In addition to a new Chromecast, Google has also unveiled a new product in the Chromecast Audio. The purpose of this product is quite simple. It’s to bring WiFi to your speakers. Chromecast Audio plugs into your speaker by using the 3.5mm headphone jack. So now you can stream music from some of your favorite services.
Chromecast Audio works in multiple rooms. So you can buy a few for speakers in each room of your house and control it all from your smartphone or tablet. Similar to what Sonos does, except you can use any speaker you want, not to mention it’ll be substantially cheaper. Chromecast Audio will also have support for Spotify, Google Play Music, and likely a few other music services at launch. The Chromecast Audio is primarily centered around audio and music, as you’d expect based on the name. Chromecast Audio also features high-definition audio, something that many of us will be enjoying shortly. With it using WiFi, it makes pairing to your phone very easy, even easier than pairing with Bluetooth.
With Chromecast Audio, you can control what is playing on your speaker in a variety of ways. Including the lockscreen, notification shade, or even you Android Wear smartwatch. Making it very easy to skip the song if you so wish, and listen to something else. Google also is announcing that today, Chromecast and Chromecast Audio will have integration with Spotify beginning today. Something that we’ve been waiting on for quite a while.
The new Chromecast app will also support Chromecast Audio. While in the past the Chromecast app was only for connecting your Chromecast to your WiFi network, it now does a whole lot more. Including having a feature known as “Fast Play” which allows the Chromecast device to connect to your smartphone or tablet that much quicker. There are also recommended apps inside the app, so you can get even more usage out of your Chromecast or Chromecast Audio.
The Chromecast Audio is available for today on the Google Play Store for $35. It’ll be shipping in October. It’ll be available in 17 countries as well.
