Google appears to be taking the “try, try again” proverb to coronary heart in the case of tablets, on condition that it simply teased plans to launch one other pill throughout Google I/O. But that doesn’t imply it’s not shaking issues up. Whereas the corporate’s short-lived Pixel Slate ran Chrome OS, the mysterious pill simply teased on the firm’s I/O convention is powered by Android.

This OS swap will pit the religious successor to the Slate in opposition to Samsung’s Galaxy Tab gadgets, which have loved industrial and significant success regardless of being amongst an endangered species of Android tablets. Samsung’s endurance is likely to be spurring the introduction of extra Android-powered items into the wild because it sees good points over Chrome OS rivals within the uphill battle to win market share over the iPad.

Google reentering the Android pill marketplace for the primary time since its Nexus gadgets (which have been made by third-party OEMs) may come as a shock to some. It appeared, at one level, that these counterparts to the iPad had misplaced mainstream attraction, and {that a} transition to convertible Chromebooks, or tablets with removable keyboards, was inevitable. Google gave it a run in 2018 with the Pixel Slate, a promising gadget that was undone by software program bugs, together with Bluetooth connectivity points. It didn’t assist that, on the time, Android apps didn’t scale properly. In the tip, Google discontinued the Pixel Slate and scrapped plans to launch a sequel.

Now it’s coming on the pill drawback from a special angle, and already has the constructing blocks in place. The firm lately reignited efforts to enhance the expertise on tablets and is within the technique of testing Android 12L, an upcoming replace particularly for gadgets with massive screens. It provides a two-column structure, adjusts the place of the foremost UI components, and offers builders extra management over letterboxing for apps that aren’t optimized for bigger panels.

Google hasn’t advised us a lot about this upcoming Android pill, solely briefly teasing it at its I/O occasion. We know it’s going to run on Google Tensor, the proprietary chip powering the Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, and Pixel 6a, and that it’s meant as a companion gadget for these smartphones, very similar to the Galaxy Tab is a companion to Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones.

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The solely picture of the pill we will share as of time of writing is with it awkwardly photobombing the remainder of the Pixel household, with a nook of the slate revealing a solo digital camera and what look like speaker grille slits. My colleague Florence Ion noticed a render of the pill operating Material You widgets and used the phrase “enticing” to sum up her emotions. Google refers back to the gadget because the “Pixel tablet.” Note the lowercase lettering right here—this title might not be closing, although the pill will definitely be a part of the Pixel household. Whatever the title, Google hopes to launch the gadget someday in 2023.