Google's Nest Hub smart home solution might be getting a big update soon that provides the owner with a tablet as part of the package. Android tablets have not proven terribly popular with the looming shadow of Apple's iPad making it hard to compete. Google has a decent share of the smart home hub market with its Nest Hub, smart speakers, thermostats, cameras, and more so perhaps this could be a way to increase the number of tablets running Google's software.
Google has had mixed success with its tablet exploration and it never fully committed to the big screen format until very recently. The Google Nexus 7 was a very interesting small tablet that was released in 2012, just two years after Apple's iPad, and offered a nice low-cost solution that integrated well with Google apps. A Nexus 9 and 10 followed but by 2015, Google seemed to lose interest. The next tablet to arrive ran Chrome OS, 2018's exciting Pixel Slate. Unfortunately, Google canceled this product line in 2019.
A new rumor suggests that Google's tablet ambitions have not been totally abandoned but perhaps will take a less ambitious approach. The suggestion is that a Nest Hub with the unique ability to remove the screen from its powered base and speaker will be released. The screen is said to actually be a tablet that can be docked for use as a smart home hub. It's unclear whether the base could still function as a smart speaker when the tablet is removed but that would offer the best value with each portion functional when separated but working best together. This is a unique way to get a Google tablet into the hands of consumers without requiring a separate purchase. 9to5Google cited unnamed sources for the information about this new Nest Hub with a detachable tablet.
Why Put A Tablet In A Nest Hub?
The idea that Google might use a tablet as the screen of a Nest Hub is intriguing and a way to make up some lost ground in the market. With Apple holding the majority share with its iPad and Samsung accounting for a large portion of what's left, Google will have to work hard to make a place for itself if that is part of its plans. There is reason to believe that Google is putting more attention on larger screens.
Android 12L, which is currently in beta testing, includes more features and developer tools oriented toward larger screens and convertible displays. This could be an adjustment for the rapid growth of foldable smartphones but the same software development benefits tablets as well. It's too early to know whether this somewhat odd rumor turns out to be true or not, but Google I/O is coming up soon and that would be an opportunity for Google to reveal its smart home plans, or to at least hint at what might be coming in the future.
Source: 9to5Google