Category: Tech

IT for IoT

IoT. Internet of Things. Not something that holds a lot of interest for me. If package thieves were a concern, then I could see getting a webcam for the front porch. But as I recently learned, Google has rolled streaming media into its Home concept.

This is the Cast tab in the Google Chrome browser on my desktop PC when I am not using Chromecast.

This is the Cast tab when I am casting. Not from the PC, but from my Pixel 4a phone, going to Chromecast Audio on the upstairs stereo.

So of course this is how it looks when casting from the phone to the Onkyo A/V receiver downstairs.

When Google Chrome is running it finds compatible devices on the local network and maintains connections to poll for changes.

TCP 192.168.1.179:63387 Chromecast:8008 ESTABLISHED
TCP 192.168.1.179:63388 StreamingStick4K:8060 CLOSE_WAIT
TCP 192.168.1.179:63390 RokuStreamingStick:8060 CLOSE_WAIT

It makes sense to check casting devices, but it raises thorny questions. What else might Google be monitoring, now that it considers everything to be part of an IoT Home, and are there vulnerabilities in the casting protocol that hackers could exploit?

Better Than Bluetooth

Having found a workaround to make audio casting work between my Android phone and A/V receiver, I kept thinking about where it worked as it should — connecting to the Chromecast video adapter on the porch TV.

What about Google’s Chromecast Audio device? It was discontinued three years ago, but an outfit has some from Japan available on eBay for $50, including shipping. A reasonable price over the original $35. They’re supposed to be new in original boxes, so I ordered one.

Yep, new and sealed in its original Japanese language box. Chromecast Audio is now playing on the living room stereo, replacing a 6-year-old Bluetooth dongle, and working directly within the SiriusXM app, as it should.

Will Drew Carey have to take a break from his Friday Night Freak-Out on SiriusXM to go on the coast-to-coast tour for his day job?

Broadcast News

Streaming services that are clobbering cable TV are carried by the cable TV companies providing Internet service.

A GIF. Stephen Wilhite, creator of the GIF, 3/3/48 – 3/14/22

There may be some hope for broadcast TV with ATSC 3.0, aka NextGenTV.

Besides 4K resolution and Internet integration options, the new standard offers significantly better over-the-air reception. New TV tuners are needed, however, and because ATSC 1.0 isn’t being retired NextGenTV could be dead on arrival.

Boston has no NextGenTV stations yet. Boston’s ABC network affiliate, WCVB, just added an ATSC 1.0 standard definition sub-channel at 5-3. For now it’s just a test pattern, but on March 28 it will feature MeTV’s new Story Network.

Cast Away

Audio electronics manufacturer Onkyo/Pioneer disappeared for a while, and after a period of uncertainty about its survival the company returned. I first realized they hadn’t gone out of business when my Onkyo — or, as some say, Oinkyo — receiver announced it had a firmware update to install.

The receiver has all of the apps I want, except for SiriusXM. I could use Bluetooth from my Google Pixel 4a phone, but it would have to be kept in proximity with the receiver. Chromecast was the way to go, except it wasn’t working through the SiriusXM app. It would attempt to connect, then give up. The cast icon in TuneIn had only slight success, sputtering badly with a buffering indicator.

The phone was showing only the Onkyo and the Google Chromecast “puck” on the porch TV as available devices. I had no trouble connecting and disconnecting the phone with the Chromecast puck. Which made sense, as both gadgets were made by Google. I opened Google Chrome on a PC and clicked the casting icon on a YouTube video. The browser had a different “cast list” that curiously didn’t include the Onkyo.

So there was some inconsistency to be found in Google’s various software implementations. With that in mind, I decided the thing to do was forget about trying to invoke Chromecast from within the apps. I went to the Google Home settings on the phone. As before, it showed only the two devices. Would a casting connection work, by making the phone send all audio to the receiver?

BOOM! YES! It came up and played instantly with no sputtering. It even directly adjusts the receiver’s volume control. How I love workarounds.