While the plans appear to be far from complete, some additional Google retail store chatter has surfaced. Last week we saw details coming from the 9to5Google blog and today we have further corroboration coming from The Wall Street Journal. Basically, the WSJ is reporting that Google “has been developing plans to launch retail stores.”
The details are coming by way of people familiar with the matter and while this further confirmation is nice to see, there are still plenty of questions that remain unanswered. We still have yet to see exactly what Google plans to push in these stores. The obvious guess would be a mix of hardware and software. After all, a retail store would be a great way to showcase the Nexus smartphones and tablets. Not to mention Project Glass, the Chromebooks and Google TV.
We also have yet to see details of possible locations. So far these early details have lacked anything solid in terms of where or when the stores may be opening. There was however mention that Google may not be opening any this year. Of course, Google has yet to offer an official comment on the matter. If nothing else, these retail stores could be an extension of what we have already seen Google do with the Chromebooks.
If you remember, they have had dedicated areas set up in larger retail stores such as Best Buy in the US and Dixons Retail in the UK. And for the geekier in the audience, maybe Google will even sell some other items such as Google or Android branded clothing such as t-shirts and sweatshirts. Bottom line here, while we are beginning to see more Google retail store chatter, these are early details at best and should be considered rumor at this point in time.
[via WSJ]
