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The charging dock is cool, but feels like a missed opportunity to have it be a regular Google Home speaker when the tablet is undocked.
by mindvirus 3y ago
The charging dock is cool, but feels like a missed opportunity to have it be a regular Google Home speaker when the tablet is undocked.
- ehsankia 3y ago> undocked You mean docked? And is it not? I thought it basically acts like a Nest Hub Max [0] when docked? [0] https://store.google.com/ca/product/google_nest_hub_max https://store.google.com/ca/product/google_nest_hub_max
- MH15 3y agoI believe they did mean "undocked" so if the tablet is in the other room the dock could operate as a Google Home independently.
- ehsankia 3y agoOh I see, so just the dock being a speaker by itself. Interesting. Yeah not sure if it has any real processing in it, or if it's purely driven by the tablet itself when connected.
- outofpaper 3y agoIt's a missed opertunity to add a teeny bit of compute to it. This dock is essentially the same as what Lenovo released a couple years back only that was also a bluetooth speaker.
- Jedd 3y ago> teeny bit of compute You mean, a whole other processor + memory + firmware + microphone + network + ... ?
- cachvico 3y agoYes, like in the thing that they practically give away (Home Mini for $50)
- nobrains 3y agoYup it's definitely a missed opportunity. We use our Google home devices as intercom. However if the dock is only a Google home device when docked, then it's unreliable as an intercom. So can't really use that feature.
- erhaetherth 3y agoI got my home minis for like $25 CAD.
- Jedd 3y agoPerhaps just buy a Home Mini for $50 in addition to this tablet?
- digging 3y agoMissing the point.
- Jedd 3y agoAu contraire. A vendor has produced a device that does what it does, and is marketed at an optimised price point. Someone has looked at it and said 'this device should be a different device' and claimed that it's a trivial matter to make it more like a device that they want. I can't dispute they want a different device, but I can dispute it's a) trivial, and b) sensible, for the vendor to have produced a different device instead. It's a common trope on HN, where the local demographic's expectations and use cases are often much dissimilar to the general population's. And that's okay, so long as we're aware of it.
- digging 3y agoNo, your comment did totally miss the poiint. They were discussing how they believed a better implementation would have been doable, not too expensive, and fulfilled many needs in one device. Your response was suggesting to just buy a second device. That wasn't useful; they know they can buy a second device, and we know they know that because they mentioned that device originally. They never asked "How can I have all this functionality in my home?", but that's the question your comment was answering. > I can dispute it's a) trivial, and b) sensible, for the vendor to have produced a different device instead Agreed. That would have usefully contributed to the discussion about whether or not it would have been trivial and sensible.
- tomComb 3y agoThat was the headline error in the Verge's coverage too ... The Pixel Tablet is half of what it could have been https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/11/23718860/pixel-tablet-dock-missing-nest-speaker https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/11/23718860/pixel-tablet-doc... But I really don't understand - that would require the dock to have a screen, a SoC, mic's etc. That would be a completely different and much more expensive piece of hardware. No way they could have included that with the tablet, unless they called it a bundle (which is what it would have been) and charged more.