Google's upcoming Home Display could bring back one major Nest Hub Max feature

Google’s a major player in the smart home space, and still refreshes its lineup with new hardware like the just-released Google Home Speaker, or last year’s new Nest Cam and Doorbell options. But when it comes to smart displays, it has been a minute since we got a proper new launch. The Pixel Tablet is three years old by now, and the second-gen Nest Hub’s a couple years older still. Back in May, however, we saw a ray of hope with a leak teasing the Google Home Display, possibly the first dedicated smart home screen from the company this decade. And as we look forward to learning more about this hardware, we start turning to software to discover a bit more about what to expect from it.

Last year, Google Home head Anish Kattukaran acknowledged the company’s continued interest in smart displays, but stopped short of confirming plans for a new device. And while we heard about that Google Home Display the other month, so far we haven’t had any details at all about what to actually expect from the product.

Today we’re taking a look at the Google Home app, and have uncovered some text strings within that appear to reference Google Home Display functionality. The big takeaway we’re getting from these finds is that the hardware is preparing to support a camera, just like we had on the old Nest Hub Max.

Specifically, we’re finding references to event recording, including the ability to set up the Home Display’s camera as a Nest Cam, using it to monitor what’s going on in your house. Users will be able to enjoy three hours of event recording by default, or upgrade with Google Home Premium to 60 days of event history and 10 days of round-the-clock recordings — like we’re used to from other Nest Cams.

In addition to the camera, the Google Home Display will be equipped with a microphone for voice control, and that hardware will also be able to log events when it detects noise.

While most of this pretty standard Nest Cam stuff, we are finding a few recent additions relevant to this functionality that feel more specific to the Home Display. For instance, we find mention of the smart screen being required to display a message when video recording is turned on, depending on local laws. Users should have the option to turn recording off if they wish, in which case they’d only be able to view a live feed from the camera.

This is easily our best insight yet into the capabilities of the Google Home Display, but even when it comes to this camera, plenty of questions remain, from sensor resolution to the field of view. Hopefully we’re able to start filling in some of those blanks soon, because this could definitely be the most exciting addition to Google’s smart home hardware lineup in years.