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Chromecast is the latest product added to Google’s kill list
Chromecast have lived for 11 years but Google has played its classic game of ending its production to bring a new product.
Google has a long history of killing products out of the blue and the Chromecast is the latest to join this dubious list. That’s right, the company has announced that after 11 years and over 100 million devices sold across the globe, the production of Chromecast is coming to an end. Google says the units will be available till they are in stock and after that the ecosystem is going in a new direction.
One might say that sales of 100 million units is a decent figure for the company to prolong the lineup. So, why is Google shelving the Chromecast series now?
Google says that times have changed and it feels that unlike back in 2013, there are a good number of Android TVs in the market that makes them feel comfortable about making this change. The company points out that the majority of smart TVs now come with built-in Chromecast features which brings support for thousands of apps on the big screen.
“So we are taking the next step in evolving how streaming TV devices can add even more capabilities to your smart TV, built on top of the same Chromecast technology,” Google explains in the post here.
Chromecast started its journey in a bulky hand drive-like size with an HDMI connector. Fast-forward to 2024, and you have a sleek dongle with one of the popular remotes in the smart TV segment. Google assures that existing Chromecast support remains but knowing the company we’ll see if it can stay true to its word for once.
What Now?
With the end of the series, the new Chromecast upgrade from the company is called Google TV Streamer which gives you the best of Chromecast, Google Nest speakers and Android to some extent. The new device is similar to a Wi-Fi router or set-top-box, supports Wi-Fi or ethernet for connectivity and comes with 2GB RAM and 32GB of onboard storage.
The Google TV Streamer sits next to the TV rather than hanging at the back and having USB C for power is a major upgrade that the device needed in 2024. The Streamer comes with a Chromecast-like remote that gets slight design tweaks and controls.
