Chromecast Is Back In Stock

The Google Chromecast is finally back in stock in the Google Play Store, after selling out in minutes when it was announced a few months ago and then subsequently being sold on eBay and Craigslist for up to 2x the actual cost.

The Chromecast is an amazing little device, slightly larger than an USB jumpdrive that plugs into your TV's HDMI port and allows users to instantly stream content from YouTube, Google Play Music, Google Play Movies, Netflix and tabs from your Chrome browser to your TV. The device is small enough to hide behind most TV units and draw power from a simple USB port. The $35 price tag made it one of the most irresistible impulse buys of the year. It easily does a large majority of what most people need from a smart tv device at a fraction of the cost, with even more features promised to be coming soon (including Hulu and rumors of HBO Go). The Chromecast is controlled via an Android Device, iOS Device or even a Laptop running a chrome extension. The fact that it supports multiple platforms instead of being locked into a certain manufacturers ecosystem is a huge selling point in my book.

I was able to find two in another state at Bestbuy and others are saying Amazon has them back in stock now also. I highly recommend grabbing one if you use any of these services. I've been loving mine and will be posting a review soon. This is one of those devices that is priced so well you can't afford not to grab one.

BHT Returns... Back By Popular Demand

What's up?!!! It's been a minute, I know. I'm back though, by popular demand. I've been really busy with work, preparing for my wedding, life and debating if I wanted to continue with the blog. But as more and more people have been asking about the blog I realized more people were checking out my post than I thought and that maybe it was time to start back up! Not to mention there have been soo many changes in the tech world. I got the new EVO LTE and didn't even do a post or video review which is unheard of since I've done every EVO since the OG dropped and actually launched BHT!

All the recent tech news is just too much for me to resist commenting on lol. So new post are on the way. I'd like to thank all of you who have read my posts and watched my videos in the past it means alot to me! I'd also like to ask you all a favor. Many of you have commented on my posts in the past, but typically you comment on whatever social media site you see me post the links to the blog on. It would help me TREMENDOUSLY if you could post comments here on BHT. This keeps all the discussion in one place and lets readers who get updates through different methods to converse with each other in one spot. I'd love to see convos started right here on the blog. I'll also be honest in that it helps me to generate more traffic here on the site!

Again thanks for all that have read, commented and given me words of encouragement on/regarding Brown Hands Tech!

Sharing Websites Between Your Computer and Froyo Equipped Android Phone

This nothing new but it is something that is often overlooked.  With the Froyo update came the ability to effortlessly share websites between your Froyo equipped Android device and your computer's web browser.  There are likely several ways to do this butI'm going to share what I use.  This is something I always wanted and I use it daily it is REALLY helpful.  Instead of having to email yourself links or trying to remember them and retype them you can now simply push a button and the link will instantly pop up on your phone from your computer and visa-versa.

First you will need Google's Chrome to phone App and Chrome browser extension. For some reason both of these are hard to find so I will provide links below.  I guess I should also note that this is for use with Google's Chrome browser (my favorite) and I will also provide a link for Chrome to Phone for Firefox (I haven't tested this version) unfortunately I don't have anything for Safari or Internet Explorer (do people still use IE?).

Each of the links will allow you to download the files to your computer or directly to your phone using a bar code scanner ( another great app that you should download from the market).  The Chrome to Phone ".apk" file should be installed on your phone.  Once installed complete any registration steps and then download the browser extention (either chrome or firefox accordingly).  Once this is done you should get a small button in your browser tool bar.  This button will send whatever site you are viewing directly to your phone!  This feature is infinitely useful!!!

Video of Chrome to Phone:



Now for the inverse; to send items from your phone to your computer I like to use Android2cloud.  I have provided links to download both the app for your phone and the Chrome browser extension for this one as well.  This app does the same thing except now when you are viewing a site on your phone you can long press in the url bar and select share page (or press menu and share page), you will see Android2cloud as an option and selecting it will load it on your computers browser.

Check out the video demonstrating this feature:



These are features that took entirely too long to come to our phones and now that they are out they aren't widely publicized.  Check them out I guarantee you'll be glad you did!

Downloads:
Files for Chrome to Phone (send sites from computer to phone):
Chrome to Phone apk file (actual app for your phone) UPDATE: This app is now available in the market officially!
Chrome to Phone Browser extension for Google Chrome Browser (install to computer)
Chrome to Phone Browser extension for Firefox (install to computer)

Files for Android2Cloud (send sites from phone to computer):
Android2Cloud apk file (install to phone) Also available in the market search "Android2Cloud"
Android2Cloud Google Chrome Browser extension (install to computer)