Right ahead of the Pixel 2's unveiling last fall, it was announced that Google purchased a heap of smartphone engineers from HTC to spearhead smartphone projects for the coming years. According to a report from Bloomberg, Google made another purchase about a month before this for UK-based company Redux.
If you haven't heard of Redux, you're not alone. The company hasn't actually released any consumer-facing products, but the tech it's developed is awfully intriguing. Redux's technology uses vibrations with displays for a variety of different things, and the most notable use of this is the ability to harness these vibrations to turn displays into functioning speakers.
The folks at Mashable got a chance to go hands-on with a tablet demoing this at MWC last year, and in the video you see below, all the sound is coming from the display – not a traditional external speaker.
Along with this, Redux can also use these vibrations to create haptic feedback when interacting with a display that tries to mimic the feel of touching buttons and moving sliders/dials. This sounds an awful lot like what Apple's been doing with its Taptic Engine, and if you've ever messed around with a device that uses it, you know just how awesome it really is.
It's unclear if/when Google will integrate this tech into products of its own, but there's a very real possibility we could see a Pixel 3 next year with a display that acts as a speaker and some of the best haptic response yet on an Android device. We might be getting a little ahead of ourselves with that thought, but only time will tell where Google ends up going with this.
Want to live again? Well hurry up, you've only got 7Days!
7Days! is a tense text-based adventure game through life and death. Kirell's soul hangs on the razor's edge between life and death. If she can complete a special task given to her by Charon within seven days, then she can be resurrected. How far will she go to live again? That's up to you!
Review: Google's Pixel 5a is the 4a 5G's longer-lasting twin
The Google Pixel 5a may look and perform almost exactly like last year's Pixel 4a 5G, but three small improvements make it more than worthy of kicking the 4a 5G off the American market.
5 features we want to see in Battlefield Mobile
Although Battlefield Mobile is being released next year, we don't know a huge amount about it. Here's what we want to see.
The best wireless chargers to juice up your Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3's unique design can really benefit from different wireless chargers that consider its size, folding positions, and where its wireless charging coil lies. We've rounded up the best options available, so you can easily choose which works best for you.