A second generation Chromecast is in the works, with documents pertaining to the device having recently passed through the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) in the US.
But before you get too excited it does seem that this won’t be a major upgrade on the current model. In fact, one member of the Chromecast team says “most users won’t notice a difference.”
“Same features as the original”
We’re able to know more about the second generation Chromecast thanks to a fortuitous stroke of timing. The FCC documents surfaced just as Google’s Chromecast team took to Reddit to answer fans’ questions.
And, they say, not to expect anything too major by way of hardware or functionality:
“No plans for big announcement on this one. Mostly because it will have the same features as the original and most users won’t notice a difference.”
A quick glance over the publicly viewable regulatory documents filed at the FCC bear this out. ID artwork included sport the exact same model number as that already connected to millions of TVs — H2G2-42 and works.
‘Several attachments are marked confidential…’
Of course, not all information on the device is public information at this stage. Several attachments are marked confidential, including “Theory of Operation” and both block and schematic diagrams.
But what can be read makes for fairly familiar reading. The device connects via HDMI, is powered through a Micro-USB cable, and comes loaded with built-in Wi-Fi. Although the testing report briefly mentions 5GHz Wi-Fi only the standard 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (the same as in the current model) has actually been tested.
That leaves overall design and on-board non-communicative components as ripe for a possible upgrade — maybe a touch more RAM? A slightly faster CPU? Better heat dissipation? Time will tell. At this point, your guess is as good as mine.