Google launched its first Assistant-powered ‘Smart Display’ in partnership with Lenovo last month. The Lenovo Smart Display, which is first being made available in US in two display sizes, isn’t the end of Google’s foray into Assistant-powered smart displays. According to a recent report, the company is planning to launch its own Assistant-powered Smart Display later this year.
The report from Nikkei claims that Google will be launching its own “smart speaker that comes with a screen” later this year. The publication also said Google has an “aggressive plan” for the upcoming smart speaker and plans to sell around 3 million units in the first batch of release.
Unlike Lenovo’s approach, Google will be releasing a single Smart Display, but there’s no confirmation from the company yet. The report further adds that Google’s vice president of home devices Rishi Chandra, did not rule out the probability of the company making its own Smart Display.
Previously it has been rumored that the Smart Display from Google will include a front-facing camera for video calls, two microphones, and a screen-size in line with the recently launched 10-inch Lenovo Smart Display. It’s also speculated that Google’s Smart Display may include a battery pack, making it portable.
The report does not provide any new insight into the functionality provided by the upcoming Smart Display, other than the existing capabilities found on the Lenovo unit. The Google Smart Display will reportedly be manufactured by Pegatron in Taiwan. Google’s upcoming Smart Display will compete directly with the Amazon Echo Show, further fueling the competition between the two companies.
