Renders of Android-powered Pixel tablet surface; images are based on Google patent
The other day we were talking about Google working on an ecosystem to challenge the one that Apple has created. With the Pixel 6 series and the Pixel Buds on shelves, Google is getting there. And with the Google Pixel Watch rumored to be introduced on May 26th, that could be another box that Google gets to check off.
Is Google developing an Android-powered Pixel tablet?
As far as hardware goes, Google already has smart speakers and smart screens and all that is missing is an Android-powered tablet. But last week we passed along a report noting that Rich Miner, who worked alongside Andy Rubin as Android was being developed back in the day, is Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Android tablets. He supposedly has been charged with the task of making Android tablets that will excite the world.
Image of Pixel tablet from 2019 Japanese patent filing by Google
And now that Google is beta testing its version of Android 12 for large-sized screens (named Android 12L for "Large") now would seem a propitious time for the release of an Android-powered Google Pixel tablet. Last week, LetsGo Digital published what it calls "product images" of a Pixel tablet produced by Italian graphic designer Giuseppe Spinelli (Snoreyn). The images are based on a patent that Google filed in Japan back in 2019.
Last June, Google was granted the patent in Japan it applied for and the tablet shown in the patent featured thin bezels and rounded corners. Spinelli used the patent images to create the renders that accompany this article.
Product Image of the Pixel tablet based on Google's patent
With its own Google Tensor chip most likely under the hood, a Pixel tablet could include many of the AI and machine learning features found on the Pixel 6 series. The tablet market had been moribund for years until the pandemic arrived and workers and students were forced to work and learn from home. Many purchased a new tablet as the centerpiece of a home office or a virtual classroom.
When work or school was done for the day, the new tablet was used to stream music or video, or to play video games. But unlike smartphones, tablets are not a device that consumers look to upgrade every two years. Hardware improvements on tablets are just not as exciting.
Android-powered Pixel tablet product image
The tablet sales made during the last two years might be considered by manufacturers to be low-hanging fruit. Apple recently reported that revenue from iPad sales during the fiscal first quarter of 2022 declined 14.1% year-over-year. During the previous quarter, the fiscal fourth quarter of 2021, iPad revenue rose 21.32%.
For all of fiscal 2021, Apple's tablet sales rose a strong 34.32%. But with companies and schools reopening in certain locations, the need for consumers to buy a new tablet is not as strong.
In 2019, Google said it would stop making tablets
We'd be remiss if we didn't point out that Google has already released a product called the Pixel Slate back in 2018. This, however, was not an Android tablet but was a Chrome OS device with a 12.3-inch display. Under the hood was a 14nm Intel Core- i7 processor.
In June 2019, Google announced that it would stop making tablets. That announcement was made by company Senior Vice President of Devices and Services Rick Osterloh. Yup, that was Rick who hosted the Made by Google Event last year that officially introduced the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro to the world. Osterloh did say at the time that Google would continue to support its partners continuing to manufacture their own tablets.
But this was before the Tensor chip and Android 12L were outed, before the strong reception to the Pixel 6 series (even with the bugs that Google has quickly taken care of), and before rumors of a Pixel Watch started to get louder and louder. So yeah, nothing official has been said but it does seem quite possible that an Android-powered Pixel tablet is in the works.
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