Jordan O'BrienGoogle Home will supposedly be powered by Chromecast technology, not Android, according to a confidential source speaking to The Information.
The Amazon Echo competitor uses the same cast technology that users have come to expect from the Chromecast, but that same technology is available in Android – meaning pundits were unsure what exactly would power the Google Home.
It seems that Google opted to use the Chromecast, which has been a runaway success for Google, due to the overall low-cost of manufacturing the device, compared to a fully-fledged Android device.
The Chromecast base makes complete sense, as Google doesn’t need the overall power that comes with Android – after all, the device is designed to just connect to the Internet and play music, something the Chromecast excels at.
Google has already hinted at the Chromecast base behind Google Home – after all, Chromecast cannot natively run Apps as everything runs in the cloud. At its developer conference, Google I/O, the company hinted that developers won’t have complete access to the Google Home at launch – with it set to work with specific third parties before opening up the ecosystem. That approach wouldn’t make much sense on Android, which is already an open ecosystem, but would on Chromecast.
Chromecast is also Google’s most successful hardware product to date. The company has tried time and time again to make Android successful in the living room, but each attempt has typically fallen flat. For Google Home to succeed against Amazon’s Echo and Apple’s rumoured competitor, it seems Chromecast is the only option.
Pricing and release date details for Google Home have still yet to be announced.