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Amazon resumes Chromecast sales, three years after first giving Google the boot
Amazon stopped selling Google’s Chromecast line back in 2015, claiming the sales halt was due to the streaming gadgets’ lack of support for Amazon Prime Video.
Now, three years after the online retailer first pulled the gadget, Android Police noticed that it has resumed sales of the streaming sticks. Amazon is currently selling two models, namely the third-generation Chromecast and the Chromecast Ultra. These retail for $35 and $69 respectively.
The standard device plugs into your TV’s HDMI port, allowing you to wirelessly send video streams from supported applications (e.g. Chrome, Netflix, Google Play Movies and TV, and YouTube) to your TV.
Meanwhile, the Ultra variant differs from the vanilla model by supporting 4K and HDR playback — the standard version tops out at 1080p.
News of the streaming gadgets’ return comes almost exactly a year after Amazon first confirmed it would be selling them once again. It’s unclear why there was such a lengthy delay between the announcement and actual sales, but it’s also worth noting that the devices still don’t support Prime Video.
The decision to resume sales of the streaming sticks could likely mean one of a few things. Either Amazon decided to make an exception for Google, the Prime Video requirement was a lie, or an update to enable Chromecast support is coming (or it could be an entirely different reason).