The Chromecast is going away<\/a> after more than a decade in Google\u2019s hardware portfolio, with the company phasing it out to make room for the new Google TV Streamer<\/a>. In 2013, the timing was perfect for the Chromecast\u2019s success. Most TVs of that era had rudimentary entertainment apps that were often slow, so beaming content from your phone to a TV made a lot of sense.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But times have changed. With the Chromecast with Google TV<\/a> in 2020. Google pivoted in the opposite direction with a much more traditional, lean-back entertainment experience. Casting took a backseat to carousels of content recommendations, and native apps returned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Google TV Streamer is designed to build on that strategy by infusing Gemini AI smarts into the software. It\u2019ll put smart home controls right on your TV screen. And yes, it\u2019ll be faster than the often-laggy Chromecast. \u201cIt is blazingly fast, so it\u2019s a more premium model than what we\u2019ve been releasing before,\u201d says Shalini Govil-Pai, the VP and GM of Google TV. I spoke with her last week to hear more about the thinking behind Google\u2019s $99 device, which goes on sale in late September.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe Google TV Streamer was our response to a lot of our users saying \u2018hey, Chromecast is great and really inexpensive. But we can get inexpensive devices from a lot of players now,\u2019\u2019 Govil-Pai said. (Walmart\u2019s Onn brand<\/a> is filling out the under-$50 zone quite well<\/a> with multiple Google TV streamers, and Amazon and Roku both sell devices priced in that same impulse-buy territory.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n So Google decided to focus on a higher-end device, and it viewed the Nvidia Shield<\/a> \u2014 long praised as the most performant Android TV streamer \u2014 as something to strive towards. \u201cThe Nvidia Shield was our gold tier price point as well as gold tier performance, and this is really what it\u2019s going to be with our Google TV Streamer. That\u2019s why we\u2019re very excited about it.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n And yet, even right after the announcement, some of our commenters were frustrated that Google had settled for just a 22 percent boost in CPU speed. There\u2019s a good chance this thing will still benchmark underneath the fairly ancient Shield. Why not just drop a Tensor chip into it?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It comes down to cost and keeping the Streamer at a price that\u2019s acceptable for average consumers. \u201cWe don\u2019t know if there\u2019s functionality that would actually convince people to buy pricier price points than this, but the market is generally telling us right now people are probably not ready for it,\u201d Govil-Pai said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Google isn\u2019t convinced there\u2019s a market for an over-$100 streamer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n And even if there is<\/em> eventually a higher-priced living room device from Google, it sounds like horsepower won\u2019t be the main justification. \u201cOver time, do we have enough functionality, let\u2019s say from a Gemini perspective, that actually make it worthwhile to spend even more money? Then we will definitely look at it,\u201d she said. \u201cBut at this point, I think this is the competitive price point that we want to play at.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Google has doubled the amount of RAM in the Google TV Streamer, which could play as much of a role as the CPU bump when it comes to ensuring smoother day-to-day performance \u2014 and keeping it that way after a year or two. The Chromecast with Google TV had a reputation for faring okay right out of the box, but gradually getting laggy over time. Google\u2019s decision to stick with Wi-Fi 5 on a streaming device is unfortunate, but at least there\u2019s a built-in gigabit ethernet jack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Google TV Streamer is also relatively future-proofed as a centerpiece of the smart home. The Google Home panel will let you quickly dim lights, view cameras, trigger automations, and so on. There\u2019s Matter support and a Thread border router baked right in, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As for the new software capabilities, Govil-Pai said Google is trying to address modern trends. You can use Gemini to create generative AI screensavers that are shown when the Google TV Streamer is in ambient mode \u2014 kind of like a Frame TV<\/a> \u2014 or ask it to pull up photos from a recent trip. On a related note, I asked Govil-Pai why there\u2019s still no proper Google Photos app for the company\u2019s TV platform. \u201cWhat we found in our user studies is that most people don\u2019t actually want to open the app on TV. They just want to very quickly get to things, and so that\u2019s why we believe the voice-based interactions \u2014 like \u2018hey, show me my memories from last year\u2019 \u2014 is the more relevant experience.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n On the Google TV Streamer, Gemini will also display overview summaries of shows and movies when you click into their detail pages. The outgoing Chromecast already shows Rotten Tomatoes<\/em> scores and IMDB ratings, but this will aggregate feedback from more places. \u201cYou can see a summary across the web of what people are saying about this show,\u201d Govil-Pai said. \u201cLike, is it amazing? Is it not so amazing, but really good for people who love sci-fi? All of that will be summarized for you.\u201d Google believes LLMs can also produce more fine-tuned recommendations compared to the fairly generic categories that Google TV surfaces right now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Despite all these forward-facing features, one of Govil-Pai\u2019s favorite new additions is among the simplest: the Google TV Streamer has a remote finder button on the back of the unit. When you press it, the remote emits a beeping sound, making it easier to find on movie night. Your move, Apple, and no… using my phone to find a remote<\/a> isn\u2019t the answer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n