Google’s new Android TV-based streaming dongle appears ready to hit U.S. store shelves this month, as expected, based on online retail product listings uncovered by several tech blogs.
9to5 Google was first to spot a Home Depot listing for “Sabrina,” since taken down, that priced the device at $49.99. Three color options are specified: “Rock Candy,” “Como Blue” and “Summer Melon,” and the device is listed as the “Sabrina-Abbey” bundle. (No one seems to know what “Abbey” is at this point. Maybe it's the remote?)
Also read: Google’s ‘Sabrina’ Closing in on September Launch?
Another online technology enthusiast publication, Droid Life, found this incomplete Walmart ad, pricing the three product iterations at $59.99. Android Police, meanwhile, spotted the device at Target, also for $59.99.
The pricing is on par with lower end dongles made by Roku and Amazon.
Sabrina appears to be a major shift in connected TV strategy for Google, which has since 2013 marketed its more minimalistic Chromecast operating platform for its HDMI sticks and dongles. Google has proliferated Android TV, which gives users the resources of Google Play and Google Assistant, through channels including pay TV operators and the global smart TV market.
A handful of connected TV device makers also license Android TV, including Nvidia, TiVo and Slling (AirTV). But this is the first time Google has packaged the growing Android TV platform in its own connected TV device.
