Google's new dongle dangles.
Google just announced the Chromecast 2, its second-generation streaming device, and the new Chromecast Audio dongle, capable of turning any regular speaker into a smart speaker. The new Chromecast has a totally different design with a circular shape, and it comes in black, yellow and red. However, it still uses HDMI to connect to your TV.
Under the hood, Google’s included support for 5GHz W-Fi. It also sports a new antenna system for better performance. Alongside the new device, Google also revealed a new Chromecast app. You can search across multiple live streaming apps with a quick voice command. There’s even a What’s On tab with suggested content.
Google is putting an emphasis on gaming too. You can cast a mobile game to your TV from iOS or Android and play it on the TV. It even supports multi-player mode where each person uses their own phone as an individual controller.
Google announced that Showtime, NBA, NHL, and Sling TV are all adding support for Chromecast as well. There are some new wallpaper options too, including images from Getty along with your own Facebook and Flickr accounts.
Chromecast Audio is basically the same thing, but for music. Instead of hooking it up to a TV, you hook it up to a sound system or Bluetooth speaker. This allows you to save battery on your smartphone. You and friends can set a queue of music for a playlist, and the hardware even allows for multi room support.
Chromecast Audio and the new Chromecast is available today for $35.
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