Unlike Apple, which has been using UWB technology on its smartphones for a few years, Google has come late and only the brand new Google Pixel 6 Pro has such connectivity. The Californian company, aware of its disadvantage, does not intend to stand by and seems ready to run for cover with some interesting news.
The new frontier of connectivity for all
Google Pixel 6 Pro is the first (and for now only) Mountain View smartphone to mount a UWB chip (UltraWide Band) which allows obtaining a very high data transfer speed in mode peer to peer as well as ensuring greater accuracy in geolocation functions indoors.
At the moment Google uses this solution only for Nearby Share, to find compatible devices nearby to send data quickly. According to what Mishaal Rahman, editor-in-chief of XDA Developers, discovered, things are about to change thanks to a new API that is about to be published.
In his tweet, Rahman shows some lines of code that refer to the UWB API which will therefore allow third-party apps to access the UWB chip to obtain more precise location data. In this way, for example, it will be easier to trace a tag, such as the models produced by Tile that are already compatible with the technology.
It is not yet clear whether the implementation developed by Google will be compatible with the one that Samsung has used for the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold3, and Galaxy S21 Ultra, all equipped with a UWB chip. The company is also looking, through LinkedIn, for a software engineer to dedicate to the Android UWB stack and the maintenance of the one for Wear OS.
Recall that at the moment Google Pixel 6 Pro is capable of becoming a digital key, to open some BMW cars, making it unnecessary to always have the car key with you. It will therefore be interesting to find out what other functions can be unlocked with the UWB chip.
You might be interested in Google Pixel 6 Pro review
