Google Ditches Chromecast in Favor of Google TV Streamer
Google wants to bring artificial intelligence from your pocket to your living room, and it’s using Apple TV in its own way to do it. Today the company announced Google TV Streamer, a set-top box that replaces Chromecast and is also a Gemini-powered smart home hub.
The oval-shaped freestanding unit is 6.4 inches long—not big, but certainly saves less space than a small puck that just hangs on the back of the TV. It’s designed to be placed in front of your TV rather than behind it, and while you’ll probably be able to attach it to the back of the screen with well-placed adhesive or zippers, no mounting hardware is included.
With this larger form factor, you get 32GB of storage, 4GB of memory, enough power to run HDR streams at up to 4K@60fps, and a built-in streaming radio for smart home integration. Like the higher-end Chromecast, Dolby Vision and Atmos are also supported – and, importantly, there’s more room for ports, meaning you can now plug in an Ethernet cable rather than relying on Wi-Fi or clunky adapters .
The included remote control has also been slightly redesigned and now offers voice control, but the real difference here is the software.
Ditching the popular Chromecast brand for a set-top box is a risky move, and like many recent tech rebrands, it’s all about two letters: AI. Besides the fresh look and visual fidelity, Google TV Streamer also boasts, according to Google, about 22% more processing power, which is just enough to bring multiple Gemini events to the big screen.
Did you want to get AI reviews while watching House of the Dragon ? Because while watching House of the Dragon you get AI reviews. When you select a TV show in Google TV Streamer, you’ll now receive AI-generated fields that summarize topics like “what it’s about,” “what people are saying,” and “what you need to know.”
AI-curated content offerings are also promised, although Google hasn’t explained how these differ from Google TV’s existing algorithm. A video promoting Google TV Streamer shows a user asking for “movies that feel like a vacation” and being shown My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 .
In Environment mode, you can create AI screensavers using voice prompts on the remote control. Or you can display images from your Google Photos if you prefer to stay real.
Speaking of reality, the Google TV Streamer radio channel gives it connectivity to Matter, but more importantly, access to Google’s home dashboard. From here, you can adjust connected smart lights or thermostats, or monitor connected smart cameras. As with Apple TV and Chromecast, you’ll be able to stream content to the Google TV streamer from your phone, as well as add it to speaker groups to play music from your TV.
Google TV Streamer is available for pre-order now and will begin shipping on September 24th. It costs $99 and comes in porcelain (white) and walnut (gray), although walnut is a Google Store exclusive in the US.