According to a report this morning out of Japanese newspaper Nikkei, the Made by Google hardware lineup for 2019 is pretty much what we expected: There’s a budget Pixel right around the corner, a premium Google Pixel 4 in the works, a new Google Home, a first-party smartwatch, and a new Nest Cam.
The report details a lot of things we already knew for the most part, but states them as being in the plan for this year with near certainty per “industry sources”. For one, the publication reiterates many previous reports and rumors that, yes, a budget Google Pixel 3 “Lite” will be launched this year which will undercut the iPhone XR in price.
Google’s new smartphone will be its first non-premium model aimed at price-sensitive customers and those in emerging markets. It is expected to be priced lower than Apple’s cheapest iPhone, the XR, which starts at $749.
Android Police‘s David Ruddock previously reported that the Google Pixel 3 “Lite” and Google Pixel 3 XL “Lite” would launch on Verizon in the United States “this spring.”
While easy to assume considering we’ve seen a new Google Home every year since 2016 (not to mention evidence we’ve surfaced pertaining to a larger Google Home Hub), the report notes that “an updated version” of the Google Home will launch this year. It’s unclear whether this means a “2nd generation” of the standard Google Home or a new Home entirely.
The company will also roll out an updated version of its signature smart speaker Google Home this year, as well as a new smartwatch to compete with the Apple Watch, the person familiar with the plan said.
The long-awaited Pixel Watch will reportedly finally see its debut this year as well. Notorious leakster Evan Blass said last year that the Pixel Watch was set to launch at Google’s 2018 hardware event, but that didn’t pan out. Our sources have said the watch was indeed planned to launch last year but was delayed.
Finally, the report says that a person with “direct knowledge of the matter” said that Google also plans to revamp its Nest Cam lineup. 9to5Google reported earlier this year that Google is working on a rebrand of Nest following its integration into Google’s hardware team.
One person with direct knowledge of the matter told Nikkei that Google plans to release a new security camera later this year after it integrated the team from Nest Labs, the tech startup it acquired in 2014. Nest Labs has been building household-use security cameras since 2015.
This is just the beginning of the rumor cycle for Made by Google’s 2019 hardware lineup, so stay tuned as things unfold. The growth of the mainline Google Pixel lineup and its fourth iteration this year is enough to get excited by alone, but it sounds like Google won’t be taking an off year in its ever-expanding lineup of other products.
Nikkei’s track record on Google and Google hardware is hit and miss. Most recently, it reported that Google would launch a first-party Smart Display in August 2018, a couple months before that device leaked in full and the official debut of the Google Home Hub. On the other hand, it completely botched a report about Google Maps in China last January.
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