Step aside, Amazon Echo Show. Word has it that Google is planning to launch its own smart speaker with a screen.
Citing unnamed sources, Nikkei Asian Review on Friday reported that Google's Echo Show competitor will make its debut in time for the holidays this year. It will reportedly run Google Assistant, letting you control it with your voice. We can pretty much guarantee YouTube will work flawlessly on it (wink wink).
Google declined to comment on the report when contacted by PCMag this morning.
This isn't the first time we've heard of such a device. Last fall, TechCrunch, citing multiple unnamed sources, reported that Google was "building a tabletop smart screen for video calling and more that will compete with Amazon's Echo Show."
At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Google announced Echo Show-like "smart displays" from four companies—Lenovo, JBL, LG, and Sony. All are Android Things-powered touch screens running Google Assistant, with front-facing cameras. We found JBL's football-shaped Link View stereo speaker system, which features an 8-inch screen embedded in the middle, to be the most powerful and impressive of the four, audio-wise.
If Nikkei Asian Review's information is true, Google could soon launch its own such device. The Web giant already sells two smart speakers, albeit without screens, the Home Max, which earned an "excellent" rating in PCMag's review, and the Home Mini, which earned "good" marks.
The $229.99 Echo Show, which sports a 7-inch touch screen and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera for video calls, also earned a "good" rating in PCMag's review.