Google might not have been first to market with a smart home speaker, but since the launch of Google Home last year, it's been working on delivering a better experience than the competition. It recently expanded its product lineup with the Home Mini and Home Max, and a new job listing suggests it's experimenting with speakers that support multi-touch gestures.
In Google's LinkedIn job posting for a "Touch Sensor Hardware Engineer", the company writes that it's looking to hire someone who will "work on the next generation of Google Hardware" to "enable the best multi-touch user experience." That's not to be taken as confirmation of a touch-enabled Google Home speaker, of course, but it suggests which features Google's considering.
Whoever Google hires will "lead the touch module development and integration for Google Hardware", according to the listing's description, and see it from "concept" to "mass production." The listing doesn't hint at exactly what kind of multi-touch technology the company's working on, but if said technology turns makes it to store shelves, it begs the question: Will it be an updated version of the current-gen Google Home's capacitive volume controls, or something completely different?
In terms of input, both the Google Home and the Google Home Mini are relatively simple devices. They don't have an especially complex settings menu, and act on just about any command via voice.
And if anything's for certain, it's that Google doesn't have a great track record when it comes to touch-sensitive controls. The company was forced to disable the Home Mini's capacitive button when some units inadvertently activated it on their own, causing them to continually record conversations.
Let's hope Google's next attempt goes better.
Via: Variety Source: LinkedIn
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