Google will seemingly equip its first-gen Pixel Tablet with Ultra Wideband (UWB) connectivity. The information comes through an FCC certification. The American regulatory body recently certified an unannounced Google product bearing the model number GTU8P. While the accompanying documents don’t explicitly name the Pixel Tablet, there are enough clues for us to make a calculated guess.
The said FCC certification listing of the new Made by Google “wireless device” contains a document describing the location of the e-label. First spotted by 9to5Google, the document says the label can be found inside Settings (About > Regulatory labels). This confirms that the device is an Android product, ruling out the possibility of Google’s Nest-branded smart speakers and displays.
Digging deeper into the FCC listing, the publication found that this Android-powered Google product will support Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and UWB connectivity standards. It lacks cellular connectivity (4G or 5G).
As such, it can’t be a new smartphone. This leads to a fairly reasonable conclusion that the Google GTU8P is the Pixel Tablet. Likewise, we can also conclude that the new Google tablet will boast UWB connectivity. At least one of the variants will.
Unfortunately, that’s all we can take away from the FCC documents. The first-gen Pixel Tablet has been in the making for a long time but it still doesn’t have an official launch date.
Rumors are that Google will launch the new tablet during its I/O annual developer conference next month. The event is scheduled for Wednesday, May 10. The FCC certification has now added fuel to the rumors. We are awaiting confirmation from the company on that.
Google may use UWB on the Pixel Tablet for quick media sharing
Google already offers UWB connectivity on its smartphones. Both the Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro have it. You can use this radio technology to unlock your compatible car with your phone. UWB can also be used for other similar short-range, high-bandwidth communications. There are rumors that Google will equip an upcoming high-end Nest speaker with UWB connectivity too.
The Pixel Tablet getting this technology also suggests the company plans to create an ecosystem of devices where you can quickly hand off media from one to the other. You can tap your phone to the tablet to move your media to the bigger screen. Likewise, you can switch music playback from your tablet to the Nest speaker.
However, there’s no official confirmation of this yet. We will have to wait and see what Google’s first-gen Pixel Tablet will bring to the table.
2023-04-05 15:05:06