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It's ghastly to me that Google seems to have just given up. There were a bunch of portable speakers coming out with Chromecast. JBL Link in 2017, for example. I

It's ghastly to me that Google seems to have just given up. There were a bunch of portable speakers coming out with Chromecast. JBL Link in 2017, for example. I have some Sony gear from around the same time (fine speaker, fine Chromecast, but some truly godawful bad wifi connectivity). But now there's almost nothing coming out. Chromecast Audio feels like an ever shrinking ever less available technology. And there just aren't any alternatives in the running!

chabad360 2y ago
They were sued by Sonos for patent infringement.
- bingobob 2y ago
  yeah Sonos won for a bit there Google keep at it and overturn it. https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/10/23910694/sonos-google-patent-verdict-thrown-out-alsup https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/10/23910694/sonos-google-pa... but i think the damage has been done at Google the resource move to other projects while the legal cases got worked out. one time Google was going to release Google surround sound that works with Google TV but this courtcase delay it all.
prmoustache 2y ago
Honestly whenever I am looking for speaker these days, I reuse some inexpensive HiFi speakers for the second hand market and plug an amp from aliexpress/amazon with bluetooth capabilities. Only issue is they are usually advertising their bluetooth at all time so anyone in the street can connect to them by mistake. I just power them off when not in use anyway so no big deal.
- jauntywundrkind 2y ago
  I have some fine $300 bookshelf speakers and tpa3255 chipamps setup in the living room and office; it's great yeah. I tend to think most people will end up with sub-par gear if they try to go secondhand, won't fully appreciate what value you can just buy new just looking at online recommendations in your price range, but if you want to be persistent & picky & eventually eventually snap up a steal secondhand does come up with some buried treasure sometimes. I do have to switch inputs between Chromecast Audio and the computer that's plugged in. That's annoying. And I'd rather have Chromecast alike built into the amp like Nexus Q showed. At the very least these chipamps could offer me a 5v1a for powering my Chromecast. There are a couple fancy semi-expensive amps that do have Google's audio casting, but they're big-ish fuller-sized receivers and honestly expensive. This setup I have has been kind of portable, but mannnn I don't love it. I literally have a chipamps velcroed to the side of a speaker. There's a 6s lipo for the chipamps and a USB battery bank for the Chromecast, plus cables for both power supplies. Audio cables from Chromecast to chipamps to speakers. I've gone long on making this a portable useful anywhere system and it rocks. The one simplification is using some powered speakers. Micca PB42 and Neumi BS5p both will self-power off the 6s lipo batteries, are ~$150. But it's just absurd & wild that speakers with networked audio are so un-mainstream. That I had to velcro this package together myself is absurd. How has the ecosystem only narrowed and narrowed? (Meanwhile Sonos is busy committing deep-cut enshittification/de-networkization).
Peanuts99 2y ago
It seems like easy money to me to be honest but they seem to have given up like you say. Google assistant is declining at a terrific rate too - I asked it what the time was a few days ago and got a Wikipedia definition.
pharos92 2y ago
It's unfortunate that Google relentlessly axes great products.

chabad360 2y ago

They were sued by Sonos for patent infringement.

bingobob 2y ago
yeah Sonos won for a bit there Google keep at it and overturn it. https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/10/23910694/sonos-google-patent-verdict-thrown-out-alsup https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/10/23910694/sonos-google-pa... but i think the damage has been done at Google the resource move to other projects while the legal cases got worked out. one time Google was going to release Google surround sound that works with Google TV but this courtcase delay it all.

prmoustache 2y ago

Honestly whenever I am looking for speaker these days, I reuse some inexpensive HiFi speakers for the second hand market and plug an amp from aliexpress/amazon with bluetooth capabilities. Only issue is they are usually advertising their bluetooth at all time so anyone in the street can connect to them by mistake. I just power them off when not in use anyway so no big deal.

jauntywundrkind 2y ago
I have some fine $300 bookshelf speakers and tpa3255 chipamps setup in the living room and office; it's great yeah. I tend to think most people will end up with sub-par gear if they try to go secondhand, won't fully appreciate what value you can just buy new just looking at online recommendations in your price range, but if you want to be persistent & picky & eventually eventually snap up a steal secondhand does come up with some buried treasure sometimes. I do have to switch inputs between Chromecast Audio and the computer that's plugged in. That's annoying. And I'd rather have Chromecast alike built into the amp like Nexus Q showed. At the very least these chipamps could offer me a 5v1a for powering my Chromecast. There are a couple fancy semi-expensive amps that do have Google's audio casting, but they're big-ish fuller-sized receivers and honestly expensive. This setup I have has been kind of portable, but mannnn I don't love it. I literally have a chipamps velcroed to the side of a speaker. There's a 6s lipo for the chipamps and a USB battery bank for the Chromecast, plus cables for both power supplies. Audio cables from Chromecast to chipamps to speakers. I've gone long on making this a portable useful anywhere system and it rocks. The one simplification is using some powered speakers. Micca PB42 and Neumi BS5p both will self-power off the 6s lipo batteries, are ~$150. But it's just absurd & wild that speakers with networked audio are so un-mainstream. That I had to velcro this package together myself is absurd. How has the ecosystem only narrowed and narrowed? (Meanwhile Sonos is busy committing deep-cut enshittification/de-networkization).

Peanuts99 2y ago

It seems like easy money to me to be honest but they seem to have given up like you say. Google assistant is declining at a terrific rate too - I asked it what the time was a few days ago and got a Wikipedia definition.

pharos92 2y ago

It's unfortunate that Google relentlessly axes great products.