It’s widely expected that Google will unveil their new smartphones next week in San Francisco – the Pixel and Pixel XL, “made by Google” but manufactured by HTC. However, in the past week or so, there has been numerous reports about what else the company may be showing off at this event, and a brand new Chromecast is one of them. It’s being called “Chromecast Ultra” right now. The Chromecast Ultra’s big feature is the fact that it can stream in 4K. Something that the current Chromecast is unable to do. According to VentureBeat, the Chromecast Ultra is going to be sold alongside the current Chromecast dongle. Basically, it’ll be an addition to the Chromecast family, and not replacing the current Chromecast.
The Chromecast Ultra will be much more expensive than the regular Chromecast, coming in at $69. That is largely due to it being 4K-capable, as it needs better and more powerful hardware to do Cast content from your smartphone to the TV in 4K quality. What is also worth noting is that the firmware that will be on the Chromecast Ultra at launch is version 1.21. The same version that was recently seeded to members of the Chromecast Preview program. What is notable about that release is the fact that the Chromecast logo has disappeared. And instead we have Google’s “G” logo. Which you can also see on the Chromecast Ultra here.
Looking at the asthetics of the Chromecast Ultra, it looks pretty similar to the existing Chromecast. Of course, it does have that new “G” logo onboard. Along with a fairly short HDMI cable, that you’ll use to plug into the TV. There’s no mention of how the Chromecast Ultra will be powered but at the bottom of the device you can see what appears to be a power port. It’s unclear what kind of port it is, however. Whether it’s micro USB, USB-C or another type of port. That should be confirmed when the device is formally announced however.
The Chromecast Ultra should be debuting next week in San Francisco among many other hardware products from Google. These include the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, Google Home, Google WiFi and much more.