By will-buy
Google released the second-generation Nest Hub this week, opening pre-sales for any planned March 30 shipping date. The brand new smart display makes mostly subtle improvements on its predecessor, however with the addition of a sleep-tracking Soli radar system.
Sleep Nest
The new Nest Hub shares lots of similarities using its earlier iteration, which debuted in 2023 because the Google Home Hub. The fabric-covered speaker sits behind the identically-sized seven-inch display and 600p graphic resolution. Aside from the lighter color of the sensor window and the new ‘Mist’ color option, the latest Nest Hub looks basically identical to the prior version. The semi-invisible improvements actually draw much more attention to Sleep Sensing, a device-free sleep monitor, and also the new smart display’s central highlight.
Google chose to pursue Sleep Sensing according to its data showing about one in five Nest Hubs are put next to people’s beds. It’s an opt-in feature, however, and all of the information is kept on the device and could be deleted at any time. Using low-energy radar technology produced by Google’s Soli project, Sleep Sensing measures the nearest person’s sleep patterns by tracking their movement and breathing with radar. The feature also tracks noises and alterations in light and temperature while using Nest Hub’s other sensors to paint a fuller picture of the sleeping patterns. In line with the data gathered by the feature, the smart display offers information on sleeping better.
“Every morning you'll get a personalized sleep summary on your display, or view your sleep data anytime around the Nest Hub by asking, “Hey Google, how did I sleep?” Google Nest product manager Ashton Udall wrote inside a blog post. “Understanding your sleep is an important initial step, however, you can always have questions about what you can do to obtain better sleep. Sleep Sensing provides tailored bedtime schedules and personalized suggestions produced by a team of sleep scientists and using guidance from organizations such as the American Academy rest Medicine. Compiled after several nights of research, these suggestions explain notable facets of your sleep, educate you on why they're important and provide suggestions to improve.”
Healthy Hub
Google has upgraded additional factors of the Nest Hub, too, though with no same fanfare. For instance, the brand new smart display uses the same high-end sound technology utilized in the Nest Audio smart speaker introduced this past year. Google claims there is a 50% step up from the bass sound in the first Nest Hub. The Nest Hub also takes a page in the Nest Audio by installing a chip that keeps a number of Google Assistant’s processing around the device, speeding up its response time. The brand new Nest Hub costs $100, that is actually less expensive than the cost of the first version when it launched.
Focusing on Sleep Sensing is sensible for Google and it is curiosity about health-focused devices, with the data appearing around the new wellness section on Nest smart displays. Sleep Sensing is going to be free to start, but Bing is planning to connect it to some paid service eventually. Presumably, Sleep Sensing data will be an add-on for a Fitbit premium subscription, since Google have finally completed getting the health tech company. Google can also be jumping in early on the trend for collecting health metrics from devices just close, without resorting to an exercise band or other wearable. A newly published study indicated that existing commercial smart speakers could be used to measure heart rates and spot irregularities. Combining that kind of tool with Sleep Sensing could offer people comprehensive yet unobtrusive monitoring of the health.
“We know people already arrived at Google for information and tools to assist them to live healthier, happier lives, and we've specifically noticed increasingly more questions regarding sleep, exercise and health,” Udall wrote. “Therefore we decided to bring these kinds of solutions to our second-generation Nest Hub, while also improving what people already love about it.”
