Mysterious Google Wireless Device Possible New Nest Thermostat or Something Else?

TapTechNews June 18th news, a mysterious wireless device from Google appeared in the files of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), seemingly indicating a new application opportunity for the Soli radar technology.

This device supports short-range 60GHz Soli radar technology, 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and also comes with a baseplate.

According to TapTechNews, the Soli radar is a 60GHz millimeter-wave radar product specifically developed by Google and Infineon for close-range sensing tasks. Google is responsible for the development of the signal processing and software parts, while Infineon Technologies has the intellectual property rights to the chip hardware technology. The first-generation Soli chip was released in 2016. With the help of Google's developer program, Google has cooperated with global universities and developers to launch a series of innovative applications. The second-generation Soli chip was released in 2018 and was applied in the gesture recognition module of the phone Pixel 4 and the sleep monitoring function in the smart display NestHub.

So, what exactly could this mysterious device be? The current most popular speculation is the new Nest smart thermostat. The FCC file shows that this device has no other radio modules except the 2.4GHz and 60GHz bands. The Nest smart thermostat released in 2020 also only supports these two bands and uses the Soli radar to detect when the user approaches the device and automatically lights up the display hidden behind the mirror. In addition, thermostats usually come with a baseplate and can be wall-mounted or placed on a bracket. Since no battery is mentioned, the device seems to require a fixed power supply.

Since it only supports 802.11n Wi-Fi in the 2.4GHz band, it is unlikely to be a smart speaker, because even Google's cheapest Nest Mini speaker supports the 5GHz band.

Could it be Pixel Watch 3? One of the prototype devices that Google first showed the Soli technology is a smart watch, and Google watches do not use the 5GHz band. For a Wi-Fi-only watch version, 2.4GHz, Bluetooth, and Soli would be sufficient, and the baseplate could be a charger. However, Google stated that this device would maintain at least a 20-centimeter (about 7.87 inches) distance from the human body during normal use, so no radiation test was conducted, which is similar to the situation of the Nest smart thermostat in 2020.