Now playing: HBO Now, Food Network and more arrive on Chromecasts
Google's Chromecast is quietly becoming the little engine that could. The $35 HDMI stick gained four new content partners on Thursday, along with a new app and a trio of games.
The new star of the Chromecast show is HBO Now, the standalone subscription channel that initially launched on Apple TV.
For $15 monthly, customers can view various HBO movies and original series programming from the provider. I've streamed HBO Now content from a computer to our big screen television, but the experience isn't optimal and requires a cable. With Chromecast support, the picture quality should be slightly better and will work over a wireless connection.
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Cord cutters will also be able to watch The Food Network, the Travel Channel and Pokemon TV using a mobile device and a Chromecast plugged into an HDTV, as all three of those channels are now supported.
Also added to Chromecast is Pixlr, one of the most popular photo editing apps for Chromebooks and developed by Autodesk. Using the big screen should make edits a little easier on the eyes. Finally, Google has added Chromecast support for three games: FitFlap, Catch Phraze Blits and Tricky Titans.
The $35 I spent on a Chromecast may be one of the best low-cost tech investments I've made in the past few years.
The small dongle works on nearly any TV made within the past five years, is simple to use and fits well in a travel bag. I've taken mine on various business trips, sometimes to share presentations and such, but also to unwind with great web content on a larger screen.