Google TV: A Low-Power, Efficient, Low-Cost Chromecast for the Low-Redshift Internet: Overview and Tech Tech Features
A lot of the users here said that the Chromecast is great and inexpensive. It is possible to get inexpensive devices from a lot of players. (Walmart’s Onn brand is filling out the under-$50 zone quite well with multiple Google TV streamers, and Amazon and Roku both sell devices priced in that same impulse-buy territory.)
As you browse, you will receive full summaries, reviews, and season-by-season breakdowns of content, courtesy of the software that is being tapped by the internet giant. The same interface as before gave personalized recommendations and provided helpful context, so the new features aren’t game-changing. You can create generative AI screensavers that are shown when the Google TV Streamer is in ambient mode, which sounds like the kind of thing people will try once or twice and then never use again. The ambient mode can also showcase your Google Photos albums, which I’ll definitely use.
On the back of the Streamer are several ports where you can connect cables for Ethernet, HDMI 2.1, and USB-C for power. A gentle curve on the back of the device blocks any wires from sight. There’s also a button that, once pressed, makes an audible ping on the remote to help you find it. (It’s probably between the couch cushions.) The remote looks similar to the one included with the previous generation Chromecast With Google TV, but slightly longer. Some buttons have moved to be more ergonomic; volume, for example, is now on the front rather than the edge of the remote. Also new is a customizable button that can open your favorite app or Google’s Home Panel.
Hopefully, those changes will be enough to make the Google TV user experience much smoother and prevent the Streamer from getting bogged down over time. Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos are both present like before, and you can still cast content to the Google TV Streamer as always. The Chromecast name might be gone, but the functionality isn’t. This also has to be among the first streaming devices to be powered over USB-C. Other tech specs include HDMI 2.1a, Wi-Fi 5, gigabit ethernet, and Bluetooth 5.1.
The device comes in two different colors, white and hazel, but the dark gray one is exclusive to the store. Unlike the device hidden behind your TV, the Google Tv Streamer is designed to be sat underneath it without being noticed. Part of why Google designed it to be placed out in the open is because the device includes a Thread border router and connectivity support for Matter.
Both devices have a bit of artificial intelligence spruced in—Google Assistant is getting some assistance from the company’s Gemini large language model—along with long-awaited hardware improvements, and elegant designs that better blend the tech into your home. They arrive a few weeks before the Made by Google event, where new products are expected to be announced.
Nine years have passed since Google introduced the third-generation Nest Learning Thermostat, but the wait for the fourth-generation model is finally over. The company unveiled a new smart thermostat today. On the same day as the new version of the Chromecast, the new version of the TV Streamer arrives.
The Nvidia Shield, long praised as the most performant of all theAndroid TV streamer, was seen as something to strive towards when it was decided that Google would focus on a higher-end device. The gold tier price point of the Shield was what we are bringing to our internet tv streamer. That’s why we’re very excited about it,” Govil-Pai said.
And yet, even right after the announcement, some of our commenters were frustrated that Google had settled for just a 22 percent boost in CPU speed. There’s a good chance this thing will still benchmark underneath the fairly ancient Shield. Why not just drop a Tensor chip into it?
It comes down to cost and keeping the Streamer at a price that’s acceptable for average consumers. The market is telling us that people are not ready for this, so we don’t know if there is anyFunctionality that would convince them to buy pricier price points than this.
If there is eventually a high priced living room device, it sounds like there won’t be the reason for it. “Over time, do we have enough functionality, let’s say from a Gemini perspective, that actually make it worthwhile to spend even more money? She said that they would definitely look at it after that. “But at this point, I think this is the competitive price point that we want to play at.”