Google announces new Android TV and Google Cast speaker partners as well as multi-room audio coming to Google Cast speakers this year

Without actually being present for any big announcements themselves, Google has had a presence at CES this year, with a number of new Google Cast speakers as well as AndroidTV units being announced. Google has this morning welcomed their new partners and announced expanded functionality for Google Cast speakers coming this year.

Android TV
Major TV manufacturers using Android TV will again include Sony, Phillips and Sharp this year, with new models announced at CES. Android TV will be expanding to new TVs from vendors Arcelik, Vestel, RCA, Hisense, TCL and Bang & Olufsen this year though. With TVs from HiSense, RCA, and TCL available in Australia we’ll very likely be seeing at least a couple of these models reach our shores.

Google Cast
Google has seen their Google Cast standard reach a number of new partners at CES this year, and they’ll be getting more thanks to software and hardware from Frontier Silicon and StreamUnlimited which will according to Google ‘make it easier for more audio companies to join the Google Cast family’. As far as partners for Google Cast, Google announced new and update models :

Throughout 2016, you’ll be able to enjoy Google Cast speakers from B&O Play, Harman Kardon, Onkyo, Philips, Pioneer, and Raumfeld. Sony and LG, who were among the first to include Google Cast in their speakers, are also refreshing their speaker lineups.

With the success of Chromecast Audio announced this year, with the latest feature ‘Multi-room Audio’ hugely popular, Google Cast audio will also receive this feature later this year – though no word on when we’ll get Chromecast Audio in Australia.

We’ve been covering a lot of these announcements in our CES 2016 coverage, so check it all out throughout the week.