A new Google Nest Hub could arrive by the end of 2022 which, according to 9to5Google, will have a particular form factor. To date, Google has launched three smart displays on the market and the current range consists of the second generation Nest Hub and the Nest Hub Max, which was launched 3 years ago.
The next Google Nest Hub may have a particular form factor
The information on the upcoming Google Nest Hub in the possession of 9to5Google comes from an unspecified source that, they say, has guessed several moves by the Mountain View giant in the past.
The new Hub should be a “modular” device, consisting of a tablet and a base, with an integrated speaker, to which it can be hooked to become a conventional smart home device.
This change of course comes after a period in which Google has increasingly enriched the interface of its Nest Hubs, providing them with various features such as an interface with shortcuts to start apps. However, the apps and games on Nest Hub are still web-app versions, they are not physically installed.
Google has also equipped their Nest Hubs with a more feature-rich browser that even includes a keyboard very similar to the Gboard. Wanting to see everything from another point of view, Google was slowly tableting its smart displays, since launching applications and browsing the web are fundamental activities for a tablet.
Doubts remain about how the “tablet” will behave once it is unhooked from the base. What operating system will it have? Chrome OS would seem a bit too energy-intensive (and expensive) while Android would open up to a world of apps and games already on the Google Play Store.
Lenovo has already adopted a similar situation
A “similar” solution, but backward, is adopted by Lenovo which offers two Android tablets with docking stations, in order to transform the tablets into real smart displays (one uses the services of Amazon Alexa and one those of Google Assistant ) rather than turning a smart display into a tablet.
Returning to the product of our interest, it could be interesting, for example, the possibility of placing Google Nest Hub on multiple docks and not just on one: this would allow users to move only the tablet from room to room, as needed ( without having to move the whole system). According to what has been said, we will know more in the course of 2022.