions in OLED production over the past year, and has previously dabbled in using flexible OLED with the G Flex series. LG Display division has also been rumored to be supplying panels for both the next-gen iPhone and Google’s upcoming Pixel 2 phones. The time might be right, then, for LG’s mobile division to consider OLED for its next big-screened handset — a phone which would likely go up against Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8.

As for other LG V30 features, all we have to go on at this point is (somewhat) informed speculation. A large screen size is a good bet, as is a G6-like 18:9 aspect ratio. It’s also likely LG would launch its own Daydream headset with the V30, whichever display technology it ends up using, rather than send potential sales to Google or some other headset maker. We’d also bet on a Snapdragon 835 and a significant RAM upgrade, giving the V30 an edge on the G6, and bringing LG’s top-end handset in line with Samsung, HTC, OnePlus and others.

Whatever form the V30 takes when it eventually materializes, Google’s announcement offers a rare early clue as to what’s coming. Stay tuned in the months ahead for more V30 info as it lands.

Verizon will be the first U.S. carrier to sell a Tango phone

Verizon will sell the ASUS ZenFone AR later this summer, and that’s a great thing for AR.

Later this summer, Verizon will be the first U.S. carrier to sell a Tango-enabled device, which also happens to be the second ever phone to support Google’s nascent augmented reality platform.

During a VR keynote at Google I/O, Johnny Lee, program lead for Tango, confirmed that the ASUS ZenFone AR will be coming to Verizon later in the summer, and will likely be sold alongside an unlocked model for other users who want to pay full price for the AR experience.

The ZenFone AR is much smaller than the first Tango phone, Lenovo’s Phab 2 Pro, that debuted last summer. In his hands-on, Russell Holly said that the phone is nicely-designed and well built, and will work really well with Tango when it’s available at launch.

The things that are most interesting about this phone, as the name suggests, are on the inside. This is the first phone with a Snapdragon 821 processor that has been optimized to handle Google Tango, complete with a camera array that differs wildly from Google’s first Tango partner, Lenovo. As the first phone that can handle both Daydream and Tango, there’s a lot of testing to be done to see how well all of this comes together.

That testing is coming to a close as we near the phone’s launch, and while we don’t know how much it will cost, it’s likely to be a little more expensive than the $499 list price of the underpowered and oversized Phab 2 Pro. And given that the ZenFone AR will also be Daydream-compatible, it will be far more of a consumer-focused phone than its spiritual predecessor.