Google has announced its new Chromecast that comes with a dedicated remote and Google TV – an upgrade to the company’s Android TV interface. This Chromecast is a major upgrade over its predecessors as it comes with its interface – Google TV, which is the first time for a Chromecast device. Google announced these products in its ‘Launch Night In’ event along with the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G.
Chromecast with Google TV, Price and Availability
The new Chromecast is priced at $49.99 (around Rs. 3700) in the United States and is available for sale right now. The company said that it should be available globally as well by the end of this year. As of now, it is not clear when will it make its way to India.
Chromecast with Google TV specifications and features
The new Chromecast comes with its interface called Google TV, which is a new-branding for Google’s Android TV interface. The Chromecast dongle has a USB Type-C port for powering it and has a short HDMI cable that plugs into your display. The new Chromecast has support for Dual-band WiFi and Bluetooth. It also supports HDR videos at 4K 60fps with additional features like Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Vision, DTSX, HDR10+, and h.265 streams. The Chromecast dongle weighs around 55 grams.
The remote that comes with the new Chromecast has an accelerometer and microphone and is powered by two AAA batteries. The remote has shortcut buttons for YouTube and Netflix along with a mute button, home button, back button, Google Assistant button, and a 4-way D-pad for navigation. There is no IR functionality on the remote as it uses Bluetooth for communication with the dongle, hence the user does not need to direct the remote towards the TV.
The Google Chromecast has all the regular casting features as present on previous Chromecast devices. It supports casting for streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Spotify, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, and much more. The Chromecast also supports 3rd-party applications that have a cast button for screen mirroring.
Google TV
Google TV is new branding for the company’s existing Android TV interface. It supports recommendations across several subscriptions and allows users to create watch lists from any device that has their Google Account signed in. This means that a user can create a Watch list from their phone, PC, laptop, or almost any device. It will also provide YouTube TV offering unlimited DVR features. Google Tv has a new ambient mode that works as a digital photo frame when the device is on standby. It can also connect directly to doorbells and Nest Cameras.
