Engadget by Steve Dent 1:24 am
Ever since Google TV made the move from Intel to ARM processors, Marvell has
been there with its
Armada 1500 CPU, providing decoding, power management and wireless support. As recent FCC documents
showed, that arrangement hasn't changed, and Marvell has just formally introduced its Armada 1500-mini processor at the heart of
Chromecast. The scaled-down chip provides it (and other USB-powered devices) with 1080p decoding along with features like DRM support and access to TV-centric applications like YouTube and Netflix. Marvell also filled us in on what kind of video decoding the hardware is capable of: it supports most H.264 profiles, MPEG2/4, WMV9, VP6/8, DivX-HD and most digital audio formats (see the PR for a complete list). The high-profile Google connection aside, Marvell also said the chip will work great for other laptop, smartphone and Smart TV streaming applications. On top of that, Mountain View wants to get Chromecast tech natively into Smart TVs and other devices through its
Google Cast SDK -- no doubt putting Marvell on the ground floor.
Details remains restricted...
Google's $35 Chromecast fared well in our review, but something that could make it even more useful is the ability to stream pictures and video from mobile devices. Users have been able to work around that on PCs by entering info for locally stored files into the Chrome address bar, and now ClockworkMod developer Koushik Dutta is showing off a solution for mobile. Demonstrated in the video after the break, his Phone to Chromecast app can fling pictures or videos stored on the phone directly to the dongle, apparently thanks to web server software he'd already created for Android. There's no specific word on the codecs or resolutions tested, but he reports videos work at full framerate "like magic." The only bad news? The preview SDK termsmean he can't distribute the APK without written permission from Google, so this demo is as close as we're getting.
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