Today in the earnings call coinciding with its Q4 2014 release, Google CBO Omid Kordestani let us in on a few metrics of the Chromecast's success. The $35 (or less) streaming stick has been available for over a year and a half now, and just crossed the milestone of users tapping the "cast" button a full one billion times as of last week. Further, Chromecast usage per device has increased by 60 percent since launch — not surprising considering the number of apps that now support Google Cast.

Kordestani also shared numbers from analyst group NPD, which determined that the Chromecast was the No. 1 selling streaming device in the U.S. in 2014. With numbers like those you can see why Google is so excited about the Chromecast, and that surely has some kind of influence on the boost in Google Play sales in the past quarter.