Google could have lots of home hardware on the way this year. Following up on rumours about a possible new 4K Chromecast, a teardown of the Google Home app revealed evidence of a new Nest Audio speaker and a Nest Hub Max.
9to5Google performed the teardown, which involves cracking open an app’s APK file and looking at lines of code. Sometimes, teardowns find code for unreleased features or products, though it’s worth keeping in mind that interpretation of the findings can be imperfect. Some features found in the code might not see a final release, or could change substantially before launch.
With that in mind, 9to5 found that Home app version 3.16 included code referencing a ‘Nest Hub Max’ that’s different from the existing 2019 model. That could mean Google has a second-gen Nest Hub Max on the way.
According to the teardown, the new Nest Hub Max still uses the Google Assistant smart display software that’s available on existing Nest Hubs. Beyond that, the code didn’t reveal anything else about the new Hub Max.
However, 9to5 also found references to a new ‘Nest Audio’ speaker. The publication had reported Google was developing a new Nest Audio speaker back in October 2022 but that Google apparently hit a roadblock with plans to move Nest Audio speakers over to the Fuchsia operating system (OS). It’s currently unclear if the Home app code references that existing Nest Audio project or a new one.
Whatever the case, a new Nest Audio speaker is expected to support ultra-wideband (UWB) connectivity.
While it remains to be seen how things play out, it certainly looks like Google has several smart home products coming down the pipe.
Frankly, I’m surprised to see a second-gen Nest Hub Max could be on the way. To me, the Nest Hub Max and Google’s Pixel Tablet occupy a similar space in the smart home ecosystem, with the Pixel Tablet sporting the added benefit of also being a tablet. It’s also not clear what Google would change with the Nest Hub Max, though 9to5 posits it could gain a Soli sensor for sleep tracking, similar to the second-gen Nest Hub.
Plus, considering Google’s ongoing generative AI push, I’m curious to see how things like Gemini will factor into the future of the company’s smart home products.
Source: 9to5Google
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