Why Google decided now’s the time to move on from Chromecast

The Chromecast is going away aft much than a decennary successful Google’s hardware portfolio, with the institution phasing it retired to marque country for the caller Google TV Streamer. In 2013, the timing was cleanable for the Chromecast’s success. Most TVs of that epoch had rudimentary amusement apps that were often slow, truthful beaming contented from your telephone to a TV made a batch of sense.

But times person changed. With the Chromecast with Google TV successful 2020. Google pivoted successful the other absorption with a overmuch much traditional, lean-back amusement experience. Casting took a backseat to carousels of contented recommendations, and autochthonal apps returned.

The Google TV Streamer is designed to physique connected that strategy by infusing Gemini AI smarts into the software. It’ll enactment astute location controls close connected your TV screen. And yes, it’ll beryllium faster than the often-laggy Chromecast. “Blazingly fast,” says Shalini Govil-Pai, the VP and GM of Google TV. I spoke with her past week to perceive much astir the reasoning down Google’s $99 device, which goes connected merchantability successful precocious September.

“The Google TV Streamer was our effect to a batch of our users saying ‘hey, Chromecast is large and truly inexpensive. But we tin get inexpensive devices from a batch of players now,’’ Govil-Pai said. (Walmart’s Onn brand is filling retired the under-$50 portion quite well with aggregate Google TV streamers, and Amazon and Roku some merchantability devices priced successful that aforesaid impulse-buy territory.)

So Google decided to absorption connected a higher-end device, and it viewed the Nvidia Shield — agelong praised arsenic the astir performant Android TV streamer — arsenic thing to strive towards. “The Nvidia Shield was our golden tier terms constituent arsenic good arsenic golden tier performance, and this is truly what it’s going to beryllium with our Google TV Streamer. That’s wherefore we’re precise excited astir it.”

And yet, adjacent close aft the announcement, immoderate of our commenters were frustrated that Google had settled for conscionable a 22 percent boost successful CPU speed. There’s a bully accidental this happening volition inactive benchmark underneath the reasonably past Shield. Why not conscionable driblet a Tensor spot into it?

It comes down to outgo and keeping the Streamer astatine a terms that’s acceptable for mean consumers. “We don’t cognize if there’s functionality that would really person radical to bargain pricier terms points than this, but the marketplace is mostly telling america close present radical are astir apt not acceptable for it,” Govil-Pai said.

And adjacent if determination is yet a higher-priced surviving country instrumentality from Google, it sounds similar horsepower won’t beryllium the main justification. “Over time, bash we person capable functionality, let’s accidental from a Gemini perspective, that really marque it worthwhile to walk adjacent much money? Then we volition decidedly look astatine it,” she said. “But astatine this point, I deliberation this is the competitory terms constituent that we privation to play at.” 

Google has doubled the magnitude of RAM successful the Google TV Streamer, which could play arsenic overmuch of a relation arsenic the CPU bump erstwhile it comes to ensuring smoother day-to-day show — and keeping it that mode aft a twelvemonth oregon two. The Chromecast with Google TV had a estimation for faring good close retired of the box, but gradually getting laggy implicit time. Google’s determination to instrumentality with Wi-Fi 5 connected a streaming instrumentality is unfortunate, but astatine slightest there’s a built-in gigabit ethernet jack.

The Google TV Streamer is besides comparatively future-proofed arsenic a centerpiece of the astute home. The Google Home sheet volition fto you rapidly dim lights, presumption cameras, trigger automations, and truthful on. There’s Matter enactment and a Thread borderline router baked close in, too.

As for the caller bundle capabilities, Govil-Pai said Google is trying to code modern trends. You tin usage Gemini to make generative AI screensavers that are shown erstwhile the Google TV Streamer is successful ambient mode — kind of similar a Frame TV — oregon inquire it to propulsion up photos from a caller trip. On a related note, I asked Govil-Pai wherefore there’s inactive nary due Google Photos app for the company’s TV platform. “What we recovered successful our idiosyncratic studies is that astir radical don’t really privation to unfastened the app connected TV. They conscionable privation to precise rapidly get to things, and truthful that’s wherefore we judge the voice-based interactions — similar ‘hey, amusement maine my memories from past year’ — is the much applicable experience.”

On the Google TV Streamer, Gemini volition besides show overview summaries of shows and movies erstwhile you click into their item pages. The outgoing Chromecast already shows Rotten Tomatoes scores and IMDB ratings, but this volition aggregate feedback from much places. “You tin spot a summary crossed the web of what radical are saying astir this show,” Govil-Pai said. “Like, is it amazing? Is it not truthful amazing, but truly bully for radical who emotion sci-fi? All of that volition beryllium summarized for you.” Google believes LLMs tin besides nutrient much fine-tuned recommendations compared to the reasonably generic categories that Google TV surfaces close now.

Despite each these forward-facing features, 1 of Govil-Pai’s favourite caller additions is among the simplest: the Google TV Streamer has a distant finder fastener connected the backmost of the unit. When you property it, the distant emits a beeping sound, making it easier to find connected movie night. Your move, Apple, and no... using my telephone to find a remote isn’t the answer.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge