**The Future of TVs and Audio: A Discussion with Google**

As technology continues to advance at an unprecedented rate, it's exciting to consider what the future holds for our living rooms and entertainment systems. Recently, I had the opportunity to discuss the latest advancements in TV technology and audio streaming with a representative from Google.

Firstly, the conversation turned to the idea of extending smartphone-based experiences to TVs. With smartphones becoming increasingly central to how people live their lives and manage their daily routines, it's natural to wonder whether this trend will extend to TVs as well. The representative pointed out that as TV technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see more seamless integration with smartphones and other devices. This could potentially lead to a new era of TV viewing experiences that are more intuitive and user-friendly.

In terms of the actual TV experience itself, there's ongoing debate about what the future holds for screens. With the rise of streaming services and online content, it's likely that TVs will become increasingly connected and interactive. The representative mentioned that Google is committed to bringing the best audio experience possible to users, with a focus on Wi-Fi-based streaming rather than Bluetooth. This makes sense, given the superior sound quality that can be achieved through wireless connections.

One of the most interesting developments in this space is the introduction of Chromecast Audio. At first glance, this may seem like an expensive solution for turning non-WiFi speakers into smart speakers. However, the representative explained that the true value lies in its ability to stream high-quality audio from the cloud directly to devices, rather than relying on Bluetooth or other wireless technologies. This means that users can enjoy better sound quality and a more seamless listening experience.

Despite the potential benefits of Chromecast Audio, there's one key limitation: it requires each speaker to be individually connected to the internet via Wi-Fi. This may seem like a hassle for some users, but the representative pointed out that this is a relatively minor inconvenience compared to the benefits of having high-quality audio streaming capabilities. With the introduction of multi-room synchronization in the near future, however, Chromecast Audio becomes an even more compelling solution.

So what does this mean for the future of TVs and audio? It's clear that Google is committed to bringing innovative technologies like Chromecast Audio to market. While some may see these developments as competing with existing solutions like Sonos, the representative argued that there's still room for a variety of approaches in the market. By educating consumers about the benefits of Wi-Fi-enabled speakers and streaming services, Google can help drive adoption and create new opportunities for users.

Ultimately, the future of TVs and audio is likely to be shaped by a combination of technological advancements and changing consumer behavior. As we look ahead to new innovations and emerging trends, it's exciting to consider what the next few years may hold for our entertainment systems and living rooms.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwell if you're a fan of chomecast today is your lucky day we saw not one but two new chomecast devices and I'm sitting here with Mario KZ he is a VP of product management at Google and he is the chomecast guru you've got in your hand here the new the chomecast second generation for streaming video that's correct it's also chomecast audio tell us very quickly uh what these what these do and why people should want them one of the big differences between the when we first launch Chrome cast and today when we're launching these these new products is what's most important to Consumers and to users which is the entertainment that they can access uh within you know a little bit more than than two years we've had thousands of new apps be published with cast support and there's lots of new apps coming every day uh video sports music uh games kids apps and so that's probably the you know the thing that really matters now what we're doing is we're we're trying to make sure that your experience for bringing that entertainment to your TV across all these different categories is really really easy and simple and something that you're familiar with you know Google has had its ups and downs when it comes to offering streaming video through a Google interface on TV there was Google TV now there's Android TV uh you guys also make a Nexus device for streaming media uh you know through Google The Google OS um and there's chomecast so I think maybe what a lot of people are wondering is why both Android TV and chomecast and are we ever going to see a merger of the two I mean that's a that's a really good question um the good news is that there is there are so many users out there with so many different needs that we we don't think that the the solu the platforms or the the products are uh competing with each other they're really complimentary there are a lot of people who are who enjoy um watching videos and listening to music and so forth on their phones or tablets or their laptops and they really just want an easy way for you basically to extend that experience to a big screen to any big screen and this is perfect for for chomecast a very inexpensive device plug it into the back of any TV and all of the content that you have on your personal device you can e easily bring it on to the TV Android TV is about uh let's say that there's a TV manufacturer or a an operator that's building a set toop box they want an operating system that they want to uh make sure that apps can run they have remote controls and Android TV is a great solution for that we think that there's it's still early enough in terms of how people are consuming over the toop content that there's really room for for both products to be in the market and help educate people of all the options that are available so 5 years down the road someone is in the market for some type of Google powered media consumption experience TV uh some type of display what is it that they're getting getting at that point is it an Android TV set toop box is it is it uh that our personal devices are actually powering the whole experience and so it's chomecast what do you see there so it's so hard to predict five five years from now but I do think that one of the the key ways that people are going to continue to to consume you know to to enjoy content is starting from their smartphones for different reasons first of all you're it's the apps that you already know the apps that you're logged into they know your preferences so it's really easy for you to go up to a TV and say great I'm going to put Pandora on the TV you don't have to log into to the TV or your YouTube goes to TV so I do think that with the smartphone being more and more at the center of how people live their lives and manage their lives um I think it'll be very natural just to extend that that experience to to the TV um and uh but I you know it's it's it's hard to say what's what's going to happen to the TV uh screen itself and you know we'll listen to Consumers and what manufacturers are doing in terms of the operating system that we will continue to build into TVs let's talk about chomecast audio so I have to be honest when I first heard about chomecast audio I thought oh interesting a $35 solution for turning my non-wifi connected speaker at home into something that's Wi-Fi connected but uh currently doesn't support multi-room audio and then you have to plug a chomecast audio into each and every speaker that you want to do this to so then I thought well I don't know I guess I'm trying to understand the value of this solution tell me a little bit about it how you see it working it's a great question first of all we're we're really trying to bring the best audio experience that we can the best quality because you want to listen to your music and you want it s to sound really good and that happens you know it happens to be much better to stream from the cloud through Wi-Fi to the device directly that's a better quality than for example through Bluetooth um because most people when they're sending music from their phone to a speaker today at home bluet it's over Bluetooth we think that a Wi-Fi based solution is uh um is is better in in lots of different ways it's you know the pairing is very simple somebody can just walk up and cast something to to the speaker compar compared with today's uh uh today's solution and uh and so that's one one aspect now let's say if you believe that okay great Wi-Fi speakers are great for all those reasons then you go out to buy a wi-fi speaker if you're buying a new uh a new speaker you might as well get one that has Wi-Fi but if you're not in the market for a new speaker then instead of going out and paying 300 $400 $500 for one for $35 again as we said earlier today less than the the price of a lot of head you know headsets you plug this into your speaker and you have a Wi-Fi connected speaker we are bringing multizone synchronization out in um uh within the next couple of months okay that allows for you to go in and saying great I'm going to pay I'm going to put these speakers into one zone and then you send music to those speakers you walk from one room to the to the other and you can change the music as you're going from room to room right which is something that you can do with like so for example now which I guess makes me think do you see this as a a type of Sonos competitor or something that is offering people that type of solution you know I think we're um I think we're actually trying to to to to uh solve a similar problem but since you know as we said fewer than 5% of people households in the US have uh have speakers that can connect to Wi-Fi so it's such a young Market that I actually think it's good to have different Sol sols coming to the market because we we want to educate people that it's really easy to do this and so I don't really see it as competition this early on um I see it really as you know we're coming in we're helping to educate consumers that they can do this a lot of the consumers already know how to cast and so for us it's really simple to say hey the apps are already available they're already cast enabled you just cast your speaker now in addition to Casting to to your TV so I think that competition is good when you're trying to bring in new solution to Market like that so some people might look at these two different devices and say they seem a little redundant why don't you just put a a jack into the chro chomecast for video and make that chomecast audio as well yeah well it's a it's an interesting question and we actually had that that conversation the same device is not being used for both purposes right so when you're plugging into your TV you're you're not going to be using the same device to power a speaker that's in a in a different room we really wanted to optimize each product for the purpose that they're made for and um so far from you know all the people that have been testing the product they they uh they like thatwell if you're a fan of chomecast today is your lucky day we saw not one but two new chomecast devices and I'm sitting here with Mario KZ he is a VP of product management at Google and he is the chomecast guru you've got in your hand here the new the chomecast second generation for streaming video that's correct it's also chomecast audio tell us very quickly uh what these what these do and why people should want them one of the big differences between the when we first launch Chrome cast and today when we're launching these these new products is what's most important to Consumers and to users which is the entertainment that they can access uh within you know a little bit more than than two years we've had thousands of new apps be published with cast support and there's lots of new apps coming every day uh video sports music uh games kids apps and so that's probably the you know the thing that really matters now what we're doing is we're we're trying to make sure that your experience for bringing that entertainment to your TV across all these different categories is really really easy and simple and something that you're familiar with you know Google has had its ups and downs when it comes to offering streaming video through a Google interface on TV there was Google TV now there's Android TV uh you guys also make a Nexus device for streaming media uh you know through Google The Google OS um and there's chomecast so I think maybe what a lot of people are wondering is why both Android TV and chomecast and are we ever going to see a merger of the two I mean that's a that's a really good question um the good news is that there is there are so many users out there with so many different needs that we we don't think that the the solu the platforms or the the products are uh competing with each other they're really complimentary there are a lot of people who are who enjoy um watching videos and listening to music and so forth on their phones or tablets or their laptops and they really just want an easy way for you basically to extend that experience to a big screen to any big screen and this is perfect for for chomecast a very inexpensive device plug it into the back of any TV and all of the content that you have on your personal device you can e easily bring it on to the TV Android TV is about uh let's say that there's a TV manufacturer or a an operator that's building a set toop box they want an operating system that they want to uh make sure that apps can run they have remote controls and Android TV is a great solution for that we think that there's it's still early enough in terms of how people are consuming over the toop content that there's really room for for both products to be in the market and help educate people of all the options that are available so 5 years down the road someone is in the market for some type of Google powered media consumption experience TV uh some type of display what is it that they're getting getting at that point is it an Android TV set toop box is it is it uh that our personal devices are actually powering the whole experience and so it's chomecast what do you see there so it's so hard to predict five five years from now but I do think that one of the the key ways that people are going to continue to to consume you know to to enjoy content is starting from their smartphones for different reasons first of all you're it's the apps that you already know the apps that you're logged into they know your preferences so it's really easy for you to go up to a TV and say great I'm going to put Pandora on the TV you don't have to log into to the TV or your YouTube goes to TV so I do think that with the smartphone being more and more at the center of how people live their lives and manage their lives um I think it'll be very natural just to extend that that experience to to the TV um and uh but I you know it's it's it's hard to say what's what's going to happen to the TV uh screen itself and you know we'll listen to Consumers and what manufacturers are doing in terms of the operating system that we will continue to build into TVs let's talk about chomecast audio so I have to be honest when I first heard about chomecast audio I thought oh interesting a $35 solution for turning my non-wifi connected speaker at home into something that's Wi-Fi connected but uh currently doesn't support multi-room audio and then you have to plug a chomecast audio into each and every speaker that you want to do this to so then I thought well I don't know I guess I'm trying to understand the value of this solution tell me a little bit about it how you see it working it's a great question first of all we're we're really trying to bring the best audio experience that we can the best quality because you want to listen to your music and you want it s to sound really good and that happens you know it happens to be much better to stream from the cloud through Wi-Fi to the device directly that's a better quality than for example through Bluetooth um because most people when they're sending music from their phone to a speaker today at home bluet it's over Bluetooth we think that a Wi-Fi based solution is uh um is is better in in lots of different ways it's you know the pairing is very simple somebody can just walk up and cast something to to the speaker compar compared with today's uh uh today's solution and uh and so that's one one aspect now let's say if you believe that okay great Wi-Fi speakers are great for all those reasons then you go out to buy a wi-fi speaker if you're buying a new uh a new speaker you might as well get one that has Wi-Fi but if you're not in the market for a new speaker then instead of going out and paying 300 $400 $500 for one for $35 again as we said earlier today less than the the price of a lot of head you know headsets you plug this into your speaker and you have a Wi-Fi connected speaker we are bringing multizone synchronization out in um uh within the next couple of months okay that allows for you to go in and saying great I'm going to pay I'm going to put these speakers into one zone and then you send music to those speakers you walk from one room to the to the other and you can change the music as you're going from room to room right which is something that you can do with like so for example now which I guess makes me think do you see this as a a type of Sonos competitor or something that is offering people that type of solution you know I think we're um I think we're actually trying to to to to uh solve a similar problem but since you know as we said fewer than 5% of people households in the US have uh have speakers that can connect to Wi-Fi so it's such a young Market that I actually think it's good to have different Sol sols coming to the market because we we want to educate people that it's really easy to do this and so I don't really see it as competition this early on um I see it really as you know we're coming in we're helping to educate consumers that they can do this a lot of the consumers already know how to cast and so for us it's really simple to say hey the apps are already available they're already cast enabled you just cast your speaker now in addition to Casting to to your TV so I think that competition is good when you're trying to bring in new solution to Market like that so some people might look at these two different devices and say they seem a little redundant why don't you just put a a jack into the chro chomecast for video and make that chomecast audio as well yeah well it's a it's an interesting question and we actually had that that conversation the same device is not being used for both purposes right so when you're plugging into your TV you're you're not going to be using the same device to power a speaker that's in a in a different room we really wanted to optimize each product for the purpose that they're made for and um so far from you know all the people that have been testing the product they they uh they like that\n"