
The Pixel Pill will connect to a speaker base to double as a sensible show
After some stops and starts, Google is returning to tablets, however with a sensible dwelling twist. The corporate first teased the upcoming Pixel Pill at I/O this yr, saying the machine can be launching in 2023. Although that date remains to be not less than months away, Google was wanting to share extra particulars at its {hardware} launch occasion in the present day.
Google’s vice chairman of product administration Rose Yao stated in the course of the keynote that the corporate thinks of the pill as a part of its Pixel portfolio of merchandise, and that it didn’t really feel full and not using a “massive display screen machine”. That is perhaps complicated when you recall the ill-fated Pixel Slate and Pixelbook, which have been “massive display screen” Pixel-branded units.
Like different Pixel devices, the pill might be a canvas for Google’s personal expression of Android. And because the firm already hinted at its developer convention this yr, the pill might be powered by the identical Tensor G2 chip that’s within the flagship telephones. Since that is nonetheless only a tease, the corporate remains to be preserving particulars like display screen measurement, decision, RAM and extra below wraps.
Google is prepared, nonetheless, to share extra concerning the Pixel Pill’s design. It seems to be much like older telephones just like the Pixel 3, with a rounded rectangle form and a matte-ish glass again. Actually, Yao stated the corporate developed a brand new “nano-ceramic coating” that she stated is impressed by “the texture of porcelain.”
In an interview with Engadget, Yao stated one of the best ways to consider this end is to think about the coating on a Le Creuset dutch oven. She stated that the Pixel Pill’s coating ought to really feel equally sturdy and premium, and that it’s principally embedding tiny items of ceramic onto the machine’s body, which is product of recycled aluminum. This creates what she stated is a “gentle matte end” with a “grippy really feel” that ought to alleviate what her staff believed was a ache level of tablets: “They’re actually massive units which are sort of slippery.”
The Pixel Pill may also run Android, full with Materials You personalization and large screen-friendly options like cut up display screen and stylus help. After I requested for extra details about stylus help, Yao stated “We’ll discuss concerning the extra subsequent yr,” although she added that “you should utilize a third-party stylus.”

The truth that the Pixel Pill is powered by Tensor, which Yao stated is the primary time Google is bringing its personal processor to a distinct kind of product than a telephone, permits just a few various things.
“I’ve so many tales I need to share about what meaning,” Yao stated. However she will’t in the meanwhile, moreover alluding to speech recognition, video calls, picture enhancing and picture processing as areas to look out for.
She additionally shouted out the Assistant, which is able to be capable to “work seamlessly between a pill and the telephone” due to Tensor. However not simply that, Google needs you to consider its pill as a spot for an always-listening Assistant, very like you’ll with a Nest speaker. Yao stated that her staff noticed how individuals used tablets and discovered that “tablets are homebodies.” In response to her, most tablets are dwelling 80 % of the time and are solely energetic for a small portion of the time.

One other factor Yao stated was that although tablets tended to stay in individuals’s properties, they “don’t actually have a house at dwelling.” They’re usually left in drawers or by charging shops, and may both be forgotten or get in the way in which. To make a pill that’s “actually helpful 24-7” and that might “carry collectively the perfect of Pixel and residential,” Yao stated her staff made a charging speaker dock.
The bottom doesn’t simply cost the machine, Yao stated it additionally “unlocks a ton of latest experiences and makes the pill useful on a regular basis.” Her favourite characteristic is the picture body, which has similarities to that on the Nest Hub sensible show. However the Pixel Pill additionally has entrance and rear cameras, making it helpful for video calls.
Yao stated the angle “is simply actually good for me,” although based mostly on the images Google has proven thus far it seems the digital camera would possibly shoot at an unflattering upwards angle. She additionally confirmed that the bottom gained’t enable for adjustable angles, so when you don’t just like the place you probably gained’t be capable to change it.
“I actually assume it is one of the versatile tablets available on the market,” Yao stated, including “We’ll discuss extra subsequent yr.” Whereas Google nonetheless hasn’t shared info like display screen measurement and pricing, we’ll probably discover out extra nearer to launch.
Comply with the entire information from Google’s Pixel 7 occasion right here!
All merchandise really helpful by Engadget are chosen by our editorial staff, unbiased of our mum or dad firm. A few of our tales embody affiliate hyperlinks. For those who purchase one thing by means of one among these hyperlinks, we might earn an affiliate fee. All costs are right on the time of publishing.