A new smart speaker from Google has been spotted as part of a regulatory filing in Japan. Android Police believes this device to be the long-coming sequel to the original Google Home speaker, which hasn’t gotten a follow-up since its original release in 2016.
The new speaker carries on Google’s fabric aesthetic and looks almost like a miniaturized vertically standing Google Home Max that’s been squeezed down a bit. There’s a rubber base at the bottom and a power jack at the back along with a mute switch. Yes, you’re looking at the back in the image above. The front of the speaker looks like this:
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Image: The Radio Use Website (Japanese)
I think it’s safe to say there are probably some LED indicator lights under there somewhere for when you’re chatting with Google Assistant. Google’s latest Nest speaker stands a little over 8.5 inches tall and is listed as an interactive media streaming device in the filing.
The Federal Communications Commission also just published a filing for a new device from Google — and it sounds like it’s this very product — but the usual confidentiality protections apply so there are no photos in that one.
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Image: The Radio Use Website (Japanese)
Though it still has a landing page on Google’s online store, the original Google Home is no longer available for purchase. The company’s current speaker lineup consists of the Nest Mini, Google Home Mini, Google Home Max, and smart displays, including the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max.
Alongside this new speaker and the inevitable Pixel 5, Google could also announce a next-generation video streaming device sometime this fall. We’ve already gotten a decent look at that one. And hey, I’m still holding out hope that the Pixel 4A still might show up sooner rather than later.
