Google's Pixel Tablet finally launches alongside a beefy speaker dock

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Google’s Pixel Tablet finally has a launch in sight, having first been teased a year ago at Google I/O 2022 and then further shown at Google’s Pixel 7 launch late last year. Pre-orders will be open today for the tablet, with full availability from 20 June.

The Tablet with Charging Speaker Dock (shown below) will cost $499/£599 and you can buy a case for $89/£89 and extra docks for $129/£130. The case is actually worth having, since it’s a flexible one with a hinge on the back that can be angled as a kickstand. And you can dock the tablet while it’s in the case. The tablet comes in three colours including porcelain and hazel.

When the tablet is in the dock, Hub Mode is invoked, which basically turns the device into a Google Nest smart display. The Speaker Dock has beefy speakers for showing video content and playing music. There’s also an Apple Home app-style panel for changing your lighting or changing other smart home settings. Chromecast is also built into the tablet, so you can easily playback content from your phone on the dock.

The Pixel tablet specs have also now been fully detailed, with an 11-inch 2560 x 1600, 500 nit display featuring over 4 million pixels. As rumoured, the tablet has the Google-designed Tensor G2 chipset (with Titan M2 security chip) in addition to 8GB of memory and up to 256GB of storage. The device also boasts up to 12 hours of battery life, 8MP cameras on the front and back, three mics, USB-C for charging and Wi-Fi 6. There’s a fingerprint sensor in the power button.

We’ve already seen Google-optimised apps for Pixel Tablet, confirming many would play nicely with split-screen mode – Google says over 50 of its apps are ready from the get-go. There was also a redesigned app dock and expanded status bar shown in a blog post discussing new keyboard shortcuts for the note-taking app Google Keep. There also seems to be a new profile switcher in the top right corner so you can switch between Google Accounts.

All the announcements from Google I/O 2023

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Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website. Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.