The H2G2-42 thing is pretty funny!
On a more serious note... Can anyone shed some light on the hackability of this piece of hardware?
On a more serious note... Can anyone shed some light on the hackability of this piece of hardware?
Until there's a Chromecast receiver app for Android, they won't be able to do the one thing that people want to do with Chromecast sticks.
https://plus.google.com/107130354111162483072/posts/KMMwKTpN...
MPEG2 decoding would let people play a locally broadcast streams from something like the Silicon Dust HDHomerun Prime which would let them get rid of up to three cable boxes in addition to watching video on the internet. Currently, people get HTPCs to play these live streams (and act as DVRs).
Instead you would still have to have something transcode the video for the Chromecast, and perhaps act as a centralized content server either relaying live TV or recorded TV. However, it also is not clear if there will be private channels which would be required to view this content from a local source. Roku players will let you watch stuff served from Plex for example.
Interestingly, though according to this[1], the Marvel chip does have the capability to process MPEG2, perhaps if it is unlocked. (It only costs about $2 to get a license to legally unlock MPEG2 decoding on the Raspberry Pi)
However, supporting hobbyists playing back conventional cable wouldn't fit into Google's strategy if it is to slowly supersede regular cable television.
http://9to5google.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/innards.png
Perhaps the pads are still there and can be used to jump JTAG or a serial line out of the board.
http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/google-chromecast-hacked-by-gtv...