After a Year-Long Delay, Amazon Is Selling Google Chromecasts Again
Amazon is the largest online retailer in the world, which gives it a lot of power over what people buy. It has occasionally used that power to push its own products over those of competitors. Okay, it actually does that all the time, but it took things a step further in 2015 when it stopped selling the Google Chromecast and Apple TV. Almost a year after announcing the Chromecast would come back, Amazon is finally selling the Google streaming dongle again. However, it’s still favoring its own devices.
The Chromecast is by far Google’s most successful streaming product. Google TV crashed and burned early on, and the Android TV platform has been slow to grow. The $35 Chromecast was a hit from the moment it launched, though. Google has since rolled out a new base model Chromecast as well as audio and 4K versions of the device. Unlike most streamers, you don’t install apps on the Chromecast — it connects to the apps on your phone, and this is where the clash with Amazon comes in.
One thing that has not changed is Amazon’s app support. It has even gone out of its way to block third-party apps that made Chromecast support possible. The end result: you still can’t stream Amazon video or music to the Chromecast, which is just one aspect of the ongoing feud between Google and Amazon. Google retaliated against Amazon last year by blocking its unauthorized YouTube app on the Fire and Echo devices. When Amazon attempted a browser-based workaround, Google blocked that, too.
The return of Chromecast hardware to Amazon might be the first sign that relations between the companies are warming. It would be fantastic if Amazon and Google could just support each other’s hardware because they’re only inconveniencing consumers with this petty spat.
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NASA Opens Applications for Year-Long Simulated Mars Mission
NASA is gearing up for a series of year-long simulated Mars missions, and you can apply to participate if you meet the stringent selection criteria. If chosen, you get to spend a year locked inside a simulated Mars habitat with three other people.