is a news editor with over a decade’s experience in journalism. He previously worked at Android Police and Tech Advisor.
Google announced plenty of new hardware at this week’s Made by Google event, but halfway through we were distracted by the brief appearance of what appeared to be a new, previously unknown Gemini-powered smart speaker. Now Android Headlines claims that this speaker is real, and will launch with new colors and the ability to pair with a Google TV Streamer.
Android Headlines reports that it’s seen additional images of the mystery speaker, which will apparently come in four colors: bright red, light green, black, and white. As seen briefly in the keynote video, it features a light around the base — rather than across the top, as on previous Google speakers — and a fabric finish.
As for features, the big new one is that the speaker will apparently be able to pair with a Google TV Streamer to deliver spatial TV audio, a trick borrowed from Apple’s HomePods, which can connect to Apple TV hardware. Hopefully it can also connect to TVs that run the Google TV OS. It will apparently also include new natural voice options, the ability to detect unusual sounds like glass breaking or a smoke alarm, and full support for Matter.
Gemini will deliver the smarts, rather than Google Assistant, which is no surprise. The company announced Gemini for Home this week, which will arrive on existing Nest smart speakers and displays from October this year. It will include a paid tier and support for Gemini Live, though it’s not clear which features will be gated behind the premium subscription.
Android Headlines calls the new hardware the “Home Speaker,” though it’s not clear if that’s its full or final name. We also don’t know when it will be released, though a launch alongside Gemini for Home in the fall seems likely. We’d expect to see an updated smart display before long too, since Google hasn’t updated its Nest Hub line since 2021, and we’ve already found that Amazon’s new Alexa Plus works best on devices with screens.
