Google Celebrates 5 Years of Chromecast

This week marks the five-year anniversary of the release of the first Chromecast, Google’s low-cost streaming video solution. To commemorate the milestone, Google has provided an interesting peek at the impetus for this market redefining device.

“I said, okay, let’s build an interface where everything happens on the phone, and only the video plays on the large screen,” Google’s Majd Bakar recalls, noting that his wife, Carla, had complained about the difficulty of using connected TV interfaces back in 2008. “And let’s make the hardware device that enables this experience as small and as hidden as possible.”

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When Bakar joined Google in 2011, he pitched his idea for Chromecast to his team, and the firm began work on it in 2012. Google eventually released the first Chromecast on July 24, 2013.

“I am very proud of the team,” Mr. Bakar added. “I feel lucky to be able to work on something like this—it’s very humbling to pitch something and see it from the beginning. When we started, we were three people, and now we have hundreds of people working on Chromecast and other hardware products for the home. That is a huge effort. We, as a team, made an impact in this space.”

I wasn’t personally a big fan of Chromecast, and I still feel that this device’s biggest weakness is the lack of a hardware remote; it can be a bit tedious to wake up a phone to pause a video when the phone rings or whatever. But I’ve warmed to Chromecast over the years. And with the platform extending into both audio and 4K video, I now have Chromecasts all over my house. Plus I often use the casting capabilities in Google Home speakers as well.

 

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Conversation 8 comments

  • dvdwnd

    25 July, 2018 - 12:00 pm

    <p>If your TV set is capable enough, you can use its remote to control playback on the Chromecast. So, the need for a separate remote isn't necessarily that big.</p>

    • bleduc

      Premium Member
      25 July, 2018 - 3:00 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#295363">In reply to dvdwnd:</a></em></blockquote><p>Exactly, use the TV remote </p>

  • nicholas_kathrein

    25 July, 2018 - 12:21 pm

    <p>Yes, it was great because the idea that was unique which lead to Chromecast audio which I use everyday as I to have my rooms in my house setup with them. Also it's so much better than the way apple handled casting from phones and tablets and it was only in the last few months that airplay 2 came out. </p>

  • m_p_w_84

    25 July, 2018 - 12:41 pm

    <p>“<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">&nbsp;I still feel that this device’s biggest weakness is the lack of a hardware remote”</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">this x 100.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Plus it should have onscreen apps. Using the phone all the time is a pain.</span></p>

    • maethorechannen

      Premium Member
      25 July, 2018 - 1:24 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#295398">In reply to m_p_w_84:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>If you want a Chromecast with apps and a remote get an AndroidTV box. If price is no object, get an Nvidia Shield.</p>

  • Mike Widrick

    25 July, 2018 - 1:00 pm

    <p>5 years of disappearing controls and poor application support. whee.</p>

  • RonH

    Premium Member
    25 July, 2018 - 8:11 pm

    <p>I want Chromecast to work with Edge </p>

  • skane2600

    26 July, 2018 - 6:54 pm

    <p>The only thing that made Chromecast viable for me was the ability to use a PC to control it. Too bad you have to use something like Videostream to cast local content though.</p>

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