The Nexus Player supports Google Cast which may make it the best combination of Chromecast and media box functionality.
Apps on your phone should be able to control apps on the player, and the apps on the player can be used standalone. We'll have to see if apps from the Play Store gets Google Cast control, or if this only happens for the Chromecast-style web apps.
This has the advantage that you can select content on phone and then use the phone or remote on the player to control playback.
Indeed. At $99 [1], equipped with 802.11ac [2], a far more powerful processor that is capable of playing 4K video [3], you could ignore Google TV in its entirety and probably justify your purchase just to use it as a Chromecast Deluxe.
[1]: Reported by TechCrunch. Regular Chromecast is $35.
[2]: Possibly with 5GHz band? Regular Chromecast is 2.4GHz 802.11n only.
Apps on your phone should be able to control apps on the player, and the apps on the player can be used standalone. We'll have to see if apps from the Play Store gets Google Cast control, or if this only happens for the Chromecast-style web apps.
This has the advantage that you can select content on phone and then use the phone or remote on the player to control playback.