Google Makes It Easier To Move Music and Video Streams Between Devices

Google is finally introducing a way for users of its smart speakers and streaming adapters to move media between those devices. From a report: The company introduced a new feature called Stream Transfer Tuesday that makes it possible to move an ongoing music stream, podcast or YouTube video from one compatible device to the next. At launch, these devices include Google Home and Nest smart speakers as well as Google Nest smart displays and Chromecast-equipped TVs. The transfer of a stream can be initiated either with voice commands like "Hey Google, move the music to the living room speaker," via the Google Home app on a mobile device, or through a new media interface on Nest smart displays. Users can also start watching a YouTube video on their Nest Hub or Nest Hub Max smart display, and then press the cast button to move it to their Chromecast-equipped TV. Alternatively, they can move videos with a voice command.

Re: I've been cyber-crippled.

[Frosty Piss]

Paranoia will destroy ya...

What's wrong with copy-pasting?

[DrYak]

If I want to move somewhere and keep consuming the media currently playing on a non-movable device (e.g.: workstation), what's wrong with just copy-parting (*) or just QR-code(**) + flashing the URL to a movable device (e.g.: smartphone) ?

Why do one need to involve a giant Rube-Goldberg-esque or Tinguely-esque contraption involving the Cloud (a.k.a. someone else's computer) and always-on listening privacy nightmare (Voice assistants. Remeber the /. about Google employee being traumatized by spurious records of loud sex) ?

Specially since transferring the URL over is probably faster than uttering the complex sentence describing want you need ?

I kind of understand people who use screen shots or take pictures with their phone instead of digging in the menu to "save the image as..." or go all the way to the scanner / office all-in-one to scan a document.

But transfering a youtube stream from one device to another ?

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(*) - if using some keyboard sharing system between your laptop and workstation, such as the opensource edition of Synergy.
(**) - Some apps even have the URL's QR-Code as a built-in feature.

Re:

[Gilgaron]

I think the use case depends on the service. With Netflix you can pause it on one TV, walk to another and pick up where you left off. I don't think you can do that as easily with Youtube. You're probably still right in noticing that there was probably way more effort put into programming this than will ever be recovered by use of the feature.

Youtube works

[DrYak]

I don't think you can do that as easily with Youtube.

From experience, if:
- the link you're copy-pasting around (or QR-code-ing) doesn't contain any explicit time-stamp
- and you're logged in with the same account on both device

then the device will restart playing roughly the same "segment". It might restart at a few seconds earlier, tough.
I suspect that Youtube bases it on "last packet served" rather than "exactly pinging back to the mothership the current play-back position", because the earlier is good enough for marketing research purpose (answering questio

Re:

[omnichad]

I'll get right on hitting copy and paste on my smart speaker.

And last time I checked, URLs don't dynamically update with your playback position.

There may be privacy implications with having a smart speaker, but I like it and it needs to have a functional UI. As it is, if you start playing an hour-long audio steam and didn't have the foresight to request a group of speakers you are sick with either stopping entirely it staying on the current speaker.

Well yeah...

[RyanFenton]

All they're doing is copy/pasting the URL of the youtube video/stream/playlist, adding an ampersand t and equals minutesecond, and sending it to the new device as a URL to launch.

Doesn't seem extrordinary or anything.

Perhaps the innovation I'm not seeing if that they specially skip ads for folks not using adblock on streams that already showed the ad - but really, that should also just be a feature of any account-based system is to not overplay ads between devices for a given user, not anything special with

Re:

[omnichad]

This is the boring progression of audio UI. It's new and never been done before and it will seem obvious and uninteresting in hindsight. A smart speaker has only a voice UI unless you're using it as a "dumb" casting destination, so despite how every device can do something similar, this one couldn't before.

Don't cross the streams

[shortscruffydave]

Don't cross the streams

This is news?

[Rick Zeman]

Apple's AirPlay has been doing this for years, either via device icons in the media programs, or via voice for Homepods: "Hey Siri, move this to the kitchen."

Yawn.

Re:

[omnichad]

Android has had the device icons for at least as many years. This new feature is more like the voice for Homepod scenario you mentioned. Which can't have been around for years because it was only released last year (no idea if they launched with this ability).

Reinvent the wheel much?

[e3m4n]

The original RFC for SIP (session initiation protocol) had nothing to do with VoIP and RTP media. It was merely a usable container for signaling. Hell it doesnt even negotiate port and codec, thats handed off to SDP.

However a sip REINVITE message exists precisely for this purpose. Why didnt they just use this method to initiate streaming and then reinvite if they wanted to continue to cast the remainder on another device. Like watching a feed on your mobile until you get home and can finish it on your big s

Re:

[omnichad]

This isn't intended for casting. This is for voice controlled smart speakers (and displays) when no casting device is involved - the smart speaker communicates directly with the service to start and receive the stream. This new handoff involves one smart device telling another what stream to request and what timestamp to resume from. SIP as a protocol wouldn't even make sense.

Music and Video Streams

[JaneEyre1]

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