Google Is Making A Watch, A Game Console And A New Nexus Q

Google is one of the few companies that seems to “get” hardware, albeit they own an entire mobile phone division and have yet to do a thing with it. They’re willing to spend the money to be weird and fail if there’s an outside chance it might pay off…and their rumored new hardware seems to be right in line with that philosophy.

The Wall Street Journal claims Google is looking to push Android much further, namely with three different pieces of gear.

The Game Console

Google is developing this because they believe, with the announcement that iOS will natively support controllers, that Apple will be rolling out games as a key component of the Apple TV. Personally, I’m skeptical of this one; Apple has a long and rich history of not giving a taco fart about games. But with consoles like the Ouya on the market, there’s proof that people want this, and Android has a pretty diverse selection of games. A cheaply priced console could be a good way to get more Android set-top boxes out there.

The Watch

Again, this is based on the belief that wearable computing is the wave of the future, something we already know Google is committed to, possibly beyond all reason. The rumors are pretty standard stuff: Connects to your phone via Bluetooth, has alerts, tells time. It seems mostly that Google wants to keep up with the Joneses in this respect; they’re clearly more excited for Glass.

The Nexus Q

Ah, Google, you brought back your bête noire. We knew you couldn’t stay away.

A quick refresher: The Nexus Q was a sphere that was supposed to sit in your living room and play music. It was expensive, and badly thought out, with the ability for others to edit your playlist on a whim. In short, it was a party device for people who nervously look at their phone all the time while at parties.

We know nothing about it except Google is dropping the price substantially, and is hoping to make it more of a multimedia device. It’s not out of the realm of possibility Google will just combine this and their game console.

In short, Google is making a lot of stuff, some of which you might possibly want. Just no “social song selection” on the Nexus Q, Google. Nobody wants to give the guy who tries to hijack the stereo at a party more tools.

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