Hot Cord Cutters Posts

How To: Cast Web Videos from iPad or iPhone to Chromecast

This tutorial is for everyone who has been waiting for a solution to stream web videos to a Chromecast by using an iPhone or iPad. It is easy as a cakewalk.

How To: Cast Videos from Google Drive to Your TV with Chromecast

You can't always have your media on the same network as your Chromecast. Say you're at a friend's house or even out of town—it sure would be nice to cast your videos when you're out and about, wouldn't it?

US & UK Restrictions Be Damned: How to Watch Every Region-Restricted Netflix Show from Any Country

Considering that the average movie ticket these days is $8.38, it's not much of a surprise that Netflix is kicking ass. The same amount will get you a full month of unlimited streaming, and you don't even have to leave your couch. While no one's arguing that it isn't a great deal, the biggest issue most users have with the service is the limited amount of available content. Anything?

How To: The Ultimate Guide to Smoother Netflix Streams on Any Device, Anywhere

The older I get, the more my Friday nights involve watching Netflix at home with a bottle of Maker's Mark and a box of Oreos. Netflix is a big part of my life, and I'm not alone. YouTube and Netflix make up over 50% of all activity on the Internet, so it might be worth your time to understand why Netflix seems to cause so many headaches and what can be done about it.

How To: Save Battery by Mirroring Your Android Screen to Chromecast with the Display Off

Screen mirroring was a long-awaited feature for the Chromecast, now available for select devices (and even more with root). While great news for those who couldn't wait to play games, watch movies, and browse pictures on a big screen, it did mean that you had to keep your device's screen on the entire time it was being mirrored.

How To: Use Your Chromecast to Make PowerPoint Presentations from Your Android

Chromecast is so small and portable that it would seem to be a perfect device for making PowerPoint presentations. But even now that you can mirror your Android device's display, there are still a few issues.

How To: Use Your Android Device as a Wiimote-Style Controller to Play Tennis on Your Chromecast

If you were around when the Nintendo Wii first launched, you remember how revolutionary the device was at the time. When I first encountered one, I was amazed at the simplicity of its controls, namely the fact that the Wii Remote (aka Wiimote) just felt like such a natural way to play a game.

How To: Change Your Android TV's Screensaver

Much like the Chromecast, Android TV devices such as the Nexus Player and Nvidia Shield TV have always had those beautiful background images as their default screensaver. However, unlike the Chromecast, these "Backdrop" images, as they're called, weren't always customizable on Android TV.

How To: Disable Interactive Pop-Up Ads on Your Samsung Smart TV

Televisions used to be great for just one thing—watching TV. But a more connected world brought with it Smart TVs, devices that can access the web, stream Netflix, and even mirror your smartphone's display. And with this level of connectivity, OEMs like Samsung saw it fit to place targeted and interactive ads on your screen.

How To: Turn Your Amazon Fire TV Stick into the Ultimate Media Device

Amazon thinks that by simply removing an app from their Appstore, that they will stop users from accessing it. But with Android OS powering their Fire TV Stick and Fire TV, there really isn't anything they can do to prevent us from sideloading an APK onto the streaming media devices.

How To: Use Your Chromecast Without WiFi

It's no secret that we love the Chromecast. From watching movies to playing games to giving presentations, this little $35 dongle definitely packs a punch. But unless you have a strong, solid Wi-Fi connection in the 2.4 GHz range, this little device has been out of reach to you. Well, until now.

How To: Get Your Chromecast to Stop Lagging

Google Chromecast is only 35 dollars. That's about 2 and a half drinks at a decent bar in Los Angeles. So, my roommates and I looked to make the investment. The small box arrived in the mail and the setup couldn't be easier. Simply, plug the Chromecast into the HDMI port on your TV and pair the two devices. Done and Done. Having the ability to stream anything on our computers or cellphones right to the TV was the main reason for getting Chromecast. Now, for streaming through the Chrome browse...

How To: Cast Videos Directly from Your Mobile Browser to Your Chromecast

With the development kit fully open, the functionality of our Chromecasts seem to expand with each passing day. From a portable gaming system to your own personalized news station, our little gadgets have a lot going for them.

How To: Open Kodi & Other Unofficial Apps Faster on Amazon Fire TV Devices

The Fire TV Stick, as well as the Fire TV, may be limited by Amazon's fight on piracy, but after a quick sideloading of Kodi, the floodgates are back open with the freedom to stream just about any video or song you want.

How To: Send Just About Anything from Your Phone to Your TV via Chromecast

As the Chromecast becomes more and more popular (it's even available overseas now), the market has seen an avalanche of Chromecast-compatible apps. We can play games, cast TV stations, and even mirror our screens, but today I'm going to show you a multifaceted tool that'll do everything from broadcasting your camera to displaying your documents.

How To: Stream Your Personal Movie Collection to Your Amazon Fire TV

Amazon's Fire TV set-top box has been out for over a month now, and the hacks are starting to come together. Sure you can play your Amazon Instant Video, Hulu, and Netflix content without any issue, but what about your personal media, like movies and music?

How To: Enable the Chromecast Screen Mirroring Feature

At last month's I/O event, Google demonstrated a set of cool new features that were said to be coming to the Chromecast soon. While we may not be able to set custom backgrounds or cast content without being on the same WiFi network just yet, the biggest feature of them all has started rolling out to devices today: Screen mirroring.

How To: Root Your Chromecast

When the Chromecast first came out about a year ago, developers were quick to find a way to root the streaming device. Google was almost as fast, however, in updating the Chromecast's firmware to close the loophole that this method used.

How To: 8 Netflix Hacks You Should Know for Improved & Unrestricted Streaming on Any Device

Netflix is more popular now than ever, but it still has a ways to go before satisfying everyone. Whether it's a lack of availability, buggy or unattractive apps, or just not being able to find anything to watch, lots of people have their complaints.

News: How to Use a Roku, Fire Stick, or Chromecast on Hotel TVs

Although lots of the bigger hotel chains are lessening the restrictions they put on their room TVs, some smaller ones are still taking measures to prevent you from plugging in computers or streaming devices into an HDMI port. However, there are a few steps you can take to bypass these restrictions and watch your own media in a hotel that has restricted TVs.

How To: Watch American Netflix in Canada Using an Apple TV

It's no secret that Netflix streams different content based on location. Since your physical location in the digital world is simply a number, a simple switch of the DNS will make your digital "physical location" different. In your Apple TV setting, navigate to:

How To: Turn Your Chromecast into a Jukebox with Collaborative Party Playlists

When it comes to playing music at parties, the whole process can be a bit like a dictatorship. One person, usually the host, chooses all of the music and controls playback, essentially forcing everyone else to listen to the songs that they like.

How To: Cast Amazon Instant Video to Your HDTV

Amazon just signed a deal with HBO to host the cable channel's original content on its Instant Video service. For those of us with Amazon Prime accounts, this is great news—but there aren't any readily apparent options for playing it on Chromecast.

How To: Browse the Internet with Your Nexus Player's Remote Control

Since the Nexus Player is an Android device at heart, there are already several internet browsers that can be used on the streaming set-top box. Chrome, Firefox, and a few others will run perfectly fine, but the trouble with these is that you need a mouse to use them.

How To: Connect a Mouse to Your Nexus Player

If you've sideloaded apps on your Nexus Player, you're surely aware that not very many are optimized for use with a remote control. This can make navigating such apps a pretty big hassle, since they were designed with touchscreen input in mind.

How To: Stream Netflix, Hulu, and Pandora from Anywhere in the World with Media Hint

Having the ability to stream music or video from practically any internet-capable device is a thing of wonder—especially at the airport. I don't know how many times Netflix has saved me from watching something like CNN for 5 hours straight at the gate during long layovers. But streaming video sites like Netflix only work in North American and few other regions. So, if you're a U.S. subscriber currently in Australia or France or any other international location, Au Revoir to your streaming cap...

How To: Cast Torrents, Magnet Links, Local Files, & Web Videos from Your Windows PC

Google's Chromecast has been out for almost two years, and I can safely say it has changed the way I use my TV. At first it was a hassle to even get local media to play on it, but now casting has branched out to torrent streaming, which was a real game changer. Unfortunately, most apps only let you stream one video or song at a time, or you can't add magnet links or torrents to a playlist of local content.

How To: Cast Reddit GIFs & Images from Your Android Phone to Your TV

Reddit is home to tons of fun and unique content. A starting point for the various memes and videos that eventually make it into your Facebook feed, you could seriously spend all day just browsing different subreddits and not get bored.

How To: Download & Watch the Original Star Wars Trilogy Unaltered

I loved the original Star Wars trilogy when I was a kid, but loathe all of the current DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming versions available today. Ever since 1997, every version of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi has had horrendous CGI effects added in that George Lucas deemed necessary to bring his "ideal" version to life.

How To: Use Your Chromecast as a Karaoke Machine

You suck at karaoke. Most of us do, but that doesn't stop any of us from hitting up the karaoke bar. It's not about who sounds best; there's American Idol for that. It's about having a great time without incurring negative judgement; the worse you are the better time I'm having.

How To: Access the Hidden Netflix Menu on Your Xbox 360 or PS3 Using This Super Secret Code

One of the best things I love most about any new gaming console are the apps—I can switch from playing Assassin's Creed III to re-watching the fifth season of Breaking Bad on Netflix without ever getting off the couch. Beat that Atari.

How To: Test Your Chromecast's Network Connection

At its core, the Chromecast is essentially a web browser on a stick. When you cast content from your computer or smartphone, all you're really doing is telling the Chromecast which website to load.

How To: Speed Test Your Chromecast or Android TV

The Google Cast feature that serves as the primary interface for the Chromecast and comes bundled with Android TV devices like the Nexus Player is a marvel of modern technology. But as these things go, troubleshooting issues can be difficult with something so groundbreaking, especially when you consider that there are two parts to the equation—the casting device (your phone, tablet, or computer) and the receiver.

How To: Stream Any Video from Your Android or iOS Device to Chromecast

Recently, Google unleashed the Chromecast development kit, which lets developers add Chromecast streaming functionality to their own apps. However, there aren't many apps with Chromecast capabilities yet, and big companies and devs are still working on polishing their final products.

How To: Enable Chromecast's Screen Mirroring on Any Rooted Android Device Running KitKat

Arguably Chromecast's biggest feature since its launch, screen mirroring functionality started rolling out to select devices earlier this week, and in a word, it's awesome.

How To: Stream Your Favorite SoundCloud Tracks to Your Chromecast

With its growing popularity, it's clear that the Chromecast isn't going away anytime soon, with options for casting games, cloud files, music, and much more. But not all content providers are in a hurry to add support for the device, and SoundCloud is one of them. While My Cloud Player is by no means an official SoundCloud app, it comes pretty darn close.

Bookmark This: Complete List of Netflix's Hidden Genre Codes

The biggest problem with Netflix (which is hardly a real problem) is the overwhelming amount of content available for streaming. Browsing through profile-specific categories might help narrow down your search on something to watch, but some of those categories come and go without warning, and it's impossible to find them again—but not anymore.

How To: Sideload Apps on the Nexus Player

The Nexus Player is one of the most robust set-top streaming devices on the market. This is mainly due to the fact that the base software it runs is a direct fork of Android, which is a very powerful operating system itself.

How To: Cast Facebook & Twitter Feeds to Your HDTV with Chromecast

Is social media ready to make the jump to the big screen? The developers behind the Android app Stevie think so.

How To: Get Apple's Moving Screen Savers on Android TV

Android TV devices have had those beautiful Chromecast background images as their screensaver for quite a while now. Envious of this feature, Apple copied the idea for a similarly-styled screensaver in their newest Apple TV, but with one big twist—they used videos instead of still photos.