Google is working on a mysterious new 'WiFi access point' device
Google refers to one of the devices as a "WiFi access point" in an FCC filing on Friday which puts the device in the "digital transmission system" equipment class.
Google will be holding a press event on Tuesday September 29, and we're expecting them to introduce the latest models in the Nexus line of smartphones. According to 9to5Google, the company will also unveil updates to the popular Chromecast video streaming device, which will boast a new form factor and improved WiFi.
Introduced in 2013, the Chromecast is a device that you attach to your TV. You then connect a computer or smartphone to it, and when you play web video on that device, it shows up on the TV. The new one will be for audio streaming, 9to5Google reports.
So this could be the new Chromecast, or something related to it.
Then again, Google also just introduced a router called OnHub, so maybe it's an extension or repeater of some sort. Or, it could be something totally different, like a router meant to be used specifically with Google Fiber, the company's internet network.
As usual in these types of filings, Google has redacted most of the details, but the filings contain one photograph of the bottom of the device where the label will be affixed (shown above).
"Device is a 802.11b/g/n WiFi Access Point operating in 2x2 MIMO 20 and 40 MHz bandwidth modes," Google writes in the filing. The device goes by the catchy FCC identifier of A4RGFMN100.
In a separate FCC filing a week earlier, Google revealed another device, A4R-WT1, which it referred to as a "connectivity bridge."
The label image that Google submitted for the connectivity bridge was a drawing, rather than an actual photo.
And yet another filing last week reveals a "Multimedia Device with BLE, 2.4Ghz and 5GHz WLAN Radios." BLE stands for Bluetooth low energy. That device was spotted earlier by Phandroid which speculated it might be a new version of Google's Nexus player.