Google has confirmed that the next Googlebook OS device will be a tablet-like detachable, the first non-laptop shape in the range.
The confirmation is short on detail. The device has no name, and the information available does not include a price, specs, or a release date. What is clear is the direction: Googlebook OS products have so far been laptops, and the next one is a tablet.
That puts Google on well-worn ground. Microsoft's Surface Pro made the detachable (a tablet that docks into a keyboard cover) a mainstream laptop alternative, and Google has tried the idea before with the 2018 Pixel Slate, which did not last. The difference this time is a platform built around a range of devices rather than a single experiment.
The open question is software. A detachable only works if the operating system handles both touch and keyboard without feeling like a compromise in either mode, and that is where earlier attempts have stumbled. The hardware is the easy part.