The intel keeps us guessing
Google is working on a Pixel-branded Android tablet due out next year. It’ll run on Android, we know that for sure. But other details have been murky — there was some talk about a smart home focus, but whether it was going to be predominant was doubtful at best with the Pixel name coming to light. So, where’s the need for a stylus? Apparently, the company has found one.
To put a long story short, Google joined the Universal Stylus Initiative back in 2018 which has come out with two specifications on how active styluses should be designed and are to behave. Version 2.0 came out on the last day of February this year with the headline improvement being the use of NFC to charge a stylus wirelessly. Pair that up with magnets on the tablet and the pen and you’ve got a charging design that’s already in place on the HP Chromebook x2 11.
Tech blog NuGiz noticed that the USI had certified a tablet from Google that has only the name “Tangor” attached to it with no other associated information. The tablet is presumed to be the Pixel tablet, but we don’t have any other complementary evidence to substantiate that. 9to5Google notes barring a competing device heading to market first that this will be the first commercial Android product running with a USI cert.
Pixel products serve dual purposes: as Google’s consumer-facing hardware brand, and; as the developer workhorse for all things Android. For app makers, specifications are all the rage, so this hint may give some eager beavers an early advantage… if they trust that the Pixel tablet will have a stylus included in the box. It seems like poor design planning to go through the latest certification if the stylus was sold separately.
Tangor, if you’re wondering, is not just a portmanteau of “tangerine” and “orange,” but a widely cultivated citrus hybrid that’s often known as the Temple Orange – supposedly named after a well-known citrus seller. It’s fairly juicy as well. Take from that what you will.
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