Google has added TV series to its UK Google Play store ahead of its international Chrome Cast launch.
Bringing the Google Play Store closer in line with the Apple iTunes offering, Google now offers popular TV series to purchase by the episode or season on the UK version of the store.
Priced at £1.89 for a single SD episode, Google Play customers can opt to purchase a HD version of the selected episode for £2.49. Season passes can also be bought, with prices varying according to the amount of episodes in a series.
“The ultimate digital entertainment destination just got even better – today we’re adding some of the UK’s most popular TV shows to the Google Play store,” said Google UK. “Whether you’re a fan of drama, comedy or documentaries, there’s something on Google Play to suit your tastes.”
TV series now available on the Google Play store include Luther, The Walking Dead, Homeland, Family Guy, House and the Big Bang Theory. For children there’s Peppa Pig and the Amazing World of Gumball.
Making TV series available outside of the US Google Play store for the first time seems to coincide with the recent unveiling of the new Google Chrome Cast dongle and new Nexus 7 tablet.
Plugging directly into the HDMI port of any TV, the Google Chrome Cast aims to bring internet content to the TV, streaming from any device and platform.
Google claims the streaming dongle is “fast and easy to set up” and one of its major selling point is that users will have “nothing new learn” when operating it.
The Chrome Cast is just 2-inches long and runs a simplified version of the Chrome OS. It pulls content from the cloud rather than the device alone which allows multiple users to interact with the music, film, TV or other media being displayed.
Compatible apps already include Google’s own store, YouTube and Netflix, with more said to be added in the near future.
Countries outside the US will be getting the Chrome Cast “as soon as possible”, but the addition of TV series to the Google Play UK store will certainly help the dongle appeal to a wider market.
Next, read our pick of the best TVs of 2013.
