The Days of Google's Chromecast Are Over

The era of Google's Chromecast is coming to an end. The tech giant announced Tuesday that the devices, which allow users to cast whatever they're viewing from their mobile device onto a television, will no longer be produced (though you can still buy the remaining stock "while supplies last," Google says in its announcement). More than 100 million Chromecasts have been sold since they launched in 2013—back when, as Google reminds us, "most TVs had few (if any) apps, streaming was unreliable and complicated, and connecting your TV to your phone, tablet, or laptop was clunky and hard." My, how things have changed.

In the era of smart TVs, and with so many advances made to streaming and other technology—including Google's incorporation of its casting technology into other devices like Android TV—Google has decided to replace Chromecast with a new product, Google TV Streamer. The Verge likes the Google TV Streamer—it says it might be "the Apple TV 4K rival we've been waiting for"—but the site is also mourning the loss of the Chromecast dongle. "With a price of just $29.99, the Chromecast with Google TV offers entry-level access to an all-in-one streaming hub." The Google TV Streamer, which Google calls "a hub for your whole smart home," will be $99.99 when it's released September 24. (More Google stories.)