The living room is an arena which has become increasingly heated with everyone trying to grab a slice of the market. The leaders, Microsoft and Sony, have captured the market through game consoles that double as hubs for streaming Netflix, Hulu, or other entertainment. Google’s tried with Android TV, but the devices flopped because they were expensive and didn’t appeal to the masses. However, the company has managed to crack the code for the living room. The Chromecast, a small streaming dongle, launched in mid 2013 with a lot of fan fare. It was cheap, small, and worked all from your Android or iOS device without little work or effort. The device sold millions of units, and now Google’s follow-up the success with a Chromecast 2 and Chromecast Audio.
A Chromecast 2 or Chromecast Audio only runs for $35 which is a fourth of the cost of an Apple TV or many of the Android TV devices. The Chromecast 2 features improved Wifi, and comes in black, yellow, or red. The Chromecast Audio is a new addition but takes on Sonos speakers, but is still only a small $35 dongle. The Chromecast Audio plugs into any speakers and plays music directly from apps like Google Play Music, Rdio, and even Spotify now! They’ve found out that wirelessly throwing video up to your TV is the easiest and most loved by users. This means everyone lives and operates on the phone, and doesn’t need an extra remote or device to control TV or other media apps.
Google’s Chromecast has broken into the living room through how cheap the device is. The low price is an impulse buy, which means many customers shopping online or at BestBuy would buy the items without much thought. Especially when compared to an Apple TV, Roku, or Amazon TV which all do similar things but all range in price. Google’s also managed to convince hundreds of developers to optimize apps to instantly cast to any Chromecast enabled TV. It’s an idea that Apple’s tried with Airplay and the Apple TV, but never took off because many people lacked an Apple TV. The Chromecast managed to do it with the insanely cheap device.
Along with the improved Chromecast app built from the ground up, it’s becoming a no brainer to have a Chromecast connected to each TV and each stereo system in your home. The app recommends other apps where you can discover apps enabled to cast to the device. Along with the app recommendations Google’s added universal search to the app and Chromecast, to easily search across services for your show or movie you want to watch. All together the app and device it makes the Chromecast a powerful device, which kills the competition without any work.
Tell us if you’re going to buy a Chromecast 2 or Chromecast Audio in the comments down below!