On the latest Made by Google occasion, the place the brand new Pixel 10 smartphone, Pixel Watch 4, and Pixelsnap accent have been all unveiled, a key product was lacking: a brand new Pixel Pill. Seems, Google has paused work on a follow-up, leaving followers of a next-gen pill hanging.
An in depth Bloomberg report reveals Google executives speaking about how Pixel {hardware} highlights the corporate’s software program improvements. It additionally dives into Google’s present method — or reasonably, its lack of focus — relating to tablets.
Google has confirmed it has no pill within the pipeline, hinting that the class has slipped off its precedence record. The corporate’s take is that at the moment’s outsized telephones and foldables already deal with many of the jobs tablets as soon as did (by way of Android Authority).
The information isn’t precisely sudden. Earlier studies already urged that Google scrapped the Pixel Pill 2. That makes the 2023 launch look extra like a standalone effort, with no clear timeline for when, or if, a successor will arrive.
Two years later, nonetheless no actual pill push
It’s been over two years since Google final made an actual push within the pill house. Whereas the primary Pixel Pill had its shortcomings, it confirmed sufficient promise to spark curiosity in a follow-up. Google later ditched the hybrid sensible speaker angle and bought it as a standalone machine as an alternative, a shift that gave it a clearer id and a extra interesting worth.
The takeaway right here is that the Pixel Pill didn’t promote nicely sufficient for Google to justify a sequel. As an alternative, it seems to be just like the Nest group might take cost of Google’s bigger-screen plans, placing extra power into merchandise just like the Nest Hub and Hub Max reasonably than standalone tablets.
Google’s monitor file with tablets has been rocky, marked by inconsistent efforts that haven’t constructed a lot momentum. Even after a number of tries, it nonetheless hasn’t put out a tool that may severely problem the iPad’s lead in gross sales or on a regular basis reputation.