Google's newest device, the Chromecast, a $35 flashdrive-sized device that plugs into your TV's HDMI port to stream media over your home's wireless Internet, is catching complaints form independent developers who are upset that the company isn't giving them a chance to produce applications for their device that would stream local files.
Over the weekend, an Android developer named Koushik Dutta, complained that Google had blocked an application he had created on purpose. The app would allow people to stream to Chromecast directly from their phones. This would allow people to watch whatever content they had saved to their mobile device. While this seems like a logical step for the Chromecast to take, Google blocked the service for fear that it would encourage people to stream pirated content to their device.
"The policy seems to be a heavy-handed approach, where only approved content will be played through the device," wrote Dutta. "The Chromecast will probably not be indie developer friendly. The Google TV team will likely only whitelist media companies."
In a statement on the matter, Google said it would "like to support all types of apps, including those for local content. It's still early days for the Google Cast SDK, which we just released in developer preview for early development and testing only."
Google is likely worried that it will scare off major paying companies like HBO, Netflix or Xfinity by having one of the first things it does with its new video streaming device be to court developers who want to make it easier to watch pirated content. While that might make the service popular and boast the company's message of openness, it would certainly cause them to lose a lot of money and partnerships, partnerships that its competitors at Apple TV or Roku would gladly snatch up.
It would seem for the moment that Chromecast is leaving out some indie developers. Google seems more interested in courting the people who produce content rather than the people who watch it. While that may seem like a cold gesture on behalf of a big corporation, it might be the only strategy that will keep this affordable contend afloat. Once Google has the trust and partnership of enough app developers to build Chromecast integration into more apps like Netflix and Youtube, the company will relax its policies a bit.
