Paul Stenhouse: Google ruled a monopolist, discontinues the Chromecast

Google is discontinuing the Google Chromecast 

With more than 100 million sold over an 11-year life, it was a good run. It was a great entry level device to very quickly get content onto your TV. 

It's being replaced by the Google TV Streamer. It's a device that is designed to sit on your entertainment unit because it also doubles as a full-featured smart speaker with Google Assistant. Think of it more as a "set top box". The extra size means extra connectivity options and power, allowing you to use it as a smart home hub to connect and control your Nest cameras, thermostat, and more. 

The TV part of the device runs the latest Android TV operating system and uses Google Gemini AI to provide TV recommendations and help you use your voice to navigate the app. 

 

Google is a monopolist 

This is a huge win for the US government who says that Google Search has a monopoly on the market - surprising no one. Google has a 90% share overall, and 95% share on mobile devices.  

The judge particularly takes aim at their deal with Apple to make Google the default search engine. Apple and Google would argue that people are going to turn to Google anyway, so why not give it to them up front as the default. It's thought the judge may force those deals to be scrapped but could go so far as to force Google search to be broken out as a separate company.  

Commentators say this is a warning to big tech because it says no company is too big to regulate. There's another case pending too, which examines the ads business.  

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from Newstalks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Twenty one to ten eleven over a little twenty one
to eleven on news TALKSB. Fiona has messaged me Jack,
you're lean. I could see you doing the war climb
or the bouldering. Thanks Fiona. I appreciate that. The problem
is you also need to be strong.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
I'm not convinced I'll be able to make the Olympics
in that sport. But no, that's a good suggestion. Thank
you very much. Time to getch up with our textbook,
Paul Stenhouse. It's been a massive week for Google.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
Paul.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
We'll get to that in a minute. But what what
would be your pick for the next game?

Speaker 3 (00:42):
I mean, is it walking?

Speaker 2 (00:44):
You would be a good walker, especially well I spit here, Oh,
especially because in New York everyone walks really quickly, right,
they walk with purpose, except for the tourists who all
like linger on the on the sidewalks. But yeah, you could,
you could walk really quickly. I could see you doing
quite well on that, actually, Paul, Yeah, very good. Okay,
that's that's that's no silly Yeah, that's no sillier an

(01:08):
answer than anything else we've collectively thought of this morning.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
Archery does make sense. I like archery or shooting. That's
it's a you know.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Have you seen the size of the archery course. Archery
It's impossible. Act, it's unbelievable. How good they are, like
it is Yeah, yeah, four years. Yeah, I'm not sure anyway, Hey, yeah,
big week for Google. So Google Chrome Cast is being discontinued.

Speaker 4 (01:34):
Yeah, so's They've sold more than one hundred million of
these units and it's been around for eleven years. But
Google's decided that it's it's not the next big thing
or it's not the thing that's going to take them.

Speaker 3 (01:44):
Into the future.

Speaker 4 (01:45):
So the Crome Cast is being stopped, but it is
being replaced by the Google TV streamer.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
So this is a device that actually sits sort of
more on your entertainment unit.

Speaker 4 (01:55):
The Google Chrome Cast was sort of tucked was a
really tiny device. It was sort of tucked in the
back of your TV. Was absolutely groundbreaking when it launched
eleven years ago. It still is really like, it's a
pretty it's a really great entry level device into the
streaming market.

Speaker 3 (02:09):
But Google says things have changed and they have.

Speaker 4 (02:13):
Google Chrome Cast type technology is now built into smart TVs.
Smart TV's obviously have streaming apps and things like that,
there isn't the same need, so they're trying to work
out what's next for that kind of Google TV experience,
and it's apparently this thing that sits on your entertainment
unit that has a couple of extra features too. Jackets
also a fully featured smart speaker, so you can talk

(02:34):
to it like it's got your Google Assistant built into
it as well. And Google also wants it to sort
of be like one of the portals for your smart home.
So it scares all these different extra kind of connectivity
things that they never could have fit into that tiny
dongle that allows you to do things like connect to
your Nest, which is owned by Google, then your Nest

(02:56):
smart video cameras, security cameras, things like that, you're smart thermostat,
you know, smoke alarms, all that type of thing. So
it really wants to kind of make Yeah, they want
to kind of be almost like your home screen of
your TV, if you will, Yeah, and then from that
you then bounce out to the different things. But it's
look it's and of course it would it be twenty

(03:16):
twenty four without having AI included to Google's Gemini is
going to be embedded into this thing, and Gemini is
going to be providing things like TV recommendations for you
and letting you use your voice to help navigate the application.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
So as soon as you throw the word AI in,
you need a little bit of computing power.

Speaker 4 (03:36):
And so I think that's why they have thought, right,
we need to take this next step.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
I mean, it does sound like a like a reasonable
next step right there. It's not like they're ditching current
Google Crime Cast users.

Speaker 4 (03:47):
No, And look they're still going to be available, so
by a while you can and they're still going to
support them for some time.

Speaker 3 (03:51):
But I think the shame with it is.

Speaker 4 (03:53):
That it was just such a really easy way to
make a dumb TV smart if you will, and like
really great for second bedrooms and second homes and things
like that.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
TV at the batch, all that kind of thing.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
Totally.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Yeah, yeah, that's a very good point.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
Hi.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
Thanks Paul. We'll let you get to training and we
will catch up with you again very soon. That is
Paul Stenhouse.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine am Saturday or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio