Chromecast! Part II

I got my Chromecast from Amazon yesterday - and, for me, it lives up to the exclamation mark in the title.  I was one of the poor souls who took a chance on two of Logitech's ill fated Revue Google TV boxes.  Worse, I invested a couple of hundred bucks in the Logitech Vid cameras that went with them.

Logitech no longer supports the Revue (their CEO publicly called it a "big mistake" and has recently issued a notice that Logitech Vid calling will "no longer be available."

But for $35, I was willing to take another chance on a Google solution for bridging the gap between the 'net and my TV set - and it was worth it.  Plug it into the wall and your HDMI port, and it sets up in a few minutes over your wi-fi network with an app on your smartphone or tablet (the Chromecast app is available at the Google Play store right now, and should be available at the Apple app store soon).

Until then, folks with iPhones and iPads can set it up and stream from their Mac/PC/Chrome laptops with the Google Cast extension (available now from the Chrome Web Store).

It is fully integrated with Google Play (of course), Netflix and YouTube, and Pandora support should be coming soon.  All of these services are seamless via laptop, tablet or phone.

Other services are only  'castable from laptops running Chrome right now. I am 'casting TuneIn radio from my laptop to my TV while I'm blogging, and have streamed Pandora, Amazon Instant Video and Hulu (video services are choppy, but watchable).

The most awesome thing about this is the freedom from cables and set-top boxes with custom remotes.  No more looking for laptops with HDMI outputs, no more cables, no more VGA to HDMI converters.

I just moved and dreaded getting behind the TVs to figure out all of the cables for getting the Revues up and running again.  Now I can sell them.

Of course, Google needed to price this reasonably to get all of the folks who had been burned by Google TV or the Nexus Q to try again - and I'm glad they did, I would not have taken the plunge it if it was another $99 box.

At $35, however, I can recommend Chromecast without reservation - Netflix offer or no Netflix offer.

I'm only sorry I didn't order two - now I have to get on the waiting list for my second one.  But I'm used to waiting for hot new products from Google (and Panasonic - and Blackmagic).

You can get on the list here - or by clicking on the image below.

Waiting for the new Blackmagic Cameras - a perspective

It's been interesting, and a little entertaining, to read the comment sections on posts and fora discussing the delay in the ship dates for the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema and Production Cameras.  For those who missed it, here is the official statement from Blackmagic (via Andrew Reid at eoshd):

"Blackmagic Design is making significant progress in production of the new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and Blackmagic Production Camera 4K. Full production manufacturing is underway on the Pocket Cinema Camera with first production units in final testing. This is inline with our initial expectations of the end of July and means the camera will start to ship in quantity during August. There are several weeks of work to do on Production Camera 4K before this will enter full production manufacturing, however we expect to ship the first quantities of this model before the end of August."

Andrew added this update later:

"We do our best to show off new products at shows like NAB and provide realistic dates these products will come to market. But a lot goes into getting products such as the new cameras to the stage where we’re completely happy with them and can put them into full production. The good news is that we’re pretty much on the schedule we said we’d be on. We said July for both cameras and we’re really not far behind that."

  "The Pocket Cinema Camera is now in full production. We have the final units in test now and expect it to be a matter of days or, at worst, a week or two before we’re ready to shift the camera out to customers. We’re in full product manufacture with the camera and there are no issues with it whatsoever. We have a considerable number of orders for the camera so it will take a period of time to fulfill all these orders."

As someone who has a Pocket Cinema Camera on pre-order, this does not concern me in the least.  Compared to the gap between promised and actual delivery dates for the RED Scarlet, Digital Bolex, Panasonic G6 (promised last month and just now arriving in quantity in North America) - and my months long waits for the Panasonic GH2 and GH3 - a few days is nothing.

The wait for the Production Camera is a little more substantial, and if I had a paying 4K gig in August I'd planned to use the camera on, I would certainly be a little frustrated.

But let's keep things in perspective.  A few days' wait for the Pocket Camera and a month for the Production Camera is nothing compared to the gap between promised and actual delivery dates for many other camera manufacturers, most notably RED, Panasonic and Digital Bolex.

Panasonic's challenges in getting product to market in North America are legend.  And it's happening again with the new G6, which was promised in June, but is just now (late July) arriving in quantity in North America - at a $50 markup from list.  What's up with that?

And then there's RED.  Does anyone remember the promise of "3K for $3K"?  I do.  I also remember the year+ later rollout of the Scarlet, which is a great camera, but not a $3000 camera by any stretch of the imagination.

I won't pile on the Digital Bolex folks, whom I admire, but there is clearly a huge gap between promise and reality with this camera.

And outside of the camera world, has anyone tried to get a new iOS or Nexus phone or tablet on the rollout date?

All of that said, Blackmagic is a real company with real products and a track record of delivering them (eventually).  All the talk about "deception" and that a delay on the new cameras will "bring down the company" is a little over the top, in my view.

For those who can wait a few weeks, and still need to get on the pre-order list, you can get the $995 Pocket Cinema Camera here, and the Production Camera bundled with handles for $3995 here.

For those who need 2.5K RAW now, you can get the original EF mount Cinema Camera from Amazon - and the MFT mount BMCC with handles from Adorama for $2995.

And a little reminder of what the "old" 2.5K RAW camera can do (Trip to Mexico, from Andrew Julian on Vimeo):

Sony RX100 Marked Down to $552

This is the camera that David Pogue at the New York Times called "the best pocket camera ever made".  Now that the RX100 II has been released, we're starting to see sale prices on the original model .  Right now, you can get an RX100 bundle - with a 16GB SDHC card, two batteries, an external charger and a carrying case for $552 with free shipping at 6th Ave via eBay.

This is a good deal for this camera, which still lists for $648 at Amazon and Adorama.

The RX100 is a great little 20MP still camera - and a very capable video camera too.  Here are a couple of examples from one of our sponsors, Vimeo:



This one was shot 80% with the RX100 and 20% with a Canon 5D and features Ellie Goulding's new track, Burn:



As of this post, 58 had been sold and "more than 10" were available.  If you want one at this price, you should jump on this eBay listing now.