A mysterious battery-powered Google device appears in FCC filings

Photo: Dan Seifert / The Verge

It is officially August, which means we are getting close to the fall hardware season, and two recent FCC filings from Amazon and Google could hint at a couple products.

The product is described as a wireless device. One diagram shows it connected to a laptop for testing and it appears to be battery-powered. The filing could be a sign that this is a kind of Nest device that uses 3.65V batteries.

When the company shares more information about its other products, it could be revealed that this is a wireless device. A request for comment was not replied to by the search engine.

The Amazon filing seems to show a barely revised version of the company's premium echo studio smart speaker. The new product is described as a digital media receiver, but it also has an AC power cable, which can be plugged into an outlet, and a radio, which is commonly used. The filing looks like it was filed by a vaguely named company.

The photos of the other product filed with the agency are an exact match of the one filed by Amazon. The second item is identical to the first except for a different chip. It is not clear why Amazon is replacing the chip, but maybe it is doing it to address supply chain issues, like what other companies have done before.

A request for comment was not replied to by Amazon. There is a chance that Amazon doesn't say anything about the change at all.