Month: August 2013

Geek, Tech

Got an Android device? Using Google Music? Then get this app:

Cast to UPnPI stumbled on this app the other day, and its a fine example of someone taking Google’s infrastructure (in this instance its Play Music app and the Android platform) and making something pretty awesome.

So what’s the app? Titled (rather un-sexily) Cast To UPnP/DLNA for GMusic, the app turns your Android device – and specifically the Play Music app – into a UPnP/DLNA host. In plain english, this means you can play your music from your phone (and this includes the All Access streaming part of Play Music) to any UPnP/DLNA receiver – like your Xbox360, a Sonos, XBMC etc etc.

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General

In praise of: the new Quietus anthology

The Quietus - coverThe Quietus is a website I have a huge amount of admiration for. Like Drowned In Sound, they retain a fierce credibility and some fine depth to their writing – two things I don’t see much elsewhere at present (he writes, gazing in the direction of the NME…). I religiously read the priceless “Horns Up Ya Shitters!” metal column, as its now become the singular source for the best metal releases each month (to the point where it leaves me missing the Black Friday Radio Show I once hosted on ResonanceFM – to date possibly still the only ever drive-time black metal show). Beyond that though, I don’t check the site as much as I should. Not for any reason – just life gets in the way. No great excuses, that’s just how it is.

I was delighted then to discover that they have just issued an anthology of articles from their first five years as an e-book for Kindle. I purchased it yesterday evening, and I’ve only been dragged away from it since by life once again getting in the way. This anthology has some great articles and, put simply, I cannot recommend it enough. Whether its Quietus co-founder Luke Turner berating the baby boomers, Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess writing about the pitfalls of authoring his second book or – my current favourite – Bad Seed Warren Ellis writing about his fashion tastes and penchant for a fine pair of shoes, this has a brilliant spread of pieces covering all manner of topics.

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Geek, Tech

Nevermind Apple TV or Chromecast – buying an Android TV stick is a complete no-brainer

mk808bLike most geeks of my ilk, I have a few devices that plug into my TV and connect me to the net. With my Apple TV I can watch Netflix and do various others things. Having jailbroken it, I can also run XBMC now, which finally makes the device more worthy of its pricetag. Elsewhere I have an Xbox 360 which can also stream Netflix, and additionally can stream Sky, BBC iPlayer and various other on-demand services. Generally, that’s the one that sees the most use here.

Lately though, something else has eclipsed both – and frankly is proving such good value for money that it beats even that Raspberry Pi in the “so cheap it’d be mad not to buy one” stakes: an MK808B Android TV stick.

What’s an Android TV stick? In short, its a tiny dongle-like mini-computer with an HDMI socket, bluetooth, wifi and two USB sockets. It plugs directly into your TV and turns it into an experience similar to that on an Android tablet. And the price? Just £33 – including delivery.

Here’s the thing: Apple TV, Xbox, Roku and various other devices of their ilk are all closed platforms in one manner or another. You can only run the apps that they permit onto their platform. Android, on the other hand, has an infinitely wider number of apps available and as such leaves them all for dead when it comes to beefing your TV experience up. YouTube, VEVO, Netflix, Spotify, Rdio, TuneIn Radio, Google Music, Google Movies, XBMC, Skype… you name it, the Android TV stick can run it. You can even add in support for beaming content from your phone to the TV (e.g. to show a photo) Its really quite incredible.

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