Is the Google dongle finally done for?

How many gigs of RAM and storage?

Will it be glitchy?

How much will it cost?

Anyone want to reminisce about Google’s aesthetically pleasing but not particularly useful Nexus Q?

The discussion around the model that will reportedly soon supercede 2020’s Chromecast With Google TV 4K – itself a distant cousin to the short lived Nexus Q (2012-13) – is ripping around the internet, but Google itself is keeping things on the lowdown. Officially, at least.

That may change at August 13’s Made by Google event at Google’s Mountain View HQ in California. Or it may not.

The Verge has reported that the event will see a showcase of “Google AI, Android software and the Pixel portfolio of devices”, a keynote speech and a “hands-on product experience”, but no direct mention of Chromecast.

Google TV Streamer (Image: 9to5 Google)

Many tech and business sites are reporting that Google has been working on a new Android-powered Chromecast, four years after the launch of Chromecast With Google TV 4K. An image of new hardware is being widely circulated, however all reporting appears to circle back to stories in 9to5Google in which no official Google employee is named.

“According to a source, Google is getting ready to launch a new Chromecast with Google TV,” 9to5Google reported. “It will retain the 4K resolution of the current $49.99 model and come with a new remote.

“It comes nearly four years after the introduction of the original model and almost two years after the HD follow-up that some hoped would be a new top-of-the-line model.”

It is rumoured the new model may ditch the name Chromecast altogether and be retitled “Google TV Streamer”.

According to the website, Google is “ditching the compact dongle form factor that plugs into your TV and remains out of sight … Google is aiming for a set-top/table-top design that has a slanted, pill-shaped surface.

“It’s rather wide compared to other streaming boxes, and unclear if it serves any functional purpose … This is joined by a pill-shaped base, with the entire thing vaguely looking like a miniature Pixel Tablet Charging Speaker Dock. Two cables — presumably power and HDMI — protrude from the back. Overall, it should have a minimal (height) presence underneath your television.”