Google New Chromecast Dongle
and Chromecast Audio
Google has launched its
second-generation Chromecast dongle in India, alongside the new Chromecast
Audio dongle, both priced at Rs. 3,399. The media-streaming dongles will be
available from several online marketplaces including Flipkart, Snapdeal, Paytm,
as well as retailers like Reliance and Croma. No exact availability was
announced.
The company is offering a
free Saavn Pro subscription and free Hooq subscription - 6 months each - with
both dongles. To recall, the company had refreshed the Chromecast dongle and
globally launched it with the new Chromecast Audio dongle September last year.
The second-generation
Chromecast's design (seen above) is significantly different from the
original's. The new dongle has an HDMI cable looped inside a circular
Chromecast logo-shaped unit. Connectivity has also improved, with three onboard
antennas and dual-band 5GHz 802.11ac Wi-Fi for stutter-free high quality
streaming. It comes with Fast Play, allowing the Chromecast to start a video or
audio streaming much more quickly once the Cast button is pressed.
The new Chromecast dongle
also enjoys the Feeds feature, which can be controlled via the Chromecast app,
letting users choose what content the Chromecast will display on screen when on
standby - from social media feeds to image feeds. Unlike the first generation
Chromecast dongle, the new media streaming device will be available in three
colours - Black, Red, and Yellow.
The Chromecast Audio dongle
(seen above) lets users stream music to regular, dumb speakers without wireless
connectivity directly from their smartphone or laptop. It works with Android
and iOS devices, apart from PCs. The device supports high-quality audio, 2 watt
RMS, and an optional optical digital out that sits in the hybrid port.
Google's Chromecast Audio
dongle additionally includes a feature called guest access, allowing others to
stream even if they are not connected to the user's Wi-Fi network.
