Tuesday has been an interesting day for Android enthusiasts and a busy day for the tech media. As expected, Google launched not one but two Nexus phones for the first time in the brand’s seven year history – the LG-made Nexus 5X with a 5.2-inch Full HD display, and the Huawei-made Nexus 6P with a larger 5.7-inch QHD display. While both devices are said to be available from next month, the smaller device will be a tad more pocket friendly, and come in at $379. The larger flagship phone meanwhile, has been priced at $499, which is still more affordable than last year’s Nexus 6, which never quite caught on with Android enthusiasts the way 2013’s Nexus 5 did. The Nexus 6 was launched last year at a starting price of $649, while the Nexus 5 came with a much more humble price-tag of $349.
But while the launch of the two Nexus devices has, as expected, got the most attention from the mainstream media, Google has also launched not one, but two new Chromecast devices as part of the company’s second generation Chromecast lineup – the Chromecast 2 and Chromecast Audio. But even as Google announced the second generation of its media streamer, the company revealed that it has managed to sell as many as 20 million units of its first generation device. The original Chromecast, released in 2013 by Google, is an HDMI dongle that can stream media content on television by streaming it via Wi-Fi. The device popularized the concept of media streamers to the extent that companies like Amazon and Roku jumped on the bandwagon to come up with their own take on the device with products like the Fire TV and the Roku Streaming Stick respectively.
As for available content with the new generation model, Google has announced that the Showtime and Sling TV Android apps will support Chromecast sooner rather than later. More importantly for sports lovers, Google has been able to get both the NBA and MLB on board to add Chromecast support for their apps in the near future. The Chromecast app on both Android and iOS has seen a complete redesign as well according to Google, and hopefully that means search for TV will now get better.