According to the Wall Street Journal, the Googs is building a device – actual hardware – for streaming music throughout your home, but that’s probably just the tip of the iceberg (think movies, television, and appliances). The device is expected to be controlled via smartphone or tablet and hook up to Google Music, the iTunes rival that launched last November but has been pretty silent since.
This marks a big shift for Google which has famously shied away from making the kinds of things we can hold in our hands. The Wall Street Journal talked to PFWTM (people familiar with the matter) and reports:
It’s unclear which retailers would sell the entertainment device, which would stream music from Google’s online music-storage service and pipe it wirelessly to Google-designed speakers or other Web-connected devices in people’s homes, according to these people. In the future, such a device could potentially stream other forms of digital media such as video, one of these people said.
Who knows, if Google is going to start making devices, it mine as well have its own stores to sell them in too. That’s what a report from CNET hinted at yesterday, saying that its Dublin, Ireland headquarters might be the perfect spot to test the brick and mortar waters. And with the Federal Trade Communication’s expected approval of Google’s purchase of, handset maker, Motorola Mobility to come next week, it could fill up a retail space pretty quickly.
A streaming music device for the home isn’t a groundbreaking idea. Companies like Sonos have offered similar systems for years, but with a one-speaker system starting at $300, you have to be pretty dedicated to the idea to jump into it. Google’s idea is, reportedly, to drop the price through volume. Make a lot of stuff, stuff gets cheaper.
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