Google is not making a more premium version of the Google TV Streamer, with the “Google TV Stream Pro” moniker flying around just a name that was considered for the current model.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the “Google TV Streamer (4K)” could have been the “Google TV Stream Pro.”
That alternate name was in consideration pretty late in the game and therefore made it out into the world, which is what we’re seeing this week on international store listings — there seems to be an element of mistranslation — and old benchmark results.
It is not evidence of Google making an additional premium streaming device. Rather, it’s a further sign that the company considers the Google TV Streamer to be the “Pro” device. As of launch day, performance is snappy with 4GB of RAM and a faster CPU. We’d expect Google to maintain that as the Chromecast with Google TV ultimately aged well enough, with the company prioritizing affordability for its streaming devices.
If anything, the name Google could have gone with opens the door to a cheaper, non-Pro model: a hypothetical “Google TV Stream.” At $99, there does seem to be space for Google to go down market at around $50, the price Google used for the Chromecast over the past four years.
With the naming scheme Google ultimately chose, I’d expect such a device to be called the Google TV Streamer (HD), thus emulating the Chromecast with Google TV (HD). Google waited two years between the 4K and HD model. If that gap was replicated today, it might coincide with the $49.99 Chromecast 4K and $29.99 Chromecast HD fully selling out.
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