MANILA – Chromecast is now officially available in the Philippines today (December 14) to bring popular content on a phone, tablet or laptop to the biggest screen in Filipino homes.
First launched in 2013, Chromecast is essentially a Smart TV on a stick. Using a smartphone or computer as a remote control, uses can use Chromecast to access online video content, games and other apps that are compatible with the device.
Chromecast is now in 10 countries across Southeast Asia, which includes South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Singapore and Malaysia.
In the Philippines, Chromecast is brought in by Globe Telecom and can either be bought as a single unit or bundled with a broadband plan.
It comes free with a Globe Home Broadband Plan 1299 with free access to Hooq as well as across all Home Broadband Plans with free access to Hooq and Spotify or the NBA League Pass. Meanwhile, Platinum Home Broadband customers can avail of the Chromecast for free starting at Plan 3749 to Plan 9999 with free access to Hooq, Spotify, and the NBA League Pass.
Just in time for Christmas, Google Philippines officially announces the availability of the much-anticipated Chromecast.
Posted by adobo magazine on Sunday, December 13, 2015
Mickey Kim, head of Asia-Pacific Partnerships for Google Chromecast, shared with the local press that teaming up with a telco partner is a move to ensure a consistent and reliable experience with Chromecast.
“That’s one of the reasons why we are launching via a broadband subscription model because we want to ensure that users have a high enough bandwidth to enjoy Chromecast without a hitch.”
Kim adds that a bandwidth speed between 2 to 4 Megabits per second (Mbps) is ideal for Chromecast to work flawlessly.
The Chromecast launched in the Philippines and the rest of SEA is actually the original design introduced 2 years ago. A new version of Chromecast, a second-generation stick for streaming video, and a Chromecast Audio dongle that adds wireless music-streaming capabilities to any speaker via 3.5mm auxiliary jack, was introduced in the US just last September.
Asked on when Asian markets will get a hold of the Chromecast dongles, Kim assured that it will be in 2016. “We will launch the new model in 2016. For the Philippines, we didn’t want to wait until next year to bring this experience to them.”
“That’s one of the reasons why we are launching via a broadband subscription model because we want to.”
