Google is done with tablets, cancels two unreleased products

Google Pixel Slate

If you were expecting a Google Pixel Slate 2, unfortunately, you’re waiting for nothing. Google’s lead for its hardware business Rick Osterloh confirmed in a tweet that the company will be focusing its Chrome OS hardware efforts on traditional laptops like the Pixelbook. Meanwhile, the existing Pixel Slate will still be supported and get software and security updates in the foreseeable future.

Google initially had plans to release two more tablets, but it’s being rumoured that the teams behind these are being moved to other areas of the company—most of them are part of the Pixelbook team supposedly. These were both smaller in size than the Pixel Slate and were supposed to come out “sometime after 2019.” But it’s said that disappointing quality assurance testing results led to Google dropping the devices. What we might see before the year ends is a Pixelbook 2. A Google spokesperson who talked to Computer World said it’s “very likely” to see this laptop make a comeback this year.

Source: The Verge

You won’t see any Pixel-branded laptops anytime soon

Looks like we’ve seen the last of the premium Pixel-branded laptops. Let’s clarify, though, that this doesn’t mean the end of Chrome OS or Google’s laptop initiatives. According to Rick Osterloh, senior vice president for Hardware at Google, the company will not use the Pixel brand for laptops in the future. Pixel has been associated recently with Google’s new and well-received line of smartphones, which have, unfortunately, been having some issues with supply and demand recently.

Osterloh says during an interview at Mobile World Congress that there might be new product categories that will carry the Pixel name, though. As TechCrunch points out, if you head to the Google Store, there are no Pixel laptops for sale at the moment. But as Osterloh qualifies, there might be Google-branded laptops in the future still but they “don’t have any plans to discuss at this time.”