Google’s Mysterious Fuschia OS Comes to Nest Hub

Big changes are about to be made to Google’s Nest Hub, although most people won’t notice. Starting today, the open-source Fuchsia OS will begin rolling out to first-generation Nest Hub displays, according to 9to5Google. Under construction since 2016 and several times pending, Fuchsia will first land on Nest Hub devices registered in Google’s Preview Program, before arriving more widely on screens outside the Preview Program. Don’t expect the user experience to change much, however. The news site notes that the appearance of the Fuchsia OS-powered Nest Hubs will be “essentially identical” to what they were before.

An enigmatic arrival on the market

What is surprising is that this open source OS is not based on the Linux kernel like Android and Chrome OS are. Instead, Fuchsia is based on the IoT-oriented and since renamed Zircon Magenta kernel, which is a “combination of micro-kernel and set of user space services and hardware drivers.” If the community has actively participated in this project for several years, Google’s final objectives remain difficult to define.

With its arrival on the Nest Hub, Fuchsia is taking its first steps out of the lab and into the hands of real users, even if they are unaware of the new operating system. The next step, however, remains unknown. As 9to5Google points out, Fuchsia is fully capable of running on desktops and smartphones, as well as smart devices like the Nest Hub. Whether it will eventually land on your Pixel phone or Chromebook remains to be seen.