It's been more than two years since the Chromecast was first announced and released. What started as a cheap gadget with a closed ecosystem has turned into an open platform that allows you to throw media from almost any app, service, and device to a bigger screen near you. Want to cast everything you're doing right now on your phone? Sure. How about those photos you took during the last holiday? Yes. And that funny cat YouTube video, your partner would sure love that? Aha. Some background music with a photo slideshow while you're working in the kitchen? Why not. That's the reason I bought a "dumb" TV and a Chromecast — I couldn't understand why I'd have to pay hundreds of dollars for some low-grade SmartTV system when I had all the possibilities available to me through an independent $35 dongle.

Since 2013, the Chromecast's software may have received a lot of updates, but its hardware has remained the same. Not for long. 9To5Google has come across internal documents that seem to point out to the release of a new Chromecast on September 29th, the same date that's rumored to see the announcement of the new Nexus devices. Said Chromecast will have a new round design in three colors, shown in the image above, and a lot of cool new features.

Spotify, the music streaming service that is still absent from the Chromecast despite many of its competitors embracing the platform, will finally be supported. Wi-Fi connectivity will be improved, which 9To5Google surmises means support for the 802.11ac band. Content feeds will be available on the Chromecast's homescreen, probably providing more options for the current backdrops.

The new Chromecast should be faster at playing content once you tap the Cast button on your device, thanks to a new feature called "Fast Play." It will also have a "Chromecast Audio" option that seems to permit connecting it via an auxiliary cable to any speaker, with multi-room support.

According to the documents, the new Chromecast will have a similar price to the original, keeping the reason people fell in love with it in the first place. That's nice.