A new Chromecast Ultra with remote running Android TV could be coming very soon

For nearly as long as the Chromecast has been around, there have been questions about the need or availability of a remote. As casting from a device slowly became a more normalized activity, many of us simply moved past the notion that our video source required a remote to go along with it. After all, once you begin a cast session to the big screen, the device you used to start that session is essentially the remote and can do what you need without the need to hunt down yet another accessory.

Be that as it may, users have still desired a dedicated remote control for the Chromecast. With the rise of hardware like the Amazon Fire TV and Roku players, I can see the desire to have a remote from time to time. With younger kids or older adults, there is a great simplicity to just being able to pick up a remote and choose something to watch on the screen. For those without a smartphone, for instance, casting becomes a challenging activity pretty quickly.

It looks like we may not be waiting for a Chromecast with remote too much longer if a report from mysmartprice.com is to be believed. The site has come across an NCC (Taiwan’s version of the US FCC) filing that matches the FCC filing found by 9to5 Google’s exclusive report on the same thing from early March. Both corroborate device model numbers GPJ100 and GPJ110: the new Chromecast Ultra and the accompanying remote control. With this new Chromecast device now passing though both certifications, it is clear that the release should be happening soon.

As a reminder, according to the same 9to5Google report, this Chromecast will also be running Android TV at its core, giving it the needed interface to interact with a remote. While I’m the type that simply likes to cast things, I can see where the draw will be for this device. Users who want a UI to navigate will be able to and those who just like to cast things can still do so just as they always have. As this won’t be just an average Android TV, I’m sure it will also support Stadia game play out of the box and may even be capable of a few Android games as well.

File this all under “likely” at this point and, while you are at it, slap a “coming soon” label on there, too. With the now-cancelled Google I/O date coming up in the next few weeks, there’s little doubt this new mystery Chromecast will show up in the same time. With the Pixel Buds launched and the Pixel 4a on the brink of arrival, May could be a very, very busy month for Google hardware.

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