RIP Pixel Slate: Google won't be making tablets anymore

Google will not be creating a successor to its Pixel Slate tablet and will focus more on laptop form-factors, according to a report by Computerworld. Google has also canceled two smaller-sized tablets that were in development and is working to re-assign employees involved in these projects to the laptop side of things. 

The Pixel Slate was unveiled in 2018 and given the fact that it featured Intel CPUs, there was a likelihood of it running Windows 10 at some point in time. Soon, there were reports that Google was cutting back on the team involved with the Pixelbook and Pixel Slate, but Google's presentation at the Cloud Next 19 conference in April somewhat assuaged those concerns with hints to a possible Pixel Slate successor. Now, it looks like Google has finally pulled the plug on tablet development altogether. 

A 'tablet', according to Google, is a device with a completely detachable screen with no physical keyboard whatsoever. This means the Pixelbook convertible will continue to stay as it comes under Google's definition of a 'laptop'. Also, the Chrome OS team will continue software development for both laptop and tablet form-factors to cater to OEMs making such devices.

It is not clear as to what sort of tablets Google had been working on before shelving them. Computerworld reports that the products were definitely smaller in size than current Google offerings, were without keyboards, and hadn't progressed much in the development cycle to be named beyond codenames. 

Google's decision to let go of tablets will not be affecting Pixel phones or Home/Nest products. The source also claims that a new Pixelbook could be launched before the end of the year. The current Pixel Slate will receive regular updates till June 2024 as per Google's 6.5 year support policy. That is a fairly long support period so even if you are an early adopter, there's no need for any buyer's remorse.