In a notable shift, it steered away from the traditional productivity-tool selling points of tablets—or so-called mini laptops—and more toward the Pixel Tablet’s strengths as a home-centric lifestyle device. During the unveiling, it said the tablet “fits into your home and feels elegant in your hand,” emphasizing the soft-touch coating, rounded corners, and warm colors.
In terms of functionality, there’s not a whole lot new to report. But Google heavily emphasized a new dock that it claims “transforms your tablet from something that sits in the drawer to an integral part of your life.”
In photos, the tablet is placed on a couch-side stand, providing useful information like the weather and calendar updates.
The dock not only charges the tablet but also has built-in speakers and uses magnets to lock the tablet into place while allowing you to gently remove it from the stand and carry it about your home.
When the tablet is installed in the dock, you can simply call upon Google Assistant to control your lights, doorbell cameras, and other smart home appliances. The Pixel Tablet can also function as a digital photo frame, showcasing images from your Google Photos account.
This functionality isn’t exactly new, but it does appear to be the first time that Google is positioning a tablet at the center of your smart home, bringing it closer to devices like the Amazon Echo Show and Google’s own Nest Hub Max.
Tablets and smart screens, in other words, appear to be converging.
Other tablets can pull off many of the same tricks. Apple’s iPad, for example, can use Siri to turn on and off devices like smart lights and video doorbells compatible with its HomeKit platform. Alexa, by way of an Amazon Echo device, can do much the same with smart home products compatible with its ecosystem.
Few, if any, tablets have their own proprietary docking station, but you can buy third-party options that allow you to easily display the tablet, say, in your kitchen. Those do not charge your tablet, too, though.
And while the Pixel Tablet’s digital photo frame does look slick, a few minutes inside the settings app can effectively turn Apple’s iPad into a digital photo frame, as well.
Google has not officially announced the size of the Pixel Tablet’s display, though there’s some talk of it being in the 11-inch range. The company did not reveal the pricing or details on the timing for the launch, saying only that the tablet will be available in early 2023.
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