Last year, when Google announced the Chromecast alongside the Nexus 7 (2013), we were all pretty shocked. As we hadn’t heard any rumors, or seen any leaks about it. But the $35 HDMI dongle was one of the most popular products of 2013. It even made TIME’s best products of 2013 list. Right now the device is only officially available in the US, even though Amazon slipped up and made it available in other countries for a short time (which they still shipped those orders, surprisingly). We’ve heard all kinds of rumors that Google has big plans for Chromecast in 2014. Of course the first step is to launch the device internationally.
However, Google needed about two months to ramp up production on the Chromecasts to meed the demand that was needed here in the US. Once the Chromecast went on sale, it was sold out for about a good 2-3 months. The company was also experimenting with Chromecast and refining it, before pushing it out to the rest of the world. “The team changed the manufacturing to make it clear that the USB end of the adapter goes into the power adapter, and added a narrow HDMI extender to accommodate televisions that didn’t have enough space around the HDMI port,” states CNET in a report published today. Chromecast chief Maro Queiroz stated that Google has it “down to a button” for user interaction.
It’s also being reported that Google is looking to offer custom Chromecast experiences that would meet users’ needs in other markets. However, there’s no hints at what apps the dongle will have pre-loaded when it launches in other countries, if any. Queiroz also told CNET that Google is working to stabilize the Tab casting feature of Chromecast, s that you’ll be able to cast more content that may not be available natively to the Chromecast.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of Chromecast hitting more markets and countries in 2014. But it is nice to see that more and more Googlers are confirming this. Hopefully we’ll see this happen in the next few weeks. As I know a lot of people that are interested in picking up a Chromecast.