Tunes from the Telly

So it must be true that those who enjoy interior decorating also love to entertain, well, actually I can't remember the last time I invited people over. On the contrary, I do enjoy listening to music louder than my laptop speakers can go. Alas, Spotify now has an app available as a Google Chrome extension... that means I can play Spotify on my TV through Google Chromecast.

If you have no idea what Google Chromecast is lemme tell you it's pretty cool... and cheap!
Google Chromecast is a little stick you can buy at Walmart, Best Buy (if you're a have to have it RIGHT now type of person who can't wait for an item to be shipped) or purchased online directly from Google. But hold on, before you buy the stick you must be sure your TV is HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) compatible. HDMI is pretty much standard on all newer TVs (purchased since 2009) but some older TVs have the feature as well. Just look on the sides or back of your TV, if it's not labeled it should look like this....

But note that HDMI ports can sometimes be confused with a USB port, but if you look closely HDMI is a different shape than USB. The Chromecast stick takes electricity so you must either plug it into the USB port or use the A/C adapter and plug it into the wall. Everything is included in the Chromecast package so as long as your TV does have the HDMI capability, you are good to go.

You're probably wondering what this little gadget can do! By using Google Chromecast you can stream Netflix, Spotify, Pandora, ESPN, Youtube or cast any webpage open in the Google Chrome browser to your TV. All features of Google Chromecast are compatible with Apple products. I can turn on my TV and control a number of apps (available from the Google Chrome web store) from my computer, iPad or iPhone. One great feature for college students is being able to watch web documentaries on the TV rather than a laptop.

I was very excited today to learn that Google added a Spotify app to the store because I much prefer Spotify to Pandora and my TV speakers are louder than laptop speakers... so in theory, if I ever broke away from my hermit habits and threw a party, I could play my Spotify playlists on my TV. But it also works well to cast music while I clean or cook or do whatever. If I threw in some surround sound that would take the coolness to a whole new level.... but I don't see surround sound in my near future... so I will leave it at I really like Google Chromecast when taking into account its cost to features ratio.
Photos by C. Scharton

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