We’ve been hearing rumors about a new Android TV-powered Chromecast — with a proper remote control, finally — for months. There have been sporadic leaks since, but today we’re getting our first good look at the fable remote control, courtesy of WinFuture. Behold:
Ooooo. Ahhhh.
As usual with Android TV remotes, the physical interface is kept fairly sparse. There’s a directional pad, a volume rocker, the usual navigation buttons, as well as YouTube and Netflix presets. Of course, this being Google, there’s an Assistant button on tow as well. Notably, there’s a power button too; Chromecast modules are normally on indefinitely.
The new image confirms the design we’d seen previously, a new dongle that can be easily hidden behind your TV rather than taking up space on your media console like some other streaming devices. According to WinFuture, the device uses a four-core AMLogic S905X2 chipset with two gigs of ram and “small” internal memory.
Google has already let us know it plans on announcing new Pixels and a new Nest device at its September 30 event. At this point it seems all but certain the new Chromecast will launch then as well. Current rumors are pegging the price to be as low as $50. If true — and if it runs at 4K — it could be an easy win for Google. Let’s hope that rumor pans out, assuming the company doesn’t cut too many corners to get to that point.
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Published September 18, 2020 — 23:54 UTC
