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| Google has updated its hugely popular Chromecast streaming dongle |
GOOGLE has updated its hugely popular Chromecast streaming device.
Google yesterday updated its Chromecast range, alongside brand-new Nexus smartphones, the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X.
The US technology firm released the first generation of its popular pocket-sized HDMI dongle back in July 2013.
The Chromecast slots into any HDMI port on a standard HD television set and allows users to stream content from mobile phones to the big screen.
Google's brand-new Chromecast has been redesigned from the ground-up and now sports a circular design, similar to the Google Chrome logo, and multiple colours.
The mini-disk design has allowed Google to pack more antennas, which support more wifi bands than its predecessor and means streaming should be more reliable, even with a temperamental wifi connection.
But despite the new technology, Google is keeping the same low price-point which helped make the first generation of Chromecast such a success, in a market saturated with other streaming boxes and smart set-up devices.
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| The new range of Chromecast devices come in three colours, including bright red |
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| Chromecast still works across both Android and iOS devices |
Google did not mention 4K streaming, a feature many other rival strew gin devices have added – including the new Fire TV.
Chromecast works across Android and iOS, so iPhone users will be able to take advantage of the £30 device.
As part of the update announced at the Nexus event last night, Google unveiled an overhauled Chromecast app.
The new smartphone software now offers more partner apps, as well as showing which various streaming services a chosen movie or TV is available on.
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| Google also flaunted a clever new trick dubbed Fast Play, which pre-loads your next episode |
Google also showed off a new feature called Fast Play, which will debut next year, which intelligently pre-loads content in the background so users will wait for less time when trying to stream a show or movie.
For example, if you watched episode five of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt last night, when you load the Netflix app the next morning, the software will quietly begin loading episode six in the background, in-case you want to pick-up where you left off.
As well as an update of the TV version, Google announced a new music version, called Chromecast Audio.
This can be plugged into home speakers, with audio content from any mobile device then streamed to them via your home wifi network.
It too will cost £30.
Both new Chromecast devices are available in the UK Google Store, starting from today.
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