Back in July FCC documents leaked online and showed Google is indeed planning on releasing a second-gen version of its Chromecast media streamer. The stick-sized device has been on sale for a little over a year and at only £30 is one of the cheaper options for sending content from your mobile devices to your TV. 

However, after the full-featured Nexus Player was announced this autumn one began to think Google might be considering replacing the Chromecast with its new digital media player in order to better compete with the likes of the Apple TV, Amazon and Roku. But then just a few weeks latermore FFC documents leaked showing the Chromecast 2 and shortly after that Google’s VP of product management Mario Queiroz confirmed that the Chromecast 2 is coming. 

On the subject of how Chromecast can co-exist with Android TV, here’s what Google’s Rishi Chandra told CNET:

“I definitely believe they're complementary. Chromecast is really about Google Cast, technology that allows these mobile screens to work together. Android TV, the goal there is to solve a different problem. There are a bunch of devices already -- televisions, set-top boxes, gaming consoles -- and Android TV is looking to bring a platform where we can standardize similar to what Android has done in the mobile and the tablet space. From my standpoint, I love it; we're getting wider distribution for the Cast model.”

What will it feature? Queiroz didn’t reveal much other than to tease that Google “really want to bring the richness of this first screen–second screen experience to life. The hardware capabilities will give us a better opportunity to take full advantage of a large screen paired with a small screen.”

Qualcomm recently debuted a new streaming dongle, one that can stream 4K content and run Android TV, and this has got plenty of mouths wagging online. Forbes even went as far as to suggest it could actually be a reference –– or, aspirational –– design for Google’s upcoming second-generation Chromecast, which might launch at this year’s Google I/O developer fest. 

“Ultimately, Google’s first generation Chromecast was a huge success. Some 10 million were sold in 2014 and Google claims that north of a billion streams have been made using them so far. Whatever replaces the current device needs to be exciting, have plenty of power and it seems like Qualcomm’s design fits the bill,” writes Ian Morris for Forbes. “My theory is that we’ll see Google announce Chromecast 2 at this year’s I/O, and that it will be something that resembles this Qualcomm design quite closely.”

As we’re pretty big fans of the Chromecast at KYM, we’ve decided to put together a list of our hopes for the Chromecast 2’s hardware and software capabilities. 

A Dedicated UI

This first wish is also, admittedly, the least likely. Right now the Chromecast has no on-screen UI. There is no operating system users can navigate around on their TV screen. Instead the current Chromecast acts as a receiver that catches any data you cast to it from your mobile device or a tab in the Chrome browser.

We get that the Chromecast is supposed to be this lightweight casting client, but that’s also one of its drawbacks. You see, you can’t use a Chromecast without another device. If you don’t have a laptop or mobile with you, the Chromecast is essentially a brick.

We’re really hoping the next Chromecast has at least a bare minimum UI with perhaps a few channels built-in (Netflix, iPlayer, etc). It would be great to be able to use the device without needing to reach for our phones first. If Amazon and Roku can both make stick-based devices with full UIs, Google can as well.

Built-in Power Supply 

Another major annoyance about the Chromecast is its power requirements. Google positions the Chromecast as this ultra portable device hardly bigger than a USB thumb drive, but that’s actually misleading because the Chromecast requires an external power source. When you plug it into your TV’s HDMI port it won’t power on unless you have the microUSB cable on the other end plugged into a port on your TV or a power supply.

Technically, it’s understandable why Google has done this: having external power components enable them to make the device smaller, but if you need to carry around an extra USB cable and/or a USB power adapter, it kind of defeats the purpose of having this tiny little stick that can slip into your pocket. 

Faster Wi-Fi Connectivity

Right now the Chromecast only supports 802.11n –– not the faster, newer 802.11ac standard. While 802.11n is fine for streaming most HD video, if there’s a lot of interference from other devices on your network it could slow down your casting rates, which means movies take longer to buffer and it’s possible they can show pixelated artefacts on the screen. The slower 802.11n also makes latency worse for graphic-intensive games that are cast to your TV. 

802.11ac would allow the Chromecast to effectively double the data transmission rate between your devices and your TV.

Dedicated Audio Output 

The current Chromecast supports 5.1 Surround Sound, but without a dedicated audio output you’ll need a TV with a digital audio output to take advantage of it. I for one would love to see an optical audio out added to the Chromecast –– having said that: it is something more of a pro feature that wouldn’t appeal to everyone and likely add significant cost to the device, so I don’t see Google doing this one.

A New Form Factor

I love how small and thin the Chromecast is, but one thing bugs me about it: that bulbous head at the end. Other media streamers that take a stick form factor are true sticks: one end of the device is not bigger than the other. The reason this bugs me so much isn’t just the aesthetics of it because, let’s face it, you really don’t see the Chromecast once you plug it into the back of your TV. 

The Chromecast’s current shape bugs me is because that bulbous head sometimes makes it hard for me to plug my other media streaming sticks into the HDMI ports on either side of the port the Chromecast is plugged in to. Does Google care if their Chromecast blocks me plugging in the Fire TV Stick and my Roku stick? Absolutely not! But it’s still annoying. 

More Memory and Storage

This last one should come as no surprise because it’s something almost every device needs: more RAM and storage. Right now the Chromecast comes with 512MB of RAM and a 2GB flash drive. These paltry specs work fine on the current Chromecast because little is stored on the device itself, besides some framework OS and buffered movies. The fact that so little software is actually being used on the device is also the reason it needs so little RAM. 

But if the Chromecast 2 is going to add the top request we have--a dedicated UI--it will need more storage to store a more full-featured OS, as well as its on-board apps, which operate as channels. If this happens, more RAM, of course, would also be needed.