The Gen 3 Chromecast has been leaking thanks to its arrival at Best Buy in the US, and now it’s leaked again as part of a new ‘Smart TV Kit’.
The leak has come via the /r/GooglePixel subreddit, where user /u/LitheBeep has shared a picture of the new ‘Smart TV Kit’ containing the now familiar looking re-designed Chromecast Gen 3 and a Google Home Mini in Charcoal.
The pairing of a Google Home Mini and Chromecast is apparently a common thing, at least in the US, with the bundle usually called simply ‘Google Home Mini + Chromecast’ and sold exclusively at Walmart.
This bundle however is being labelled the ‘Smart TV Kit’, so it’s a re-branding exercise that may possibly utilise the new Bluetooth functionality that was discovered when the device went through the FCC back in August.
Calling the Chromecast + Google Home Mini a ‘Smart TV Kit’ makes far more sense in the US. There Google Assistant on Home Mini is able to play, pause, skip, fast forward and rewind content from 10 content providers including Netflix, Crackle, CBS All Access, Google Play Movies and more whereas here in Australia we’re limited to simply Stan and Netflix.
As the Google Home Mini + Chromecast bundle isn’t available here in Australia, and given the small array of content providers available to use it with, it’s unlikely we’ll see the new Smart TV Kit launching here any time soon.
