Check out the tall, skinny, and awkward Google Home sequel
UPDATE: Because Google is no stranger to unconventionally building buzz around unreleased products and randomly confirming otherwise premature leaks, it shouldn't come as a complete shock that an official image and, yes, even a teaser video showing off the design of the company's next smart speaker have been made public shortly after the certification visits detailed below.
Interestingly, these seem to reveal two different color variants from the one already pictured by the FCC's Japanese counterpart. Unlike the original Google Home, which featured a two-tone design with a fabric base and plastic top, the new Nest-branded device will rock an (almost) all-fabric exterior coated in light blue, coral, and light grey hues.
The overall appearance of the Google Nest Home (or however it will end up being called) is set to remain... divisive, although the speaker's tall and skinny profile might be able to house improved audio hardware compared to the chunkier first-gen device, which should be the main thing to focus on when considering a future purchase. Our original story follows below.
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But while we still have no idea when the search giant's upgraded Amazon Echo rival might end up seeing daylight, a commercial release can't be far away now that the second-gen Google Home has visited both the Federal Communications Commission and its Japanese equivalent (via Android Police).
The latter regulatory agency was actually kind enough to do what the US FCC couldn't, divulging the curious design of the as-yet-unnamed Google Assistant speaker expected out sometime this summer. This is entirely different from the OG Google Home, as evidenced by a number of pictures showcasing both the device itself from every possible angle and its proprietary 30W DC power supply.
While said power brick is likely to look familiar to owners of 2016's cylindrical smart speaker, despite hopes of a transition to modern USB-C technology, the new Nest-branded device is clearly significantly taller and thinner than the ancient Google Home. Believe it or not, this thing may even exceed the high-end Google Home Max in overall height, at 220mm.
That's certainly an... interesting move, especially considering the fact Amazon made the second and third-gen Echos much shorter than the first-gen cylinder released all the way back in 2014. In case you're wondering, the Google Home sequel is actually slightly shorter than the OG Echo too, but when compared to its forerunner, the upcoming model looks... weird. Not necessarily ugly, just weird.
Covered in fabric from top to bottom (minus the silicone base), the device could be dubbed something along the lines of Google Nest Home (or even just Google Nest), featuring a physical mute switch, a familiar Big G logo, and presumably, hidden touch controls and LED lights.
There are obviously no references to any under-the-hood improvements in these certification documents, but we expect the point of this upgrade to be delivering better sound quality at a similar price as the $129 charged back in the day. Unfortunately, there are still no words on a release date, but with the recent Google Home retirement, the company may not be able to afford waiting until October to unveil this follow-up effort alongside the Pixel 5 and 5 XL.
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