Google was incorporated in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. From its very humble beginnings in a garage, it now has more than 70 offices located in 40 countries. Google is known for several outstanding achievements under the leadership of Eric Schmidt. Foremost among these achievements is the AdSense which is a self-serve advertising platform for websites and a revenue producer for the company. Another accomplishment of Google is the Google maps, though not an income earner is the backbone of other Google services such as Latitude, Places and Maps Navigation . Gmail, the email service of Google is another popular achievement of the company. Google also made some very successful moves such as the purchase of Android, Inc. in 2005 and YouTube in 2006. The company also entered into partnerships with Apple by being the search engine on iPhones and with Verizon, that led to Android phones’ success.
The article, “Chromecast: The Rebirth of Google TV” talks about the new Google product, the Chromecast which is “a tiny WiFi-enabled device that plugs into existing TV HDMI ports”. It competes directly with Roku and Apple TV but is offered at a cheaper price at $35. Chromecast allows videos from YouTube, Netflix, Google Play and other online video and music apps to be streamed to the TV, PC, tablet or smartphone through the Chrome browser. Google hopes to capture the market because of Chromecast’s lower price compared to its competitors.
If one is to make Chromecast better, one will have to go into partnerships with HBO Go, Amazon Instant, MLB.TV, Spotify and Rdio because as of now it only works with a few apps. If this is done, Chromecast will be more attractive to the market because of the value for money that consumers will get. Another point which should be improved is that there is no dedicated remote which means that one has to have a smartphone or tablet on hand to use as a remote. Furthermore, the Chromecast should have been designed to support one’s personal media such as photos or videos which are stored in one’s laptop or mobile device.
Although there is plenty of room for improvement for the Chromecast, one thinks that its being inexpensive will play a major factor for its success. The handy design of the Chromecast and the ease in setting it up will also be very attractive to the market. Google probably hit it right this time.
References
Google. (n.d.). Google locations. Retrieved from google.com: http://www.google.com/about/company/facts/locations/
Google. (n.d.). Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Retrieved from google.com: http://www.google.com/about/company/
Newman, J. (2011, April 3). Top 10 Google accomplishments under Eric Schmidt. Retrieved from pcworld.com: http://www.pcworld.com/article/224079/top_10_google_accomplishments_under_eric_schmidt.html
Sterling, G. (2013, July 24). Chromecast: The rebirth of Google TV. Retrieved from marketingland.com: http://marketingland.com/chromecast-the-rebirth-of-google-tv-52976
