Chromecast is going away after more than a decade in Google’s hardware portfolio, with the company phasing it out to make way for the new Google TV streaming. In 2013, the timing was perfect for Chromecast’s success. Most TVs of that era had rudimentary entertainment apps that were often slow, so streaming content from your phone to a TV made a lot of sense.

But times have changed. With Chromecast with Google TV in 2020. Google focused in the opposite direction with a much more traditional and stripped-down entertainment experience. Streaming returned to content recommendation carousels and native apps returned.

Google TV Streamer is designed to build on that strategy by infusing Gemini AI intelligence into the software. It will put your smart home controls right on your TV screen. And yes, it will be faster than the often laggy Chromecast. “It’s extremely fast, so it’s a more premium model than what we’ve released before,” says Shalini Govil-Pai, vice president and general manager of Google TV. I spoke with him last week to hear more about the thinking behind Google’s $99 device, which goes on sale in late September.

“Google TV Streamer was our answer to a lot of our users saying ‘hey, Chromecast is great and really cheap. But we can get cheap devices from a lot of players now,'” Govil-Pai said. (Walmart’s Onn brand is filling out the sub-$50 zone pretty well with multiple Google TV streamers, and Amazon and Roku both sell devices priced in the same impulse-buy territory.)

So Google decided to focus on a higher-end device, and looked to the Nvidia Shield — long touted as Android TV’s best-performing streamer — as something to try. “Nvidia Shield was our gold-tier price point as well as gold-tier performance, and that’s really what it’s going to be with Google TV Streamer. That’s why we’re very excited about it.”

And yet, even immediately after the announcement, some of our commenters were frustrated that Google had only settled for a 22 percent increase in CPU speed. There’s a good chance this thing will still be the landmark under the rather ancient Shield. Why not throw a Tensor chip in it?

It depends on the cost and keeping the Transmitter at a price that is acceptable to the average consumer. “We don’t know if there’s any functionality that would convince people to buy more expensive than that, but the market in general is telling us right now that people are probably not ready for it,” Govil-Pai said.

And even if there IS finally a higher-priced living room device from Google, it looks like horsepower won’t be the main justification. “Over time, do we have enough functionality, let’s say from a Gemini perspective, that it actually makes it worth spending even more money? Then we will definitely look at it,” she said. “But at this point, I think that’s the competitive price point we want to play at.”

Google has doubled the amount of RAM in Google TV Streamer, which can play as much of a role as CPU throttling when it comes to delivering smoother day-to-day performance — and keeping it that way after a or two years. Chromecast with Google TV had a reputation for doing well right away, but it was gradually lagging over time. Google’s decision to stick with Wi-Fi 5 on a streaming device is unfortunate, but at least it has a built-in gigabit ethernet jack.

The Google TV transmitter is also relatively future-proofed as a central part of the smart home. The Google Home dashboard will let you quickly dim lights, view cameras, activate automation, and more. There’s also support for Matter and an out-of-the-box Thread border router.

As for new software capabilities, Govil-Pai said Google is trying to address modern trends. You can use Gemini to create AI-generated screensavers that appear when the Google TV streamer is in ambient mode — sort of like a TV Frame — or ask it to pull up photos from a recent trip. On a related note, I asked Govil-Pai why there isn’t yet a proper Google Photos app for the company’s TV platform. “What we’ve found in our user studies is that most people don’t actually want to open the app on their TV. They just want to get to things very quickly, and that’s why we believe that voice-based interactions — like ‘hey, show me my memories from last year’ — are the most important experience.”

On Google TV Streamer, Gemini will also display general summaries of shows and movies when you click on their detail pages. Outgoing Chromecast is now displayed Rotten tomatoes results and IMDB ratings, but this will gather feedback from more countries. “You can see a summary online of what people are saying about this show,” Govil-Pai said. “Is it amazing? Isn’t it so amazing but really good for people who love sci-fi? It will all be summed up for you.” Google believes that LLMs can also produce more curated recommendations compared to the rather general categories that Google TV now displays.

Despite all these front-facing features, one of Govil-Pai’s favorite new additions is among the simplest: Google TV Streamer has a find remote button on the back of the unit. When you press it, the remote makes a beeping sound, making it easier to find on movie night. Your move, Apple, and no… using my phone to find a remote is not the answer.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge