What you need to know
- The latest update to the Google Home app appears to indicate the existence of another Chromecast dongle in development.
- The device was codenamed “YTD,” and further inspection revealed that the app was treating it as a Chromecast, potentially ruling out the possibility of it being a separate product. be.
- In January 2023, the first next-generation Chromecast with Google TV was discovered, codenamed “YTC.”
New evidence could point to another next-generation Chromecast with Google TV in the development process.
According to 9to5Google, when we looked at the APK of the latest Google Home app, we found a new codename listed next to other Chromecast streaming devices. The app already lists your existing HD and 4K video Chromecast devices. The latest update appears to have placed a new device codenamed “YTD” next to the existing streaming dongle.
Although this could be a completely different device, 9to5 found that the app was treating the unknown YTD device as a Chromecast. There is some “confidence” that YTD will become another streaming dongle, but things can always change and the product may never be released.
What’s weird about this is that a next-gen Chromecast with a Google TV dongle was previously spotted in January 2023. The device featured the codename “YTC” in each build of the Google Home app last year. It was speculated that this dongle could be the top-of-the-line Chromecast that consumers have been waiting for. The HD version was launched in late 2022, and the 4K version was rolled out in 2020.
While the latter may have been more appealing to consumers, it suffered from a serious lack of storage. The device was advertised as having 8GB, but officially users could only use about half of that. It is speculated that this “YTC” device is intended to solve that storage problem and eventually include support for the AV1 codec for more efficient streams.
A new Chromecast remote with a mysterious star-shaped button was spotted in Android 14 beta in September. Sample images of the remote have been discovered, showing a redesigned layout with new front volume keys and more. Moreover, that star button was discovered a little earlier than the Android 14 TV beta remote control.
The lineup of this new “YTD” Chromecast dongle and “YTC” devices has not yet been revealed as there is still too little information. More importantly, Google’s annual I/O event will take place in the next few months, so there’s probably more to come.
Chromecast with Google TV (HD)
The new king of streaming devices
Chromecast with Google TV (HD) devices deliver streaming content in crisp 1080p at an affordable price. The product comes with a very handy remote control with a button to access Google Assistant, and also has Cast support to keep watching your phone’s content on your TV.
