Google isn't missing out on the CES 2024 action, and has announced some significant new features for Chromecast devices at the tech expo in Las Vegas – and TikTok users will be particularly interested.
As explained by Google's Sameer Samat in a blog post, TikTok content can now be beamed from your phone to any Chromecast device, whether that's a dongle plugged into the back of your TV set, or the Chromecast functionality built into the TV itself. Support for live TikTok videos will be arriving "soon" as well.
Speaking of devices with Chromecast built in, more of them are on the way: LG's 2024 TVs will have Chromecast capabilities on board, as will new models from Hisense and TCL, so you won't need to plug anything into an HDMI port on the back.
Google says Chromecast functionality is also on the way to the LG Hospitality and Healthcare platform "later this year" – which essentially means you'll be able to get content from your phone up on the big screen in your hotel room or from your hospital bed, as long as the place you're in is using LG kit.
From phone to tablet
Another upgrade that Google is promising for 2024 is specific to Pixel phones and the Google Pixel tablet: you'll be able to transfer Spotify or YouTube Music playback from phone to tablet just by bringing the devices close together.
The idea is that, for example, you can listen to something on your phone on your commute home, then seamlessly move your music or podcast over to your Pixel Tablet and its speaker. If you've got a feeling that you've seen something along those lines before, you'd be right – iPhones and HomePods have a similar feature.
Google says there are now more than 220 million active devices running the older Android TV and the newer Google TV software platforms, which can of course run streaming apps natively as well as playing videos cast from connected devices.
It means the Chromecast standard continues to be one of the most widely supported and most convenient ways of getting audio and video streams from a phone or tablet to a large-screen TV. Even on the iPhone and iPad, a lot of popular apps come with Chromecast support, which shows you just how ubiquitous it's become.
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