Since the launch of the Chromecast a year ago, users of the popular streaming adapter have hit the cast button more than 400 million times, Mario Queiroz, the “proud papa” of Chromecast, announced Thursday in this blog post.
Google hasn’t announced how many Chromecasts it has shipped so far, but acknowledged in March that it has sold “millions” of the $35 units, which are now offered in more than 30,000 stores in almost two dozen countries.
The device, which has been competing in the streaming market with companies such Roku, Apple and Amazon, has also been growing in other ways. After starting with a relatively small selection of apps optimized for the Chromecast, there are now more than 400 apps that are Google Cast-ready, and recently added a feature that allows users to mirror their Android device to the TV.
To celebrate the Chromecast’s first year on the market, Google Play Music is offering 90 days of free access to All Access, a service that normally sells for $9.99 per month. The offer, good through September 30, is initially available to Chromecast users in the U.S.
Here’s a look back some highlights from the Chromecast’s first year on the market:
-July 24, 2013: Google launches the Chromecast.
-July 25, 2013: Citing overwhelming demand, Google temporarily scuttles a promotion that offered three months of Netflix with the purchase of a Chromecast. Amazon.com and BestBuy.com burn through their stock.
-February 3, 2014: Google releases the Google Cast Software Development Kit, hoping it will open up the content and apps pipeline for the device.
-March 9, 2014: Speaking at the SXSW conference, Google SVP of Android and Chrome Sundar Pichai says sales of the Chromecast has reached the “millions.”
-April 17, 2014: Nikesh Arora, still Google’s SVP and chief business officer at the time, declares that the Chromecast “is a real hit.”
-June 3, 2014: WatchESPN extends support to the Chromecast in time for ESPN’s coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
-June 5, 2014: Following a brief delay, Aereo launches an extension for Google Chromecast. Twenty days later, the U.S. Supreme Court reverses a lower court ruling denying broadcasters' injunction against Aereo, which later shuts down service as it weighs its options.
