After selling 20 million Chromecast since it was introduced two years ago, Google has finally unveiled its successor. Featuring a new design that bear no resemblance to the original design, the second generation Chromecast also comes with integrated HDMI cable.
Not only that, the cable can be magnetically snapped into the back of Chromecast. Apart from design, other new feature that has been equipped into it is the more powerful dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac connectivity that works together with an adaptive antenna system.
According to Google, the antenna system inside the second generation Chromecast is designed to deliver the best Wi-Fi connection despite the ever changing network state in user’s home. Naturally, this allows the second generation Chromecast to perform better than its predecessor as shown in the table below:
At the same time, Google has also unveiled a second device called Chromecast Audio. As you can guess from its name, this particular Google Cast device is an audio-only device and is meant to deliver audio contents to existing audio speakers in one’s home.
The new Chromecast Audio can be used with pretty much any music apps that already support Google Cast and can be plugged into any audio system with auxiliary or line input. It supports either through the 3.5mm, RCA, or optical cable but only 3.5mm cable is included together with the device in the box.
Just like the second generation Chromecast, the new Chromecast Audio also features dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi connectivity with adaptive antenna system to ensure highest level of audio quality. In order to make sure that users able to take advantage of these new Google Cast devices, Google has announced that it has released an updated Chromecast app for Android today and will be heading to iOS within the next few weeks.
In terms of pricing, both second generation Chromecast and Chromecast Audio have the same price tag of USD 35 (around RM 156). Unfortunately, Malaysia is not part of the first 17 countries that have been scheduled to receive these new Google Cast devices today which means that you have to play the waiting game first if you are interested to get your hands on them in our shores.
[Source: Chromecast Audio, Chrome Blog]
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