9 to 5 Google is reporting that a new Chromecast will be announced at the September 29th Google event.
The rumored new features are:
- 11b/g/n/ac for faster WiFi streaming
- “Fast Play” rumored to allow faster start to your videos
- New form factor
The new Chromecast is said to come in at least 3 new colors; yellow, black, and red. It is also rumored, according to 9 to5 Google, to be a bubble-like streaming device. Considering that the Chromecast is designed to be behind your TV the addition of different colors seems confusing. Why offer multiple colors for something you won’t see?
The new shape is also confusing as it does not look like an HDMI port on the end of the stick. It almost looks like an Apple lightening cable adapter, but the low quality photos make it hard to know for sure.
The “Fast Play” feature appears to be a quicker way to start your movies and TV shows. It may be similar to the way Amazon attempts to preload what it thinks you are likely to play, in order to have an almost instant start to your content. The addition of considerably faster 802.11ac WiFi to the new Chromecast will help make this quick start content possible.
There are still a lot of questions about the new Chromecast but we have known for some time that Google has been working on an update for the small, much loved, streaming stick. However, this looks to be a much larger update than expected.
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