There’s going to be a new version of Google Chromecast

This round shaped object has a short HDMI cable attached to the round shaped body and there is a mandatory USB t to provide the power. Google also announced another dongle called Chromecast Audio.

Not unsurprisingly given it is now two years old, Google’s screencasting dongle the Chromecast has received an update, but not just one but two: there’s now the Chromecast Audio dedicated to (as the name suggests) music streaming. Both these devices will be priced at $35 (approx Rs 2,400) which was also the price of the original Chromecast (launched in 2013), and will start selling in around 17 countries soon.

The new Chromecast will come in three colors red, lemon and black. Google has also added a sort of prefetch technology, which it is calling “Fast Play“. Besides playing music off your device or other streaming services like Soundcloud, you even have the option to play music off YouTube, without bothering to have a screen on.

First and foremost when it comes to the changes to the Chromecast app is a huge new focus on content discovery. It supports RCA, 3.5mm and optical speaker inputs.

We had the chance to sit down with Mario Queiroz, vice president of product management at Google, and ask him a few of his thoughts on the future of these video-and-audio streaming devices.

The New Devices tab in the new Chromecast app now has playback controls, too. So you can browse through photographs on your phone, while viewing pictures on your TV, and your browsing photo activity will not be mirrored on your TV. You can label the collections of faces which will be done very privately so Google can’t use the data for its own purposes.

Chromecast Audio is available now for $35. The design of Chromecast Audio is a hat tip to the classic vinyl records with the concentric circles and neon coloured wires that connect to the auxillary port on your speaker.

Despite the new features, Chromecast media streamers are still insanely easy to use.

There are a number of services already on board with Chromecast Audio, including Google’s Play Music, Deezer, Pandora, audio-book platform Audible, and current market leader Spotify.

As for the Chromecast itself, Google said the new shape will drastically improve its Wi-Fi strength so that it can cast 1080p streams without any hiccups.