Google’s Upcoming Smart Speaker Could Run on Fuchsia OS

Google is reportedly working on a new smart home device with its Fuchsia OS out-of-the-box. While two audio products by Google, the Nest Hub, and Nest Hub Max already run on Fuchsia OS via a software update. The company is said to be developing an upcoming device with its in-house operating system. However, the name of the device is yet to be announced. The first-generation Nest Hub released in 2018 was the first speaker to be updated to Fuchsia OS in 2021 followed by the Nest Hub Max.

According to a report by 9to5Google, Fuchsia developers recently submitted a document explaining an upcoming project. The document, which was later taken offline, states that Fuchsia will gain support for JavaScript development to make it easier to manage and control a device. It says that Fuchsia will be used as the operating system in devices. Google is planning to complete Fuchsia’s JavaScript support in the first half of 2023, as per the report.

In addition to this, the document also hinted that Google will be introducing a Fuchsia-powered device in the near future. While there is no word on what the device will be called, it is likely to be a speaker-equipped Pixel Tablet dock or a third-gen Nest Mini and a full Nest Audio successor with Ultra-Wideband (UWB) connectivity, according to the report.

Google is yet to reveal any plans to launch a new Fuchsia powered speaker, but the report states that the company’s next flagship Nest speaker is speculated to launch in either fall 2023 or spring 2024 with Fuchsia installed out of the box. It will reportedly be the first device to have Fuchsia installed by default.

Earlier in 2018, Fuchsia was spotted in Google’s AOSP (Android Open Source Project) in the ART (Android RunTime) branch hinting at native Android apps support. The OS was said to work across smartphones, tablets, and computers, to create a unified experience.

However, in 2016, the Fuchsia operating system was reported to focus on creating software for IoT (Internet of Things) and other embedded hardware. But the then VP of Engineering (Android), Dave Burke, earlier said that Fuchsia OS is independent of Android and that it is an early-stage experimental project. 

---