Last year, Google paused the rollout of its Fiber service in 11 cities, and even though the company has since rolled out the service in more cities since then, customers have been worried about what this means. Fortunately for the relatively small group of Google Fiber TV subscribers, it seems the company hasn’t given up on the service, as FCC filings spotted by Business Insider point to a new 4K wireless set-top box on the way.
This new 4K Fiber TV box was first reported on last year by 9to5 Google, but at the time, details were scarce. With the FCC filings, not many more details have been made available, but this is the first official confirmation that the box is on the way and that, as reported, this will be the first box from the company to operate wirelessly.
“The enclosed documents constitute a formal submittal and application for Equipment Authorization for a set-top box that contains a 4×4 5GHz 802.11a/n/ac and a Bluetooth 4.1 radio,” one of the letters included in the filing reads. Google Fiber TV boxes have included limited Wi-Fi connectivity before, but the wording here means that this one would not be tethered by a wired connection, allowing for more flexible placement in your house.
The initial reports of the new 4K Fiber TV box mentioned being able to stream from YouTube in High Dynamic Range (HDR). This isn’t immediately evident in the FCC filings, but Google’s Chromecast Ultra also supports HDR, so it’s unlikely that Google would not include this functionality in this device.
There is no word on when the new 4K set-top box could arrive, but some of the documents in the filing, including the manual and photos of the device, are being kept under wraps until August 8, 2017. This means the box will likely launch sometime before then, since Google likely doesn’t want the launch of the device being spoiled by the documents.
