Google unveiled the second-generation media streaming device Chromecast 2015 and Chromecast Audio, a device that can play audio via speakers controlled from a smartphone, on Sept. 29. A teardown of the gadget shows it has gobs of baby blue thermal paste.
iFixit conducted a teardown of the Chromecast 2015 and found two small gobs of gum-like material on either side of the electromagnetic shield casing.
"Although the Chromecast 2015 and Audio have some external differences, they're pretty much the same internally, right down to the gobs of baby blue thermal paste," per iFixit.
The first-generation Chromecast had faced overheating issues and many owners had written on social media about the problem.
"My chromecast overheats and causes the stream to stop. Will google fix?" complained a user on a Google forum.
While the overheating of Chromecast did not result in major performance issues, several users complained that their Chromecast would inadvertently stop when it overheats. However, some customers claim that even after overheating, the Chromecast would continue to operate properly.
"Mine [Chromecast] runs pretty hot with no slow down (BT infinity fibre though). I'd turn it off while the TV is off though, heat will reduce its lifetime almost certainly anyway," said a Chromecast user on Reddit.
While Google has not confirmed a reason for including the blue thermal paste in the new Chromecast 2015, some experts, including iFixit believe that gobs are there to tackle the heating issues faced by the original Chromecast.
"There's enough thermal compound in here to cool a nuclear reactor–possibly in response to the overheating issues that hounded the original Chromecast," added iFixit.
Customers who buy the new Chromecast 2015 will hope that the overheating problem of the older model is not present in the latest media streaming device.
The improved version of Chromecast has a price tag of $35, the same as the previous iteration of the device.
