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Source: Google working on new Nest Hub with detachable tablet form factor for 2022

To date, Google has released three Assistant Smart Displays. 9to5Google can now report that the company is working on a new Nest Hub for 2022 with a dockable tablet form factor where the screen detaches from a base/speaker.

Google’s smart display lineup today starts at $99.99 for the Nest Hub (2nd gen) with Soli radar for sleep tracking and air gestures. It was announced a year ago and marketed as an affordable “bedside companion” that works well even if you don’t use the health functionality. There’s also the Nest Hub Max from 2019 at $229 with a bigger 10-inch screen and more powerful audio hardware that Google likes to show in the kitchen and doubles as a video conferencing device.

According to a source that has proven familiar with Google’s plans, the next Nest Smart Display will have a removable screen that can be used as a tablet. It attaches to the base/speaker for a more conventional-looking smart home device. 

This new form factor comes as Google has spent the last few months adding more interface elements to the 2nd-gen Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max. Swiping up from the bottom of the screen reveals a row of “apps” above the settings bar. You can open a fullscreen grid of icons from there. Applications and games on the Nest Hub are essentially web views, so this is technically a launcher for shortcuts. Speaking of the web, Google also spent the end of last year adding a more feature-rich browser that even features a Gboard-esque keyboard. You can also send sites directly to your phone and enable text-to-speech.

Both of these additions can be seen as laying the groundwork for a tablet-like experience, with web browsing obviously being a popular task on big screens.

Many questions about the implementation remain unknown, including what OS/experience the undocked tablet will run. Chrome OS is likely too power-hungry (and as such costly) considering the affordability of Nest devices, while Android would open the door to existing apps and the Play Store. Looking at the landscape, Lenovo sells a $270 Android tablet that attaches to a speaker bar/dock running Amazon Alexa. Lenovo also has a $189 tablet complete with a docking station that runs Google Assistant Ambient Mode.

In terms of launch, we’ve heard 2022 attached to this new Nest Hub tablet.

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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com