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Ilovethebomb ,

In place of the Chromecast, the company will offer the newly announced $99.99 Google TV Streamer,

They’re replacing it with a very similar product. Nothing to see here.

LaggyKar ,
@LaggyKar@programming.dev avatar

A more expensive, clunkier product, with a bunch of needless fluff in it.

DampSquid ,

Enshitification 101

fraksken ,

For which they will be able to offer subscriptions in a year or 2.

NegativeInf ,

You mean twice the ram (1 gig more than the shield), 4 times the storage (32 gigs), and a better remote (chirping find my remote feature, programmable button, and less shitty volume buttons)?

Yep. Sure sounds worse considering it also supports all the same features of the chromecast 4k and AV1 decoding.

sanpo ,

They’re supposedly using pretty much the same chipset. So the most important part is still underpowered, these Android boxes generally work fine even with 2-3GBs of RAM.

NegativeInf ,

From OP article

such as a processor that’s 22 percent faster

sanpo ,

It’s supposed to use S905X3 with ARM Cortex-A55.

There’s already plenty of devices on the market with this chip, and it’s fine, but in real world as a user you won’t really see any improvement over something like a nearly 10 year old Nvidia Shield that’s still using a more powerful chipset.

Which is sad for a new device…

NegativeInf ,

Does Nvidia even make new mobile chipsets still? At least… Relatively cheaply? I know there’s something of an Nvidia tax.

sanpo ,

I don’t think so. Maybe they’ll have something new for the next Nintendo Switch?

In fact, the Shield is using the same chip as the Switch (same for the newer revisions).

woelkchen ,
@woelkchen@lemmy.world avatar

Regular Chromecast work perfectly as YouTube jukebox.

NegativeInf ,

What do you mean regular Chromecast?

woelkchen ,
@woelkchen@lemmy.world avatar

What do you mean regular Chromecast?

Just regular Chromecast, not that Google TV stuff. That round dongle that does nothing but accept casting streams via that cast button in many Android apps.

NegativeInf ,

So the one from 2013? Sure. It was fine for that. This is a different thing, as not every device, service, or whatever supports casting. I wish they did, but they don’t.

Secondarily, I don’t want to use a screen to control a screen. I prefer a physical remote that I can have muscle memory for.

But I get why people liked the device. I did too. But fortunately or unfortunately, it’s been 10 years and technology has moved. Which is probably why they are giving this a new name being an generally good upgrade on the last Chromecast 4K.

Christ, this one even has a built in Ethernet port and doesn’t put strain on my HDMI port by just dangling there.

woelkchen ,
@woelkchen@lemmy.world avatar

So the one from 2013? Sure. It was fine for that. This is a different thing, as not every device, service, or whatever supports casting. I wish they did, but they don’t.

Well, the story is about Google ending that line of products.

NegativeInf ,

With a direct successor product that contains all the same features as the last Chromecast device. If you are mourning the loss of the casting only Chromecast, that died long ago production-wise.

woelkchen ,
@woelkchen@lemmy.world avatar

If you are mourning the loss of the casting only Chromecast, that died long ago production-wise.

Late 2022 is not long ago.

NegativeInf ,

The last casting only device (Chromecast Gen3) was originally released in 2018 (6 years ago). They stopped selling it in 2022. And it is still supported with updates. They supported the original with 10 years of updates. If all ya wanna do is cast, keep using it. I personally want more than a cast point.

woelkchen ,
@woelkchen@lemmy.world avatar

I personally want more than a cast point.

Great. Where did I say you cannot have that? You’re acting weirdly defensively for something nobody is trying to take away from you. OK, maybe Google will in 2 years. All I said was that for casting the regular Chromecast is fine and you’re turning that into something overly emotional for no reason.

NegativeInf ,

I’m not emotional, I just find the rage about this topic insane as they legit just changed the name of a product and gave it good iterative upgrades over the previous model by addressing their customer pain points. Especially when the casting feature is now highly integrated across most modern devices. It’s not like someone said they will never make a cheaper device than this one. And frankly, if one wants to point to enshittification of Google products, there are much better places to point than their hardware division.

Sorry if I appear emotional? I don’t feel emotional. I’m just responding in a way I feel is rational to the barrage of comments replying to me. If anything, there seems to be an emotional charge in the opposite direction. But I’m sure that’s just in my reading 20 of them directed at me. I’m genuinely excited about this product because it shows that Google cares about a product I like to the point where they want to make it better.

woelkchen ,
@woelkchen@lemmy.world avatar

I’m not emotional, I just find the rage about this topic insane

Yes, you are and you must have me confused with someone else because I made no emotional / rageful comments. The only emotional between you and me is you and I don’t care to engage any longer.

saltesc ,

Yeah, I have a smart TV and would appreciate some faster processing in there. Or if I can flash a simplified ROM, but dunno if those exist. As long as I get control over what it does, I’d take it. Can just Velcro it on the back of the TV so it’s invisible.

NegativeInf ,

I have a smart TV as well, but refuse to connect it directly to wifi. As I tried that when I bought it and it insta-bricked itself and had to go through the hassle of returning a delivered TV.

A custom ROM for this device would be interesting. I know that the Chromecast 4K can do a custom ROM, but only if it was running an older os version before you flash it, as the bootloader couldn’t be unlocked after.

wewbull ,

My Chromecast has no storage and no remote. It’s fine.

NegativeInf ,

Cool. Keep using it.

SkaveRat ,

until they decide that their new device needs more sales, so they depricate the protocol and you can’t use it anymore

NegativeInf ,

Deprecate the casting protocol? Sure Jan. The new device still supports casting.

MimicJar ,

They killed support for the first gen Chromecast and the YouTube “app” has been broken for 3+ years. They’ll just stop supporting it one day and you’ll have to buy a new one.

IsThisAnAI ,

Oh no, my $40 device won’t work after ELEVEN years. I’m being abused!

lung ,
@lung@lemmy.world avatar

Truly a golden era

bionicjoey ,

You haven’t been paying attention to Google in the last few years, have you?

AbidanYre ,

Chromecast ultras are already broken if you try to use your own DNS.

kent_eh ,

That’s the only reason I had to replace my previous 2 steaming devices.

The streaming backend got updated and the app in my device no longer supported it. And there was no updated app made available for that device.

LaggyKar ,
@LaggyKar@programming.dev avatar

Until services stop supporting it.

Tanoh ,

And ethernet port!

NegativeInf ,

Yes! I hadn’t seen that highlighted anywhere in articles really, only saw it on the damn Google Store after looking just now.

Seems an all around solid update on the previous device.

Dasnap ,
@Dasnap@lemmy.world avatar

Just gotta stick FLauncher, SmartTube, Jellyfin, and Stremio on it and it seems solid.

NegativeInf ,

And now I can install all those things without worrying about my internal storage filling to capacity!

damo_omad ,

I changed from FLauncher to Projectivity Launcher a little while ago and definitely recommend it

Dasnap ,
@Dasnap@lemmy.world avatar

My wife is used to FLauncher and will probably get annoyed if I change the Shield’s interface (again…) but maybe I’ll try it out on the Google TV Chromecast I have for holiday trips.

jeena ,
@jeena@piefed.jeena.net avatar

I just hope this is still possible on the new one, I can see a future where they make it impossible but hopefully not yet.

I agree that it's a good upgrade too, the only dowside is that it's not portable anymore, I used to take it with me on any travel to have my own home theater set up like I like it with me when I was living in Hotels and AirBnB's for a year on business travel. Especially in Asia the TVs are in the local language and I never have any idea how to change the language from Korean or Japanese to English so I can use the TV. But putting in the dongle and turning on the TV was always possible.

Dasnap ,
@Dasnap@lemmy.world avatar

I doubt they’d block alternate launchers as they seem happy enough hosting them on Google Play.

Side-loading will be safe as Android being open is its whole deal. The EU are forcing Apple to be more open so there’s no way Google wants a target on their back.

LaggyKar ,
@LaggyKar@programming.dev avatar

You can get an Ethernet adapter for the Chromecast

lud ,

Yeah, exactly. You needed to buy an extra adapter before. Now you don’t.

LaggyKar ,
@LaggyKar@programming.dev avatar

None of which changes the fact that it’s more expensive and clunkier, and none of which feels necessary.

variants ,

I don’t need any of that. I just need a cheap dongle that can run one app

MeatsOfRage , (edited )

The dongle still works. They reached market saturation with people who just want a dongle. They can’t realistically be expected to produce these forever.

Edit

Classic Lemmy. Point out that these are not charities and companies can’t keep producing niche products that you aren’t buying but maybe potentially want to buy someday and get thrown down votes. Sorry folks whether you like it or not it’s the truth. Companies like to sell things and if these were actually being bought enough to make a profit they wouldn’t be discontinued. Your TV probably has this feature built in now. Want another? Buy it second hand, the market is absolutely flooded with these second hand because they’re just collecting dust in cabinets. If Google kept making these they’d just end up as unsold stock in a landfill.

Your existing chromecast dongle will continue to connect because Google needs chromecast the protocol to continue to work to compete with Apples Airplay. It’s the same reason the Chromecast Audio dongle continues to work 5 years after it’s end of life.

If you want to make sure you have them forever buy up your local second hand stock but otherwise no one has given a convincing argument why these need to keep getting produced at the factory.

variants ,

I mean I’d hope so because eventually this one I have won’t work like the previous one so I’d like a similar product when that happens not this 99 dollar box thing. I guess I hope someone else will continue making cheap dongles I think walmart has their own thing

MeatsOfRage ,

Facebook marketplace is absolutely loaded with these for less than $20. Let’s recycle the existing stock.

wholookshere ,

Because that’ll last

Blue_Morpho ,

So when the current dongle breaks and you just want another, what do you buy?

MeatsOfRage ,

Facebook market place in my small town has dozens of these for less than $20. Why don’t you pick up a few of these and recycle our current supply instead of asking companies to produce more e waste incase we someday want to buy it.

Blue_Morpho ,

The large used market exists because Google has been producing them. When Google stops producing them, that supply will dry up.

MeatsOfRage ,

Lucky you, this is the perfect time to snatch up all the ones you say you need on the cheap.

Blue_Morpho ,

I’m not going to buy something I don’t need right now. Especially when my buying it is denying it to someone else who wants it.

MeatsOfRage ,

Ok so just so we’re clear, you want Google to keep mass producing e waste that you and most of the world aren’t buying right now just in case someday you might want to buy another.

kent_eh ,

Your existing chromecast dongle will continue to connect

Will it, though?

“Sorry this device is too old to support the newest software update. For your convenience we have bricked it. Please see your authorized dealer to purchase an upgraded device”

MeatsOfRage , (edited )

Sure, give me a single example where a chromecast device was taken off the chromecast protocol. Even their original Chromecast Audio device which was discontinued and taken out of production over 5 years ago still functions to this day.

kent_eh ,

Cast protocol is only one of the many many things that you can stream through a chromecast device.

moody ,

Most of the appeal of the Chromecast is that it’s a dongle you plug in once and never have to see again. It doesn’t need high performance and 32 gigs of RAM. It needs to play video. That’s its entire purpose. It’s controlled by any phone on your wifi, it doesn’t need a remote.

For most users, this is an expensive downgrade.

jeena ,
@jeena@piefed.jeena.net avatar

The remote was the biggest upgrade for me on the Ultra though. I always struggled to find my phone and do stuff on it just to watch some YouTube or Netflix videos. And the Kids don't even have a phone and they want to watch on the TV in the livingroom too sometimes. With the remote it's easy for everyone to use it without fiddling with the Phone.

My parents have the one without the remote and they basically never use it because my mom doesn't have a mobile phone and my dad newer has it with him, it's always not charged or in some other room.

kent_eh ,

It’s controlled by any phone on your wifi, it doesn’t need a remote.

Or you can use it’s remote and not need to use your phone for absolutely every little thing.

Ilovethebomb ,

Now with AI!

I’m not sure why they didn’t just call it the chrome cast gen whatever though.

MagicShel ,

So you could just ask it for anything and it could make it up?

“Google, show ‘Ow! My Balls!’”

Ilovethebomb ,

I wonder how far away we are from AI being able to create video on demand like that?

MagicShel ,

I think overall it’ll never be able to create quality entertainment.

But Ow! My Balls! isn’t quality entertainment. I’m sure it can create all kinds of clips of things smashing into groins for ultra low-brow entertainment. Probably today.

Ilovethebomb ,

Shitposting is one area where I have no issues using AI.

woelkchen ,
@woelkchen@lemmy.world avatar

They’re replacing it with a very similar product. Nothing to see here.

Like they do with messengers every couple of years.

Ilovethebomb ,

Or music streaming apps.

lemming741 ,

Seemed monthly at one point 🤣

cupcakezealot ,
@cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

and before that they already replaced it with google tv with chromecast

Thann ,
@Thann@lemmy.ml avatar

Similar product that costs 4 times as much and has AI features…

Telodzrum ,

The low-power streaming box is dying. It’s not completely without reason, 4k playback is actually a bit demanding.

We are in a place where the 2017 nVidia Shield is beginning to show its age and that leaves the AppleTV as the only powerful and capable consumer set top box on the market. This new option from Google will at least provide some competition and an option outside of Apple’s ecosystem.

DoucheBagMcSwag ,

I cannot believe NVIDIA has essentially abandoned its SHIELD micro console line. My Shield Pro has been an amazing sideloading fiend.

Telodzrum ,

I absolutely love mine, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t stutter sometimes when asked to perform more demanding tasks. The chip is also going to start having issues with formats in the coming years. I’d love for nVidia to put out something that used a rival to the A15 in Apple’s box. Native AV1 decoding and just raw speed is really needed to catch up to use cases in 2024 compared to 7 years earlier.

DoucheBagMcSwag ,

We’ll have to see if the processor is better than the shield. Google’s spec page shows it has 1 GB of RAM more than the shield but conveniently does not say what processor is in it

avidamoeba , (edited )
@avidamoeba@lemmy.ca avatar

Swallowed the clickbait, hook, line and sinker.

balder1991 ,

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/a83e385b-92d2-4e93-a2c6-6a71e96a9194.jpeg

108 ,

Another one for the graveyard

FordBeeblebrox ,

Killedbygoogle.com

jeena ,
@jeena@piefed.jeena.net avatar

The Chromecast was one of the few things I really liked made by Google. I always have one in my travel bag and it's basically like bringing your own home theater to the hotel with you. I had a time where I lived in hotels and AirBnB's for almost a year and this thing was god send.

They have some other device which they want to sell which will replace it, but that one is big and clunky, not meant for traveling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSSI_Ht6Mis

WanderingVentra ,

Dammit. I like it for the same reason. Why does Google keep doing this?

jdeath ,

well, it’s just in their DNA. institutional inertia is a helluva drug!

intensely_human ,

Because they worship incompetence.

AbsoluteChicagoDog ,

$

BuddyTheBeefalo , (edited )

I take my raspberry pi 400 and a mouse with me ($70). I don’t like to travel with expensive things. Once connected to a hotel tv, i have a full pc. I watch movies in 720p to have more fps. In case I have something important to do but no TV, I vnc to my phone.

poopkins ,

Connecting a classic (non-Google TV) Chromecast to a new WiFi (or heaven forbid a hotel WiFi with a capture portal) was always such a pain. And casting over networks without mDNS is flaky at best and otherwise downright impossible.

By contrast, I’ve loved taking along my Chromecast with Google TV to hotels, along with:

  • A VPN client installed it already,
  • An Android phone that can create a WiFi AP while connected to the hotel WiFi,
  • A Bluetooth speaker and my Bluetooth headphones paired to it so I get great audio as well.

This has been a complete gamechanger and a genuine upgrade over yesteryear’s Chromecasts.

MagicShel ,

Of course they are.

jqubed ,
@jqubed@lemmy.world avatar

Google’s gonna Google

N1ghtstalk3r ,
@N1ghtstalk3r@lemmy.world avatar

Add another casualty to the list:

killedbygoogle.com

LodeMike ,

I just came to comment this exact string.

bitflag ,

They aren’t really, they are just upgrading it to a full set top box and rebranding it.

IamAnonymous ,

But it went from a dongle to a set top box for more than 3 times the price. It’s not really the same device, just similar functionality.

IsThisAnAI ,

🙄 it’s as dead as the Nexus. Try to keep up.

Lucidlethargy ,

Lol I said these exact words a second before I read this. Google is such a fucking awful company.

MerchantsOfMisery ,

Family practically thought I was David Blaine when I got a first gen Chromecast back in the day.

Evotech ,

It was magic. Still is tbh.

intensely_human ,

Cheez-Its. Cheez-Its

chevy9294 ,

I’m waiting for Gmail, it has to be soon :)

Dead_or_Alive ,

No the NSA, CIA, FBI and all the other alphabet agencies would never allow it.

bitwaba ,

Alphabet agencies and Alphabet companies.

Name a more iconic duo

corsicanguppy ,

Name a more iconic duo

Microsoft and Sobbing.

dutchkimble ,

Why Google Duo of course

Caligvla ,
@Caligvla@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Really, rebranding from Chromecast to Google TV Streamer? Who the fuck was the genius that greenlighted this?

csm10495 ,
@csm10495@sh.itjust.works avatar

Yep. Someone thinks the Google name has some crazy value.

jdeath ,

they make 6.1 million dollars per day for their executive savvy

BleatingZombie ,

I knew someone who worked at a really well loved local restaurant. One day a new manager came in and IMMEDIATELY wanted to change the name. According to him, you should change a restaurant’s name every 2 years

Why would you ruin the recognition you already have? He was also planning on changing the name to be the exact same as a business down the street. I think he was an idiot

piccolo ,

“Give this man a raise and promotion” – some MBA somewhere

Showroom7561 ,

Probably the same guy that greenlights unwanted UI changes in all their products.

Amir ,
@Amir@lemmy.ml avatar

Literally all my friends know the name “Chromecast”, why would you rename it

Venator ,

Why does Google do any of the dumb shit they do?

darkevilmac ,
@darkevilmac@lemmy.zip avatar

To justify the salaries of their product managers

Venator ,

Discontinuing products seems more like it would be to justify laying them off?

2pt_perversion ,

Chromecast naming scheme did get weird - it’s difficult for someone who doesn’t follow these things to know if they want the chromecast ultra or chromecast with google tv. I agree though they should have just called the new product something like “Chromecast Box 2025”.

SomeGuy69 ,
@SomeGuy69@lemmy.world avatar

and then add TV to it, is this now advertised to seniors?

balder1991 ,

It seems so, some people in the thread complained their parents don’t use ChromeCast because it needed the phone to use. Apparently seniors are also better if you want to sell an expensive subscription when the opportunity arises.

FalseMyrmidon ,

Makes sense. Smart TVs weren't common at that point, now you can't avoid them.

olympicyes ,

I don’t allow my TVs to touch the internet. I hadn’t realized how much they phone home until disabling upnp on my router locked the tv up and I couldn’t navigate the Home Screen without a terrible delay. The telemetry collection is out of control and they fingerprint everything you watch from a connected device. No thanks.

frezik ,

Still works better for traveling. Hotel smart TVs are even worse than the home models, but if you have an open HDMI port on it and can work out the wifi, you’re in business.

overload ,

Urgh… We own three of these devices and this news really sucks because a set-top box isn’t convenient for two of those TVs.

aesthelete ,

f

thezeesystem ,

Me - Ok Google, give me a open source way to turn my raspberry pi into a 4k streaming box.

Google - Got it. Playing Tyler Swift on living room tv

Me - wtf?

avidamoeba ,
@avidamoeba@lemmy.ca avatar

HardKernel makesa a few ODROID models that come with available Android TV builds. Some have the same chipset as the AMLogic on the CCwGTV 4K and they aren’t terribly expensive. If I wanted an open source Chromecast replacement I’d go for that.

_pete_ ,

I feel the original Chromecast was probably the last truly great original Google product, it was simple, it was inexpensive and it worked - you just plugged it in, joined your network and you were off, there really wasn’t anything like it at the time.

I really hate what they’ve become.

bam13302 ,

What changed? I thought that is still what they did.

CameronDev ,

Chromecast with Google TV made the “simple” casting worse for some apps like Netflix. Instead of it casting directly, it would spawn the Netflix app and make you use the remote to reselect the show you wanted to see.

jballs ,
@jballs@sh.itjust.works avatar

Also they made it reliant on the Google Home app, which makes it really hard to change WiFi networks. It’s a pain in the ass if you have multiple WiFi networks setup at your house.

_pete_ ,

I feels like they either badly copy (see Gemini) or don’t think about what they’re offering (see Stadia’s busted business model) they’re content to milk the existing services they’ve already got and make them worse by cramming in more ads (see YouTube, Google’s search result pages) and they cut out or dictate the web through their monopolies (see AMP and Chrome) rather than working with other parties to make good products.

They feel like Hooli in Silicon Valley, basically the definition of a fat tech giant who doesn’t do any innovation of their own.

ealoe ,

Badly copy (see Gemini)

Tf are you smoking dude, Google has been working on AI long before ChatGPT was a twinkle in Sam Altman’s eye. They didn’t release any public models because they wanted to go about it safely and not just dump the world’s best misinformation creator on the open market for anyone to use with little safeguards. All that went out the window when ChatGPT got all the press and google decided they wanted a piece of the hype, but pretending they “didn’t do any innovation of their own” in regards to AI is ludicrous. They have been at the forefront of AI development for the last decade, and the fact you think otherwise shows your only knowledge about AI is from after ChatGPT headlines started coming out.

_pete_ ,

www.popsci.com/wp-content/…/GluePizzaAI.png?strip…

Quill7513 ,

What’s funny is that was actually the start of them becoming who they are now. There’s a litany of evidence they stole the Chromecast technology

redhorsejacket ,

Hmm, so, last month I began to have issues with my Chromecast for the first time. I have an old 3rd gen Chromecast attached to my bedroom television (not a smart tv) for the purpose of casting obnoxiously long video essays to fall asleep to. After like a decade of essentially hassle free operation, it suddenly stopped being able to maintain a connection to my phone. I cast a video, and after approximately 10 minutes, the cast disconnects and I get a message on my phone saying “this video cannot be played in the background”. I’ve tried ever troubleshooting technique I can think of.

I know I shouldn’t attribute to malice what can be explained by other causes, but boy, seeing this news today sure makes me think about things like planned obsolescence.

BeMoreCareful ,

I have had the exact issue. I see a device disconnected message on my TV and typically give up.

BarbecueCowboy ,

Planned obsolescence is built into googles processes.

They’ve created an environment where your primary method of advancing in your career is only creating new things and there’s little to no options when choosing to support existing things. Some things have survived by chance and/or something to keep employees busy, but it’s unintentional.

SomeGuy69 ,
@SomeGuy69@lemmy.world avatar

On another news “Why is everyone hating google now?” lol

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