Tis the season, as we look forward to this year’s Made By Google event, for all manner of Google-built hardware to start turning up at the FCC in order to ensure a smooth and hassle-free product launch.
Today we’ve seen a pair of connectivity modules providing LTE and WiFi/Bluetooth/NFC connectivity to… whatever it is they will be components within.
A4R-WT4, or Google LLC IEEE 802.11 2X2 MIMO a/b/g/n/ac Wireless LAN + Bluetooth + NFC NGFF Module – to give it its full name – seems likely to provide the usual non-cellular connectivity features, while A4R-WT3 (Google LLC LTE module -WT3) provides LTE connectivity. Both were submitted today to the FCC and don’t appear to have any confidentiality requirements in tow.
At 1cm square, it’s a bit large for a wearable, and it’s unlikely that Google would make their own modules for the upcoming Pixel 3 smartphone. We’re thinking that this belongs in a laptop, so perhaps it’ll be a part of a new Pixelbook.
2017’s Pixelbook didn’t feature NFC though, so it’s also possible that this chip may be intended for something else. Perhaps it’ll provide connectivity to some kind of tablet that’s yet to be revealed.
It’s been a while since Google’s shown an interest in tablets, and the Pixel C isn’t on sale any more.
Time will tell. Google’s next hardware event is rumoured to take place in early October. Until then, let the speculation engines run wild.
Editors Note: The inclusion of NFC in the chip, which could possibly show up in a Pixelbook or similar could possibly be linked to Google’s NFC enabled 2fa security keys they recently began selling to Google Cloud customers – and perhaps to everyone soon.
