Google’s Nexus event yesterday was also the venue for the announcement of its updated Chromecasts. This year, the search giant is betting on two types of Chromecasts – one that’s for your TV and another for your audio equipment.

First, let’s talk about the one for the TV. It’s basically an update to the first generation streaming device and is a very convenient way of turning an ordinary TV to a smart device. Just like the first one, the new Chromecast is still offered at $35 but has a completely new design. Gone is the thumbnail drive look and it’s in with the round medallion look.

Apart from the new design and a choice of three different colors, the new Chromecast functions exactly the same as its predecessor. It can stream content to a TV screen from an Android device, mirror any website and play games using their phone.

The second Chromecast model is called the Chromecast Audio and is designed to connect your speakers and other audio equipment to your Wi-Fi network in order to stream music.

The device is compatible with different platforms including iOS, Mac and Windows (in addition to Android and Chromebook) and connects to your speakers via RCA, 3.5mm audio jack or an optical cable.

Just like the Chromecast for your TV, Chromecast Audio can be remotely controlled using an Android phone and users can search, play, pause, adjust the volume and queue songs to their speakers. The concept is pretty much the same as in other wireless music streaming devices like the Moto Stream but this one uses Wi-Fi instead of Bluetooth.

The Chromecast Audio will also be priced competitively at $35 and is now available on the Google Store as well as other retailers including Walmart and Best Buy.

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Amazon is challenging the Google Chromecast with its own HDMI streaming dongle – the $39 Fire TV Stick.

The dongle features a dual-core processor, 8GB of storage, 1GB of RAM, a dedicated VideoCore4GPU and Wi-Fi 802.11n. It also comes with its own TV remote which should make surfing and navigating its interface easier. You can also use your Android phone as a remote control or a voice control by downloading the companion app.

The stick also features Amazon’s ASAP technology (Advanced Streaming and Prediction), which learns the kind of movies and shows you like to watch and readies them before the user presses the play button.

Other notable features of the Fire Stick TV include Bluetooth v3.0, support for Dolby Digital Plus, support for Amazon Fire Game controller (compatible with other Bluetooth controllers), and finally 720p-1080p video output support.

And one more thing, if you’re an Amazon Prime subscriber, you can get the Fire TV Stick for only $19 for the next two days.

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After introducing the L Developer Preview of Android, Android Wear and Auto, Google has also unveiled Android for our living rooms, which is fittingly called Android TV.

Just like the other versions of Android discussed during the event, Android TV is designed to bring the usability of the Android operating system to other devices. As such, the platform still features Google’s new Material Design, which is most prominent when a user is viewing cards on top of live TV.

Android TV is also bringing improved search functionality with full support for voice search. Moreover, the platform is fully compatible with other Android platforms. For instance, consumers are able to use an Android Wear smartwatch as a remote control for Android TV while games from Google Play will be playable on the user’s TV.

Google is also giving Android TV a cast feature similar to the Chromecast. This means that content from an Android smartphone and tablet can be conveniently displayed on TV allowing users to share content more freely.

And speaking of Chromecast, the TV streaming dongle will also be getting some upgrades today. For starters, users can now cast content through the cloud, eliminating the need to get all casters under one network. Also, Google wants users to use their TV even when not watching any shows or movies by enabling a feature called Backdrop that displays beautiful curated images when the TV is not in use.

The Chromecast update will also allow TVs to mirror the contents of an Android smartphone.

The SDK for Android TV should now be available at Google Developers website today while products running on the platform are expected to ship in the coming months.

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