Google abandons updates for the first Google Chromecast, now over 5 years old, to focus on the new generations of the device.

The first Google Chromecast is by now a memory: although it continues to remain in service, in fact, the device to transform a television into a smart TV will henceforth be updated only for the newer versions, leaving aside the first generation to favor the subsequent releases. And for every evaluation of merit it is necessary to start from an important datum: the first edition of Chromecast is now over 5 years old.

Chromecast, space for new generations

To note this choice is 9to5 Google, which in the list of updates has noticed how the version of the system for the first generation of the device has remained at the pole for some time. While the “production” firmware has generally arrived at 1.40 and the “preview” firmware at 1.42, for the first Chromecast the logs indicate a firmware version stopped at 1.36. No updates have been released, nor are they expected to be released.

To a request for clarification on the matter, Google has glossed over explaining how further security updates will be guaranteed for a long time to come: a statement guaranteeing the goodness of the device in terms of bugs, but at the same time a sort of confirmation between the lines of the fact that the device will no longer find updates in terms of features. However, the choice is entirely acceptable: new versions, more reliable and performing, have been released later and can guarantee a better experience for the end user. Google therefore intends to guarantee continuity to the product, but at the same time intends to focus its energies on the development of new solutions for the new generation Chromecasts.

Many things depend on firmware: the version of the apps installed, the features of Chrome, the final streaming experience for the user. That’s why Google has probably chosen to cut the first dry branch: the Chromecast series is destined to grow further, in direct competition with Amazon Fire TV Stick and other solutions, so the group leaves aside the old versions and favors the hardware replacement to favor software enhancement.

Whoever owns the first version of the device, in short, is advised: at the first offer it is worthwhile switching to a new Chromecast, so as to guarantee many more years of gaming, video, navigation and more.