So Google had their fall hardware event yesterday and buried in the usual pile of press-release adjectives was the thing I've actually wanted for like four years: a Chromecast with a remote control. I know. Groundbreaking. But hear me out.
The new one is called, somewhat clunkily, the "Chromecast with Google TV." Not Android TV. Google TV. They brought back a brand name they killed off in 2014 to slap it on the interface, which is exactly the kind of decision that makes me suspect nobody at these companies is allowed to just leave a name alone for more than six years. It's $49.99, comes in three colors (Snow, Sunrise, and a blue one they're calling Sky), and for the first time you don't have to fumble around with your phone as a remote just to pause a video when someone walks in the room. There's an actual physical clicker with a mic button on it now.
I've been a Chromecast person since the very first dongle back in 2013, the one that was basically a USB stick with HDMI on the end. No screen, no menu, no ambient wallpaper of national parks — you just beamed stuff to it from your phone or laptop and that was the whole pitch. It was cheap and it did one job. Somewhere along the way that simplicity got buried under Google's constant need to reinvent the smart TV box every eighteen months, and now we're at a full-blown OS with its own home screen, recommendations, a "For You" row that's going to be full of stuff I don't want within a week, and, sure, a remote. Progress, I guess.
They also announced Nest Audio, which is the actual replacement for the original Google Home speaker (RIP, you had a good run, weird tilted little guy). It's $99.99, comes in some muted fabric colors like Sky and Chalk, and Google's claiming 75% louder bass and 50% louder overall than the old Google Home. I have no way to verify that number and neither does anyone reading this, but it's the kind of stat that sounds specific enough that people repeat it without checking.
Here's my actual complaint, the one nobody asked for: I already own a Roku, a Fire TV Stick from some Black Friday two years ago, and now apparently I'm going to end up with a Chromecast with its own remote sitting in the same drawer. That drawer is a graveyard. Four remotes, two of which don't have batteries in them anymore, one HDMI switcher remote I haven't needed since we got a soundbar. Every streaming box promises to be the last one you'll ever need and then eighteen months later there's a new one with a slightly nicer UI and a marginally better remote and somehow I always end up buying it anyway. I complained about this exact thing on here back when the Fire TV Stick 4K came out and nothing has changed except now there's one more box to add to the pile.
Also worth saying: last night's presidential debate was such a mess that most of my group chats were more occupied with that than with any Google keynote, so this whole product drop kind of slid by without the usual day-of hot takes clogging up Twitter. Which honestly might be the first time in years a hardware announcement from a company that size didn't immediately dominate the timeline. Not sure if that's good or bad for Google, but it was a weird contrast, watching a livestream about ambient screensavers of national parks right after watching two guys yell over each other for ninety minutes.
Anyway. If you're the kind of person who still has an original Chromecast plugged in somewhere, or you're using a Google Home that's going on six years old, this is a reasonable enough upgrade cycle and the pricing isn't out of line with what Roku and Amazon charge for their equivalent boxes. I'm not rushing out to buy one today. My Fire Stick still works fine and I'm stubborn about not replacing things that aren't broken, but I'll probably cave by December the way I always do.