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This Valentines day we’ve found something to celebrate without spending money on roses or chocolates. Google is showing some love to their fans by giving a $6 credit to all Chromecast owners. This credit can go towards movies, music or apps. So go ahead, treat yourself – or your special someone – to movie night.
To redeem the offer, visit the Chromecast Offers website, connect your Chromecast and you will see a list of all offers. Select Enjoy a Valentine’s Day movie rental with a $6 Google Play credit. Some other offers currently available include
- a free copy of the first X-Men movie
- EPIX Presents: Road to the NHL Winter Classic
- 3 months of DramaFever Premium
- and 90 days of free unlimited music.
Best of all, if you’ve purchased multiple Chromecasts, you can redeem the $6 offer for each one!
Currently supporting more than 350 apps and services, the Google Chromecast is a thumb-sized streaming device that plugs into the HDMI port of your TV. Since its debut in August 2013, it has grown in popularity, selling more than 10 million units worldwide in 2014. In fact, researcher NPD Group said Chromecast was the fastest-selling streaming device in 2014. The Chromecast streams content through Android phone, Android tablet, iPhone, iPad or laptop. You can purchase Chromecast in retailers for $35 but with the promotional gift it is essentially $29. Or you can buy a refurbished Chromecast from Groupon for $25.
During their recent Q4 2014 earnings conference call, Google said Chromecast was used to play more than 1 Billion streams in 2014. Google Chief Business Officer Omid Kordestani said: “Chromecast usage per device has increased by 60% since launch, due to a growing roster of new apps and features.” According to Google, more than 6,000 developers are actively developing more than 10,000 cast-enabled apps across Android, iOS, and Chrome.
This past September, Roku, which sells a variety of streaming media players, said it had sold more than 10 million of its devices since they debuted in 2008. Meanwhile, Apple said it has sold 25 million of its $99 Apple TV streaming media devices since launch – not too shabby for a self-proclained ‘hobby’ project. The newest entrants to the market, Amazon’s Fire TV player and Fire TV Stick, have reported strong sales. Similar to AppleTV and Amazon’s other devices, the Fire TV Stick primarily serves as a conduit to the company’s own digital-media offerings, but does offer access to plenty of other apps – Netflix, Showtime, YouTube and Hulu Plus, for now, and soon the HBOGO app (due Spring 2015). In addition, the mass retailer Walmart recently entered the market with its $25 Vudu Spark, a small dongle that only plays content delivered through streaming service Vudu.
In January, NPD stated that streaming media player penetration in U.S. households, which currently stands at 16%, will increase to 25% in 2015, 33% in 2016, and to over 40% in 2017. The report points out that although Apple and Roku have been the base of the market, new entrances from Amazon and Google, along with the availability of more premium content, will have a significant impact.
