Google Nest Audio and new Chromecast leak ahead of Pixel event
Google may have teased its own new Nest smart speaker back in July, but a new leak gives us a much better view of just what the unusually-shaped model will look like – and the new Google Chromecast launching alongside it. There were more than a few scratched-heads when Google responded to the leaks around what speaker codenamed "Prince" with an official image of it, not least because of the weirdly pillowy shape.
New Google Nest 2020 smart speaker
Rather than sitting flat, like the current Nest Mini does, the new replacement for the original Google Home – which could launch as the Google Nest Audio – is upright. However whereas the Google Home was half fabric-covered and half hard plastic, and circular in cross-section, this new model is more like a fabric-wrapped brick.
A brick with curved edges, though, as leaked official images from WinFuture confirm. On the front there'll be four LEDs lurking behind the fabric cover, which will presumably glow and animate as the Google Assistant is listening to commands and then processing each request. The back, meanwhile, will have the power cord and a physical switch to turn off the microphones.
Two finishes are shown, with Charcoal being a dark grey, while Chalk is a lighter, off-white finish. Each has a white power cable. Despite earlier rumors, there's not expected to be any sort of battery power option, with the new model needing to be plugged in to work, just like the old Google Home did.
As for the technical specifications, they're still to emerge. We're expecting to find out full details come Google's recently-confirmed fall hardware event, which will take place on September 30. That will also see the new Pixel phones – the Pixel 4a 5G, and the Pixel 5 – fully unveiled, together with a new Chromecast too.
Google Chromecast 2020
Images of that device, too, have emerged today, also courtesy of WinFuture. As before you can expect a fairly nondescript puck shape for the Chromecast itself, which plugs into a spare HDMI port on the back of your TV. Power for the Google TV gadget comes courtesy of a USB cable.
What you'll spend more time seeing, of course, is the remote. That's reminiscent in shape to the controller Google used for its Daydream VR headset, with a navigation pad at the top, buttons for back, home, and mute, and shortcuts for the Google Assistant, YouTube, and Netflix. There's also a power button – which can hopefully control the TV that the new Chromecast is connected to, using HDMI-CEC commands – and a shortcut button; volume controls are on the side.