Google TV Launcher: Is Google TV Android TV? The rest remains hidden behind your television.įirst, let’s take a look at Google TV in some more detail. The new Chromecast is available in three different colors: Snow (aka white), Sky (aka blue) and Sunrise (aka salmon pink).īefore you get too excited, remember that the only part of the new Google Chromecast you’re going to see is the remote control. Although it’s considerably more expensive than the basic Chromecast, you’re adding a remote control and a brand new operating system: Google TV. The new addition to the lineup is the Chromecast with Google TV. If you have one of the dozens of recent televisions with Chromecast Built-In, it’ll work the same as well. The basic Chromecast (between $20-$30) will allow you to cast content from supported apps from your smartphone to your television. There are still two versions of the Chromecast, just in case you’re one of the dozen-or-so people that hasn’t already bought one. I’m glad to see that Google finally fixed those glaring issues – even if it was about five years too late. That’s expensive for a streaming device without any apps or a remote control. The Chromecast Ultra, however, was almost double the price.
The basic Chromecast, which is still around, retails for $30 and you can usually find it on sale for under $20. The old Chromecast Ultra was never as big a hit as Google hoped it would be. This new Chromecast with Google TV replaces the Chromecast Ultra. There have been several different versions of the Chromecast over the years. Then they made it only $50 to entice people away from Roku. Google took their popular Chromecast and added version of Android TV specifically designed for streaming. That’s where the new Chromecast with Google TV comes in. Roku had become the clear winner and Android TV needed a good, but inexpensive streaming device to stay competitive. Similarly, Google’s own Android TV operating system was considered a great platform, but was confined to high-end devices like the NVIDIA Shield and Sony televisions. After almost ten years, the Google Chromecast is finally worth buying.Įven though the Chromecast had sold over 55 million units, it started to lose ground to Roku and Amazon’s Fire TV back in 2017.