Count Time Warner Cable among those in a growing group that are noodling whether to integrate apps and services with Chromecast, Google’s new $35 streaming adapter for TVs.
“We’re looking at it closely as we do other consumer devices in this space,” a TWC spokesman said Wednesday via email, pointing to the MSO’s “strong record of bringing the customer’s TV subscription to more devices that they prefer to use.”
The latest to join that list is Samsung. TWC announced Wednesday that it has launched a version of its authenticated TWC TV app for Samsung Smart TVs (models 2012 and 2013) that initially offers access to more than 5,000 VOD titles. TWC has already launched the app on Apple iOS and Android devices, the Roku platform, and on Web browsers, with integration with the Xbox 360 set to happen later this summer. TWC is also reportedly close to striking a deal that would clear the way for its TV Everywhere app to join the Apple TV box lineup.
While TWC has made no formal commitment to optimize its TV Everywhere service for Chromecast, its apparent interest offers further evidence that the pay TV industry is being drawn to Google’s streaming media adapter.
HBO confirmed Tuesday that it is “actively exploring supporting Chromecast as another way for our subscribers to enjoy HBO GO,” but is not yet talking about timing.
Chromecast plugs into the HDMI slot of TVs and is controlled by laptops, smartphones and PCs. In addition to being able to mirror Web content sourced from mobile devices running a Chrome browser on the TV screen, Chromecast has also been optimized for Netflix, YouTube, and Google Play.
