New teardown brings more smoke to reports of a touchscreen Google Home

Enlarge / Amazon's Echo Show may have a Google-made rival in the near future. (credit: Amazon)

Sections of code within a recent update to the Google app seem to bolster reports that Google is working on a competitor to Amazon's Echo Show smart speaker.

An Android Police teardown of the Google app's v7.14.15 beta update uncovered several references to functions and commands that can be performed by a device or feature codenamed "Quartz."

The code suggests that Quartz is activated through voice commands and can perform typical smart speaker tasks like setting a timer or checking the weather. However, it also points to several functions that would likely involve a screen, such as Web browsing, showing Google Maps data, and displaying recipes and other cooking info. The update also seems to contain different layouts for watching videos on YouTube, which Google pulled from Amazon's touchscreen speaker last month with little explanation.

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