Skip to main content

Chromecast bulks up on content with support for Disney, Twitch, iHeartRadio

chromecast
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Google hasn’t welched on its promise of a Chromecast app explosion following the release of the device’s SDK kit to developers last February. In the past few months the device has seen exponential growth in its library, and the hits just keep on coming. Today, Google announced its latest Chromecast additions, which include three new Disney apps, as well as apps for iHeartRadio, DramaFever, and the gaming site, Twitch.

Opening the Disney vault may be the most welcome new feature for Chromecast owners with a brood of kids to satiate. They’ll be able to access content from Watch Disney, Watch Disney Junior, and Watch Disney XD. Live streams of Disney Channel shows, and on-demand access to recent episodes will also be available, though users will need to have a correspondent TV provider.

Hosting up to 60 million gamers, the addition of Twitch will allow users to watch streams from some of the top pros in the world in certified gaming competitions, as well as casual gamers. And music lovers will appreciate the addition of iHeartRadio, which joins other services like Songza, and Pandora.

DramaFever is a lot less familiar, filed under the category of “niche” apps for the popular dongle. However, with over 15,000 episodes of International dramas from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Latin America, those looking for something decidedly different than the average U.S. or BBC fare may want to give the service a spin.

All of the new apps are compatible with both iOS and Android, and join other recent additions, including NPR, to give the most affordable streaming device on the block another boost.

Ryan Waniata
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ryan Waniata is a multi-year veteran of the digital media industry, a lover of all things tech, audio, and TV, and a…
The Beats Pill is back, baby!
A pair of Beats Pill speakers.

In what's been one of the worst-kept secrets of the year -- mostly because subtly putting a product into the hands of some of the biggest stars on the planet is no way to keep a secret -- the Beats Pill has returned. Just a couple of years after Apple and Beats unceremoniously killed off the stylish Bluetooth speaker, a new one has arrived.

Available for preorder today in either black, red, or gold, the $150 speaker (and speakerphone, for that matter) rounds out a 2024 release cycle for beats that includes the Solo Buds and Solo 4 headphones, and comes nearly a year after the Beats Studio Pro.

Read more
Ifi’s latest DAC is the first to add lossless Bluetooth audio
Ifi Audio Zen Blue 3 DAC (front).

Ifi Audio's new Zen Blue 3 wireless digital-to-analog converter (DAC) will officially be available to buy for $299 on July 9. When it is, it will be the first device of its kind to support a wide variety of Bluetooth codecs, including Qualcomm's aptX Lossless, the only codec that claims to deliver bit-perfect CD quality audio over a Bluetooth connection.

Admittedly, there are very few devices on the market that can receive aptX Lossless (and fewer that can transmit it), so it's a good thing that the Zen Blue 3 also works with the more widely supported aptX Adaptive, LDAC, and LDHC/HWA codecs (all of which are hi-res audio-capable), plus the three most common codecs: AAC, SBC, and aptX.

Read more
The new Beats Pill might replace Sonos on my back porch
The 2024 Beats Pill and an aging Sonos Play:1.

If I were to build an outdoor stereo in 2024, I'd do it with a pair of portable Beats Pills instead of Sonos speakers. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

In 2017, after more than a decade in our home, my wife and I added a pool. With it came a covered deck, making what basically was a new outdoor room. Not uncommon at all in Florida, but new to us.

Read more