Earlier this month Google announced that they would be introducing something called the Chromecast Preview Program – a program meant for those who own a Chromecast device, to have the opportunity to test out new features and firmware before it made its way to the public in an official update to Chromecast products. The first of these preview updates were pushed out just yesterday, and it would appear that Google looks to be getting rid of the Chrome branding within the Chromecast software, as the bootup screen is reportedly completely free of the Chrome logo that used to be there (or is still there for those who aren’t on the Chromecast Preview software). Why Google would want to remove the Chrome branding is anyone’s guess, but leaked screenshots of the update seem to confirm that the branding is gone.
In it’s place, Google has dropped the ever familiar “G” that can be seen anywhere from the Google app to numerous other Google services. The word Chrome can still be seen in the link for setting up the Chromecast devices, which is listed at the top of the display on whatever screen the Chromecast is plugged into, but any Chrome reference other than the word Chrome in this link are gone. Beyond the new logo this firmware also includes general bug fixes and improvements but there are no new feature to speak of this time around, and that shouldn’t be too much of a shock as Google had mentioned that not all updates would include new things to test out before the rest of the public.
While this doesn’t really suggest that Google is shifting the names of their product in any way, it is a bit interesting and does raise the question of what Google’s motive may be for changing things up in this regard. It could be perhaps to streamline their lineup of product offerings, but there’s no real indication of them wanting to do so and it could just be that Google is trying to get their logo in front of the consumer as much as possible. When this update goes out to the public is not known, but it could be just around the corner as there are no new things to add so the software update is likely small. It also raises the question of what other changes Google may have planned for the Chromecast devices through future updates.
