Today, Google has begun celebrating the birthday of the Chromecast. It was roughly a year ago today that Google announced this HDMI dongle and actually shocked most of us. It was at the “Breakfast with Sundar” event in San Francisco, where they announced the Nexus 7 (2013) and the Chromecast. While we all knew the Nexus 7 (2013) was coming, we didn’t know about the Chromecast. And it instantly became a top seller. Within a day of it being available, Google quickly sold out and was backordered for months and months. However they quickly got that manufacturing process sped up and then brought Chromecast to more and more countries. Google has announced that they have sold over a million Chromecasts already, which isn’t much of a surprise to me. Given that it is a $35 HDMI dongle that does so much.
To celebrate Chromecast’s birthday, Google is giving out 3 months of Google Play Music All Access for free. Now this doesn’t apply to just new people buying a chromecast, but anyone who doesn’t already subscribe to All Access. Now Google Play Music All Access is $9.99/month, which means you’re really paying $5 for a Chromecast if you do buy a new one. It would have been cool to see some other offers for the Chromecast but I guess 3 months of Play Music All Access is plenty given that it is a $35 dongle.
We’re constantly seeing more and more Chromecast apps becoming available. some of my favorites are Localcast, Netflix and Google Play Music. I use all three of those constantly. And Localcast is amazing because it uses material design. How many of you out there don’t own a Chromecast just yet? If you don’t, let us know why you haven’t picked one up just yet, as it’s an amazing HDMI dongle. How many of you are going to take advantage of the 3 months of free Play Music All Access?