Chromecast was never supposed to leave the U.S. – but as Android Central discovered, Amazon.com was selling them with shipping available for territories outside the U.S., and at a good price, around US$10 for shipment to the U.K. Australian buyers were also allowed to purchase the $35 dongle from Google. With Google Play listing it as US-Only, you will have to locate the APK from somewhere else for the time being.
Amazon quickly closed the “loophole” to prevent any further international orders from being placed, however, many orders were already processed for shipment outside the U.S. Amazon sent out an email that Android Central posted to clarify the situation:
In its message, Amazon describes its selling of Chromecast outside the U.S. as an “error.” It continues, “outside of the United States, all of the functionality of this item may not be available and the manufacturer’s warranty is void.” This likely refers to the fact that the Chromecast app for Android isn’t available through Google Play outside the U.S., meaning importers would have to find it through other sources.
“You don’t need to take any action if you still want to receive the item,” Amazon says, but it advises customers who want to cancel unshipped orders, or return shipped devices, to do so through their account page on Amazon.com.
So what this all amounts to is if you were an international purchaser of Chromecast, it will be shipped to you, however, you will receive no warranty, it may not completely work to its full capacity of functions, and if you want to cancel your order or send it back for credit, you may do so. They covered all the bases – keep it and play around at your own risk, or Amazon will gladly refund your money.
I would say for $35 and $10 shipping, keep it – it is still a bargain because you can be sure that someone out there will get it working in your country…besides, it says “…all of the functionality of this item may not be available…” Amazon never really tells us how this snafu occurred, but at least they quickly righted the situation. If you were one of the lucky international customers that were able to purchase Chromecast, drop us a comment or Google+ us and let us know how it is working for you