ASUS submits minor FCC modifications to the recently-discontinued Nexus Player

It was just a few days ago that it seemed the Nexus Player had been discontinued, but now it looks like a slightly modified version of the device could be on its way. It doesn’t seem likely to be a “second generation” Nexus Player, but the device’s FCC listing has just received some minor updates — almost two years after it first launched…

The listing shows the same FCC ID as the previous model, but with an update to the WiFi antenna layout as well as updated circuit layouts. The onboard components such as the USB port, HDMI port, and power button have also been updated. The full list of changes is below.

• Change #1: Frequency band 3 was previously authorized for this device under section
  15.247 of the rules, this permissive change demonstrates compliance with new
  UNII rules for this same frequency band under section 15.407.
  This Change is according to KDB 926956 D01 U-NII Transition Plan v01r05.
  The minimum test requirements for Class II permissive change is according
  Answer of Question 16 section c)3) requirements.
• Change #2: The Band 1, Band 2a and Band 2c previously authorized under “Old Rules, a
  Class II permissive change filing to demonstrate compliance with the “New
  Rules”, all others hardware is identical with original granted.
• Change #3: Modify WiFi Antenna layout. (The antenna type is the same, the antenna gain is lower than the original application)
• Change #4: Update System Power circuit and layout
• Change #5: Update RF circuit and layout
• Change #6: Update system circuit components (USB,HDMI & Power button)

Sadly, we don’t see the appearance of added Ethernet capabilities — something that many hoped would one day come to the Nexus Player.

One possible scenario could be that ASUS is working on their own version of the device, but without Google’s Nexus branding. Using up a backlog of leftover hardware to take on other OEMs like Xiaomi in the Android TV set-top box space would make sense for ASUS, and the company could probably sell it for cheap.

It’s also possible, yet very unlikely, that this could be a very slightly updated version of the original model — but I wouldn’t hold out hope. These changes are of course minor, so if we do see an updated product from Google we would expect it to include upgrades in the processor, RAM, and storage departments.