Earlier in October, we’ve learned that Google is halting its plans for expanding Fiber services into more areas in the United States, but apparently, this hasn’t stopped the company from working on new Fiber hardware. As per a recent report passed along by 9to5Google, the company headquartered in Mountain View is currently working on, and testing new Google Fiber TV and Network boxes supporting 4K streaming and improved wireless connectivity.
According to the source, the new Fiber TV Box Google is working on looks very similar to the ongoing model; however, the newer iteration carries a more modern Google logo and differentiates itself through model number GFHD254, whereas the original box is identified by model number GFHD200. As for other technical specifications, it would appear that the new Google Fiber TV Box has done away with a couple of legacy ports – specifically coaxial and IR (infrared) – and instead it adopts wireless connectivity. The new Network Box has an Ethernet port along with HDMI, USB, and an AV out connector, and apparently its wireless capabilities have been improved, primarily on 5GHz bands. Perhaps more importantly, the refreshed Google Fiber TV Box now supports 4K content, and according to 9to5Google’s anonymous tipster, the hardware is capable of streaming 4K YouTube videos with HDR on top.
As yet, Google’s plans for the refreshed Fiber TV and Network Boxes are largely unknown, especially since the company halted any expansion plans for its Fiber services in the US last month. There are still four cities in the US where Google will introduce Fiber, including Huntsville, Irvine, San Antonio and San Francisco, but as far as the refreshed hardware is concerned, it remains to be seen if Google will make the new Boxes available to existing Google Fiber customers free of charge, or if they will be presented as an optional upgrade over existing hardware. Either way, it’s refreshing to know that in spite of Google halting its plans for Fiber expansions, the company continues to improve the service for existing customers. Hopefully, Google will resume its plans for Fiber soon, but until then we can look forward to the new Fiber TV and Network Boxes hitting the market. Existing Google Fiber TV customers should also be pleased to learn that Google had begun rolling out a new update for the Fiber TV app earlier this week, allowing users to record shows.