Google, during its Launch Night In event on Wednesday night, it announced its new Chromecast alongside a new platform called Google TV. What it entails is that Chromecast now includes a remote with buttons for navigation and built-in Google Assistant support for voice control.
The Chromecast features a compact and thin design which allows it to be plugged into a TV’s HDMI port and tucked behind the screen and is capable of streaming video in up to 4K HDR at up to 60 frames per second and includes support for the Dolby Vision HDR standard, which Google says offers extraordinary colour, contrast, brightness and detail. It also features HDMI pass-through of Dolby Audio content.
The Chromecast comes in three colours – Snow White, Sky Blue, and Sunrise Orange – and will initially be launching in the US at $49.99. Google said it will be available in a number of other countries by the end of 2020.
Google TV
The Chromecast will be the first streaming device to feature the company’s new app called Google TV. General Manager of Google TV Shalini Govil-Pai said this platform system works like Google Search for video streaming service content. “Google makes it so easy for anyone to enter something they’re looking for and find results right away,” Govil-Pai said.
“That’s the same experience we want to recreate on Google TV – a whole new approach whose aim is to deliver an entertaining and personal experience with recommendations and the discovery paradigm made just for you,”
It effectively brings together content from all of the available streaming services and puts them in one place. This means users won’t have to look inside each individual streaming service app – like Netflix, YouTube, or HBO Max – to find the show or movie they are looking for.
With Google TV, the user will see a row of tailored recommendations from across streaming subscriptions in a single place, making it faster to find something to watch. Another feature is the ability to bookmark movies or shows directly from your mobile device to add it to watchlist which can be accessed later on your TV.
Google TV is fully integrated with YouTube TV, as well as Nest devices and cameras, and also features an ambient mode which functions as a digital photo frame for your Google Photos albums. The operating system will be available on other streaming devices in the Android TV ecosystem in future, Google said.
New Google Chromecast
