The $35 dongle, which works by being plugged into an HDTV to stream videos, now adds three Disney apps which include Watch Disney Junior, Watch Disney and Watch Disney XD. This means that users who have kids can now allow their youngsters to view shows such as Star Wars Rebels, Doc McStuffins and Girl Meets World. It also adds the iHeartRadio app which enables users to gain access to over 1,500 live radio stations. Other additions worth mentioning are Twitch which is the Amazon-acquired live video game play broadcaster, and DramaFever which streams international TV programs.
The newly added apps are the latest to join the dongle's more than 350 roster of streaming options. Some of the popular ones include Watch ABC, Hulu Plus, HBO Go and Netflix.
The added Disney package also covers live streaming of Disney Channel shows. Users can also get by-demand access to recent episodes as long as they're available through a corresponding cable TV provider.
Twitch will cater to pros and casual gamers alike who would be able to view streams from some of the world's best pros in official gaming competitions. If there's an existing video game, users would be able to watch someone play it on Twitch. Currently, the site boasts of 60 million users.
Likewise, the iHeartRadio joins other popular services such as Pandora and Songza.
Compared to the other popular apps, DramaFever seemed a bit unfamiliar which explains why it's placed under the dongle's niche apps. It features more than 15,000 international drama episodes coming from various countries and territories such as Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Latin America. This gives users a nice alternative to the usual U.S. or BBC options.
Launched in July 2013, Google's Chromecast is created to compete with Roku and Apple TV. Later on, Amazon joins the bandwagon with its Fire TV streaming device. What sets the Chromecast dongle apart is its cheap price of $35. Other devices would retail from $49 to over $100.
Google has not revealed yet the total number of Chromecast devices it has sold starting from the first year when it launched the product. Apple, on the other hand, has sold over 20 million of its over the top streaming boxes while Roku recently celebrated a milestone of selling more than 10 million devices.
Except for the DramaFever which caters to Asian and Latin American markets, the rest of the added apps are available in the U.S. Moreover, all of the new apps are compatible with Android and iOS where users get their updates from Chromecast support.
