Since its announcement in June, Google’s Chromecast has been making waves across the internet. While many people originally purchased the device thinking of it as a $35 toy, the device has quickly made its way into many people’s daily activities. As a huge supporter of tech that makes it easy for users to stream content to their entertainment systems, I was ready to hand down my money the day of the announcement – until I discovered the item was US only.
Of course, Google isn’t the first company to neglect their northern neighbors with the release of a product, for years companies have often made products available in the US first, and set a target release date for us Canadians (which many times gets pushed back due to popularity in the US being larger than anticipated). With that said, I think Google is missing the boat by not providing a Canadian option immediately at the launch of the device. Often when US companies launch media devices they often cite the Canadian market delays on licensing agreement issues – this shouldn’t be the case for the Chromecast. Currently the main supported features are the ability to play music/movies via Android devices and YouTube and Netflix playback support. All of these features are available in Canada so I’m surprised to see the device isn’t supported here yet.
In Canada our country has easily been keeping up with US trend to “cut the cord” or find alternate ways of delivering content to consumers – in some cases we’ve been ahead of the game. For example, over the last 6-12 months Microsoft has been making news that they’ve been supporting certain television providers in the US support to use the Xbox 360 as a set top box – in Canada there has been at least one company that I know of which has been doing this for much longer. This Canadian company even offered a promotion many years ago to include an Xbox 360 as part of a contract bundle to encourage exploration of this method. Personally I’ve noticed a lot of non-tech friends and co-workers following this trend by purchasing Apple TVs solely for the purpose of consuming Netflix – the Apple TV has a price of $109. With such a low price point it stands to reason that the Chromecast would be a viable and popular alternative for many users who just want to hook up Netflix to their TV.
Another reason Google should deliver the Chromecast to Canada soon is one that pains me to say it, but I will – us Canadians are willing to pay more. The reality is that many things in Canada cost more. While the immediate response when we question our price difference is that our dollar is worth less than USD, there have been many points where CAD has been worth more than USD. Even during these times prices are rarely adjusted to reflect the difference and we’re stuck paying more than the US counterpart. I think Chromecast has been much more of an initial success than Google originally planned, and one has to imagine their low price point has left the profit margin pretty tight. In turn, Google could make up for some of the (presumed) narrow margin by charging a few bucks more in Canada.
My final reason why I think Google should get moving on the Canadian release of Chromecast is simple – I might actually buy an Android phone. Often I find myself in a situation with my Dad, his girlfriend and my wife huddling around one of our TVs wanting to show off a funny YouTube video we have bookmarked on our phone. My father currently is the only one out of us which have an Android device and while it’s simple for the rest of us to quickly pull up the bookmark and send it to the TV via the Apple TV, he finds the process difficult, often getting one of us iPhone users to do it for him. In my opinion the Chromecast does the media streaming through a far superior method – rather than tying up the mobile device, it simple directs the Chromecast to the appropriate video URL. Smart.
If Google can get the Chromecast to The Great White North soon for a price not grossly off the US counterpart, it’s definitely going to be one of my must-have items. Ever since my pal Chris Ferrell wrote about his initial experience with the Chromecast I’ve been severely jealous of him.
I’ll be buying two of them… once they’re available here.
I’d pay $50 each, I don’t mind.
I agree – I’ve been looking to get Netflix in my bedroom for a long time, but as I don’t use it much I can’t justify $110 for an Apple TV (and if I’m going to get one of the $89 alternatives I might as well spend the extra $20 for AppleTV).
Got one, shipped to border US town, and brought across into Canada. Kinda neats, streams HD netflix and youtube…but that’s about it. And so far it won’t work from the android phone….can’t download the app in Canada!
Canada eh..?!! Nope, Chromecast will not work on your Android tablets or phones. Period. All it will do is to work on your windows Laptop and it will let you play Netflix (subsribe…) and Youtube. And, not much else.
I tried to bring the files, pictures etc.. on to my HDTV. There are workarounds. It does not work as slick as Apple TV. Well, this chromecast will take time to work just right.
I bought it in USA. It won’t even let me download to my smartphone (android) or my tablet (android). So, it is pretty much useless to me. I will call that $35 as spent on a good dinner with a friend. LOL.
Chromecast is the first device I’ve decided to just buy off the scalpers on eBay. Actually scalpers is a little low… Anyway, it was only $10 more than I would have paid for one from the Play Store with shipping. I’m in Canada and it works great. Going to buy one or two more for sure.
Downloaded the Chromecast Android app from XDA since its not available to Canadians.