The Chrome Cast

This week on The Chrome Cast, we’re all over the place. From a slew of new features coming in Chrome OS 82 (there are many) to the extension of the Google Chromebook Auto Update Policy possibly on the way for many more devices to a possible Chromecast Ultra with controller support, there was a ton to talk about this week.

With everyone’s anxiety on the rise, we chose to focus on the future and new developments as a change to the news narrative we all seem to find ourselves in presently. It’s been an odd week for everyone, so we hope this week’s episode can be a bit of a detachment as we dream about future things together.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on The Chrome Cast we discuss the state of Android Apps on Chrome OS and what ARCVM means for the future of the platform. Before we dig into that, we cover Google's cancellation of the annual I/O conference and the effect that the Coronavirus is having on the tech industry in general.

After the break, we go into some great detail on a new Google Assistant feature that could drastically change the way we consume web content. The quietly announced update gives users the ability to have the Assistant read web pages from their mobile devices. We wrap up by discussing the imminent release of the highly-anticipated Pixel Buds and how upset Robby will be if they have lag issues. We hope you enjoy this week's episode and don't forget, you can still enter to win a Pixel 4 bundle or an ASUS Chromebook Flip C434 in our Run to 100K giveaway.

Notable Links

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on The Chrome Cast, we’re exploring a couple seemingly-unconnected ideas that actually tie into one another quite well. First up is the heightened interest in Linux apps on Chrome OS. While we’ve been tracking along with the development of Crostini since before it was actually a thing, it’s been a while since we’ve really dug into what Chromebooks are capable of with Linux. As part of that renewed effort, we’ve launched Command Line, where we are focusing more on what users can do and get done with Linux apps on their Chromebook.

In the second part of the show, we get into the upcoming tablet renaissance that looks to be on the horizon for Chrome OS. Sure, there have been attempts at Chrome OS tablets and detachables before, but they never quite worked out. What Lenovo (and likely many others after them) is offering up in the IdeaPad Duet Chromebook could fundamentally change the conversation around productive tablets when paired up with all the tweaks Google is making to the OS in terms of tablet-focused features.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on The Chrome Cast, we’re discussing all the latest devices that have shown up in various places around the internet, including the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook, the ASUS Chromebook Flip C436, and the Pixel Buds. We have a release date for the Galaxy Chromebook, updated release info for the ASUS Flip C436, info about a pen attachment, and the appearance of the Pixel Buds over at B&H Photo to talk about this week.

The second half of the show, we talk about ‘Bubs’ and why this baseboard being tested with a phone screen is odd, intriguing, and gives us a reason to dream again about the idea of a Chrome OS phone. Finally, we talk a bit about our upcoming giveaway that will be launching in the coming days!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on The Chromecast, we talk quite a bit about why we feel like Chromebooks are great tools for tons of people. From their ability to leverage cloud services with aplomb to their rock-solid security, its easy to become a fan of Chrome OS once you understand its limits and learn to really leverage its benefits.

We also spend a bit of time talking about Stadia’s recent fumbles and where the game streaming industry could be headed as Microsoft’s xCloud eventually exits all its beta trials. Though Stadia is a beautiful platform, the lacking game library and player base are starting to hurt in light of the recent launch of NVIDIA GeForce NOW.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on The Chrome Cast, our sights are set on NVIDIA’s suprisingly-good game streaming service – GeForce NOW – that came out of beta status and took the tech world by storm. In the Face of Stadia’s current doldrums of waning player engagement and lacking new game announcements, it seems that NVIDIA has launched at just the right time. With apps for Android, Windows, and MacOS, GeForce NOW is widely accessible and quite good at doing what matters the most: delivering cloud-based gaming without lag.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on The Chrome Cast, we spend the vast majority of the episode talking more in depth about Google’s possible collaborative messaging platform we’re now all expecting to see for G Suite customers. Less of a new platform and more of a melding of existing things, this new collaborative tool could be Google’s real Slack competitor and may just be what Google Wave wanted to be so many years ago.

We also spend a bit of time towards the end of the podcast discussing Dieter Bohn’s latest video about the Surface Pro X and his success using it as a web-centric tool. Though it runs Windows and he was leveraging Microsoft’s latest version of Edge (running on the Chromium engine), the parallels to a cloud-centric OS like Chrome OS are quite clear. Chromebooks aren’t a new version of old ways of thinking. They are a new computing paradigm altogether.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on The Chrome Cast, we spend quite a bit talking through some of the potential impact the new 2020 Chromebook lineup will have on the ecosystem. Apart from the beautiful and powerful and rugged devices we’ve already had hands-on time with, the entire group of new Chromebooks released in this calendar year will be the first devices to ship with Google’s new expanded AUE (auto update expiration) policies in place. They will all get updates through June 2028, and that makes a big difference in the way these Chromebooks can be marketed to consumers, enterprise customers, and schools alike.

We also spend some time talking about the crazy journey the ASUS Chromebook Flip C436 has taken over the past week. From showing up on Google’s Chromebook page with a price attached to actually going up for pre-order with two distinct models and a February 24th release date to completely disappearing from Amazon altogether, it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster keeping up with the new ASUS flagship.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As always, it was a packed week on The Chrome Cast this week. Coming off a crazy, busy, and exciting time in Las Vegas last week for CES 2020, we’re still buzzing about all the new Chromebooks we saw. While you’ll need to listen to last week’s podcast to get all the info on those devices, we spend quite a bit of time this week talking more about the overall impact of these next-gen Chromebooks.

The second half of the show is focused a bit more on gaming, specifically covering all the new stuff coming from the Stadia camp and the breaking news that Google is actively working to bring proper support for Steam on Chromebooks. Let’s just say it was a fun show!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we're excited to bring you a very special episode of The Chrome Cast from CES 2020 in Las Vegas. We had the chance to check out some incredible new products and we'll be bringing you more CES news in the coming days but in this episode, it's all about the Chromebooks. This year's CES saw the debut of the first Galaxy-branded Chromebook, ASUS' latest premium model, the Chrome OS tablet we've been longing for and more.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices