Amazon's Fire Sticks remain some of the most popular on the planet but the online retailer's ultimate Fire TV Stick 4K Max could soon face some stiff competition. Rumours are rife that Google is plotting the release of a new streaming dongle which could offer some big improvements over the firm's current crop of dongles.

According to the experts at 9to5Google, a refreshed Chromecast with Google TV 4K could be coming soon with this Fire TV Stick rival possibly getting improved power, more internal storage and a rebooted remote that should make finding content faster.

As the name suggests, owners will also be able to view content in stunning 4K resolution and it should include all of the most popular streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+.

Whether or not it will beat the new Fire TV Stick 4K Max's full feature list - including the smart Ambient Mode - remains to be seen but hopefully, we might not have too long to wait to find out.

Google is hosting its yearly I/O developers conference later this month and it's not unusual for the tech giant to unveil new devices during the keynote.

Previous years have seen the company showcase shiny products such as foldable phones at its Mountain View headquarters and 2024 could be another big year for hardware.

It’s possible that Google will unveil its latest Pixel smartphone, which is rumoured to be called the Google Pixel 8a. 2023’s event saw the excellent Pixel 7a announced, and the firm usually announces its A-series device at I/O in May following the release of the regular models at the tail end of the previous year.

Of course, the main news will be all about its AI advancements along with upcoming updates to its Android operating system.

Google fans can also expect updates to be shown for globally popular apps such as Gmail, Google Photos, YouTube, and Google Docs.

Things kick off from May 14 and Express.co.uk will bring you all the news live from the showcase.