The next Nest smart thermostat could be here in time for the winter months in North America and Europe, if a new FCC filing is anything to go by.
The filing, which appeared on Friday, is for a new Google device simply called “thermostat” with the model name “G4CVZ”. According to the specs listed, the thermostat will have a better version of Bluetooth (Version 5.0) than the Nest Thermostat and Nest Thermostat E, and it will use the latest Wi-Fi technology.
What’s more interesting, however, is the fact that it will include a 60GHz transmitter, similar to the one we’ve seen previously on the Google Pixel 4 for motion controls.
It’s not entirely clear if that’s exactly the transmitter’s intended purpose, but the potential benefit there is that a motion detector could save on battery life and could give the Nest motion controls, allowing you to raise and lower the temperature by waving your hands.
Things are heating up at Google’s hardware division
The new Google Nest thermostat joins a number of products the company has waiting in the wings for its next Made by Google event: there’s the Google Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5, the rumored Android TV dongle codenamed “Sabrina” and a new Google Nest smart speaker that’s already appeared in some images.
The likelihood of Google holding an event sometime in the next month or two to publicly unveil these products seems more and more likely by the minute. Considering that the company has almost always held a Made by Google event in October, our money is on that being the forum Google will use to do it.
What other evidence is there? Well, there’s also the fact, as 9to5Google pointed out, that we haven’t seen a new Nest thermostat since the launch of the Nest Thermostat E in 2017, and the time seems about right for the company to release an updated model.
You can’t always trust your gut in an industry that hid the Microsoft HoloLens from the world for years, but when you start seeing FCC filings emerge chances are good that there’s something afoot.
- Looking for a better way to control the thermostat? Don't miss our guide to the best smart thermostats in 2020
