Remember Google’s Fuchsia? A new operating system emerged in 2016 with many promises and ambiguity. Now it’s finally making its consumer debut through an update in the first-generation Nest Hub.
According to a report by 9to5Google, the Big G is soon shipping an update to the 2018 Nest Hub that’ll replace the current operating system — the Linux-based CastOS — with Fuchsia OS.
What difference will it make make in your life as a Nest Hub owner? Nada. The report says that your experience of using the device won’t change, and there’s a possibility you might not notice that the Nest Hub is running a new operating system.
Your Nest Hub’s front end is going to look the same, as Fuchsia OS’ UI layer is built with Flutter — the same toolkit — the same platform as the device’s current interface.
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The whole process will take a bit of time as the rollout starting today will first reach the users in the preview program, and slowly make its way to other consumers over the coming months.
From past reports and demos, we know that Fuchsia has the ability to run on various platforms including mobile and desktop. Google has been vague about exact nature of the operating system. In 2019, in an interview with The Verge, Android and Chrome chief Hiroshi Lockheimer, said, “Fuchsia is about just pushing the state of the art in terms of operating systems and things that we learn from Fuchsia we can incorporate into other products.”
He had also hinted at the OS being scaled to form factors other than the mobile and the desktop. And what better way to prove that with an update to a smart home device? Google hasn’t said much about this update apart from the conformation, but it’ll be interesting to know if Fuchsia ties better into the company’s new Material You design better.
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