This week, Google kicks off its I/O developers conference where we’re fully expecting to see the Pixel Fold, Pixel 7a and Pixel Tablet.
As it’s in California, you can expect the main keynote to be at a thoroughly anti-social hour in New Zealand, but the good news is that Amazon Japan has accidentally published all the juicy details about one of the devices ahead of time.
That’s the Pixel Tablet, a device that Google actually announced at last year’s event, without any key details. But with this listing — spotted by an eagle-eyed Redditor before being sharply taken down — we get a full look at the specs ahead of the show, without the hyperbolic commentary that keynote speakers can’t resist indulging in.
Available in Porcelain or Hazel shades, the Pixel Tablet will use the same Tensor G2 chip that powers the Pixel 7 handset, with 8GB RAM to ensure things run smoothly. It’ll have a 10.95in LCD display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 and up to 500nits of brightness.
The main thing, as previously promised, is that it comes bundled with a dock that both charges the tablet and significantly boosts the sound. In other words, it turns a mild-mannered Android tablet into a (figuratively) all-singing, all-dancing Nest Hub-style smart screen, capable of doing all the usual smart home jiggery-pokery via your voice.
That bundled dock goes some way to justify the price which is what you’d charitably call a little optimistic. The Pixel Tablet is listed as costing ¥79,800 — which is around NZ$930. That’s not too far off the NZ$1,199 starting price of the iPad Air, and NZ$31 more than the basic tenth-generation iPad.
(It also helps that Apple sells its products to Kiwis, of course — Google’s track record in that department isn’t great.)
With a release date listed as 20 June, we’re pretty much certain to see it in full this week at Google I/O. No need to get up ridiculously early to watch — we’ll cover the big hardware news right here. You’re welcome.
