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Google Discontinues Chromecast Audio (techcrunch.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the end-of-the-line dept.

Google has discontinued the Chromecast Audio dongle that allowed you to stream music via Wi-Fi to any dumb speaker with a 3.5mm headphone jack. If you're saddened by the news and would like to pick one up before they're completely gone, Google is now selling its remaining inventory for $15 instead of $35. TechCrunch reports: "Our product portfolio continues to evolve, and now we have a variety of products for users to enjoy audio," Google told us in a statement. "We have therefore stopped manufacturing our Chromecast Audio products. We will continue to offer assistance for Chromecast Audio devices, so users can continue to enjoy their music, podcasts and more."

Google is clearly more interested in getting people to buy its Google Home products and Assistant- or Cast-enabled speakers from its partners. It's also worth noting that all Google Home devices can connect to Bluetooth enabled speakers, though plenty of people surely have a nice speaker setup at home that doesn't have built-in Bluetooth support. "Bluetooth adapters suck," Google told us at the time, though at this point, it seems a Bluetooth adapter may just be the way to go.

3 of 88 comments (clear)

  1. Truth by eclectro · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You know that a product has left Google beta and works perfectly, when Google decides to kill it outright

    --
    Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
    1. Re:Truth by dmt0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The real problem with this thing is that it doesn't have an always-on microphone that listens to you all the time. And it eats into the market of the devices that do.

  2. Google canceling a product ? Surely not ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I mean, it's not like Google has a long history of capriciously canceling products or anything of that sort

    .

    If after Google's long and dishonorable history of fucking over users you'd trust Google enough to use anything from Google, your ability to make intelligent decisions must be called into question in the most severe manner possible.

    If you disagree, you're not only stupid, you're the worst kind of stupid, which is defined by a refusal to accept important new information because it might threaten your worldview.