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Every now and then I like to look at Amazon’s best selling products in a few different categories, and one of my obvious interests is electronics. That category seems to always be dominated by Amazon’s Kindle products, be it a Kindle Fire, a Kindle Paperwhite, or even a regular old Kindle. It’s always Kindle. But today it’s not. No, today, it’s Chromecast.
Google’s $35 media streaming dongle seems to be selling like hotcakes at one of the biggest and most popular online retailers out there. While the device itself is a bit limited in its streaming capabilities right now (functionality is limited to a few Google apps and a couple of third-party apps), there’s not much you can complain about for $35.
The timing is definitely interesting, as it was only a few days ago that the Chromecast was made available for international shipping. Perhaps that was the availability it needed to zoom past Amazon’s wide range of Kindle products on the best selling list.
We don’t have any sales figures, but what does this mean for Google? It means Chromecast is big-time, and it means there’s a real market out there for devices like this. It means Chromecast is sure to be a highly supported item for quite some time, and can evolve into a product that many would consider must-haves in their homes (even if they’re not tech enthusiasts like you and I).
We didn’t need this bit of news to figure out that Chromecast was big-time, though. We concluded that much throughout the initial weeks of the device’s availability, with it being harder to find than a needle in a haystack in some cases. Google weathered that supply shortage storm quite well, and the device is now readily available for anyone who wants one.
The scariest thing is that we’re just getting started. Google has yet to release a public SDK, though the company promises that will happen in due time. There’s no telling what sort of development will surround this device once that happens, but we can only expect good things from here on out. Have you gotten your Chromecast yet? (If you haven’t, Amazon has one with your name on it.)
If you get HBO GO on this thing, I’m all in and will purchase one the second it is announced.
It is going to come. HBO Go is on a wide range of devices so they are not going to miss out on Chromecast. But I don’t understand the point If you have an HBO subscription why not just watch it with your tv service on the tv that has the chromecast
I can’t watch something like Sopranos on my TV without plugging my computer into the TV right now. Chromecast would allow me to watch without having to plug my laptop in via HDMI
I hope you mean the second HBO GO on chromecast is announced? Because the chromecast was announced ages ago lol
I know it’s an old product but as of now, it’s pointless for me because Netflix streams through my PS3 and I don’t have many Google Play Movies
Yes that’s what’s stopping me from buying one. I already have so many other things that can stream youtube and netflix to my tv. If it were able to mirror everything from my laptop to the tv, then I would get it in a heartbeat lol
It already does
So it will mirror my laptop screen to my tv screen? Like the browser, the homescreen of the laptop, everything? Not just youtube and netflix?
Yes. Even porn.
Lmao i’ve never seen anyone doing it o.O. Imma have to take your world on in an order one. Porn on the big screen here i come! :D
Can’t you just cast HBO Go from a chrome browser window on a laptop?
Yes but it is incredibly buggy right now and is more of a beta service than anything.
I tried this last night and it is still kind of buggy. Soon though!
I wish that you could buy HBO go without needing cable….one day…
Hopefully this means good things for the future of GTV.
doubt it, i’m stuck on honeycomb on my revue.
Its all about price point. If a Kindle was $35, it would be #1 too. I bet the margins on that Chromecast are horrible.
Google is likely more interested in just getting the device out there to capture more people into the Google ecosystem. Their real target is likely getting Chromecast eventually built into TV’s, not so much the device itself. Chromecast license is free.
Yes, that is definitely the case with the Cast. Same with cheap tablets, gaming consoles, etc.
What do you think the margins are on a Kindle?
Close to 0% for Amazon.
Price shmice…that’s a distraction. Ask Amazon’s Jeff Bezos or any retail CEO: it’s all about demand.
Face it, Amazon’s pages are littered with cheap crap that never has and never will do big numbers.
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Doubt if it is selling too well on Amazon UK where it works out to be around $65 with shipping
Bought one from amazon USA yesterday for shipment in France.
I’m not buying one until they open it up do do more.
This thing is pretty officially mainstream now. It’s time to release the damn SDK and let it take off. C’mon Google…
If you look on this developers page, https://developers.google.com/cast/release-notes, you’ll see they’re still working through crash issues as recently as this past Tuesday (October 8th). I think they want to release as stable a product as possible.
Hopefully soon though. I think this thing is going to blow up with supported apps when it does.
Am ready for the SDK, for now I use Roku more often but Chromecast has much more potential.
Wasn’t Amazon’s best seller for quite a while the Samsung Chromebook?
S amazon’s top selling electronic device is a Chromecast, their top selling computers are Chromebooks and their top selling tablets all run Android (albeit amazon’s butchered version of Android). It seems to me that Google is doing well by Amazon.
Google pays them to put their product #1.
Whattttt!!!!!?
Lol, just a joke.
I remeber amazon bestselling list had the nexus 7 1st generation as the bestselling device when it came out.
Imagine Chromecast with Samsung Galaxy Gear as the remote/streamer…
I use my Pebble as a remote when I stream music through my Chromecast. It’s pretty nice to be able to skip tracks or pause the music from my watch.
Put some TV channels on YouTube, or via another new app so I can finally drop my cable provider, Google! All I really need is sport channels, and Xfinity will be gone.
I think Hulu added chromcast support recently. I haven’t had cable for at least 3 years.
Well if I wanted TV shows, I got to TPB. The only reason I still have cable is for live sports.
I have a digital antenna for local sports. Not sure how big a fan you are though.
I live in the middle of no where. (but developing with new construction everywhere).. so the reception on my antenna isn’t the strongest all the time. Also with Xfinity they’re giving a pretty deep discount when bundling internet and TV, which is why I still stick with cable.
Just google “watch sports online”. I would give you the site but I think its against the rules. I stream every football game I want through chrome every sunday. Only problem is the popup ads you have to close and it’s not hd but hey it beats paying for nfl sunday ticket.
I know what you’re talking about. But it’s still very bad quality. Live sports should be in HD to enjoy it. Btw as a pro tip, get ad blocker.
Now just maybe Amazon will build a native app for Android so I can use their Prime Instant video on Chromecast. They will likely update their IOs app to do this first but they have got to start supporting Android devices for real.
haha this will never happen, amazon will sooner release their own ZonCast
I use mine all the time for Netflix and google play. I never used to rent movies, and the Tivo netflix app is a joke. I’ve already rented several, bringing new revenue to google in the process.
Its not available for international shipping, It was for an hour or so then removed. You might want to update your original article.
I guess I was lucky and ordered as soon as the article was posted. Mine was already shipped to Canada! Stoked to finally use Chromecast even though I will have to sideload the app.
Yep , Its annoying. I logged in after reading the article but didn’t order went back to do it later and by that time they had blocked it. Never mind :(
I just got an email from Amazon stating that after processing my order, that they realized ‘the item’ is not compatible in my country and that I can send it back and get a refund. NOT!
What a load of donkey doo. Just ship it to a friend that lives in the US, then have then ship it to you. Offer to compensate them for shipping and then some as a thank you.
It is kind of ridiculous that 3 months later they still haven’t released the SDK. It is nice that it has sold well but the longer they wait, the demand for other services to support it will die and the potential of this product will never be realized.
Maybe not a perfect parallel, but it’s worth noting that Apple’s iPhone SDK lagged the device by more than 8 months.
The original iPhone was released on 29 June,, 2007 and on 17 October no less than Steve Jobs himself promised an SDK by February, 2008. It finally arrived on 6 March.
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How does your claim relate to his?
Slightly different, as the original iPhone was not intended to have 3rd party apps, and therefore there was no SDK.
Maybe, but then Apple’s SDK project (a decision likely made well before Jobs announcement) still took at least five months…this, from a company with several decades of dev-support experience. The OP scoffed at a 3-month delay, on Google’s part.
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Picked mine up at Best
Dang, hit Send button on accident, lol! Anyways, picked mine up at Best Buy yesterday, pretty neat. Wish it could do more, but hoping that is coming. But for now, I think it’s time to sign up for Netflix. And yes, I could stream that thru my PS3, but Chromecast is a lot quieter!
I love my chromecast. I wish I could stream local content but for now it does what I needed to do. I cast my browser and mp4 videos directly through the browser and I use it for netflix. I sold my roku for $50 and got the chromecast for $35. Can’t beat that. Not only that I now have 9 months of free netflix codes.
refuse to buy this. They need to support Google TV with updates and new devices!
Why can’t there be 2 platforms?
there can but you should at least brand it google tv! and have cross functionality……
also torn about this as I watch a show on my Google TV Vizio box while I type. The kids really love this little box, but I would love it a bit more if it had miracast and some other updates.
damn! Just found this: http://gigaom.com/2013/10/10/google-tv-rebranded-android-tv/
just read that, good article maybe just a rebranding, and they combine in chromecast features… and bring it up to kit kat. I will buy that!
The Chromecast runs Google TV
chromecast runs a modified version of Chrome OS.
Incorrect, people have already hacked it and have seen that it is running a version of Google TV (Android based).
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/162463-chromecast-hacked-its-based-on-google-tv-and-android-not-chrome-os
even so, the person going to best buy to pick this up sees a chrome product, not google tv.
I’m talking about taking Google TV mainstream.
Well Google are killing the Google TV brand, they are renaming it Android TV.
Only available via Amazon for £65 in the UK.
I will not be touching this till it comes down in price comparative to the US.
Buy from Amazon US and ship to UK
“Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.”
And if you’re having problems with shipping to US, I highly recommend you use Aramex Shop and Ship. Been using it for nearly every shipping from outside my country (UAE) and there shipping is swift to Dubai.
Been using mine for a few days now, haven’t had a single issue, what kinds of bugs are people seeing?