Comcast was granted a patent for this smart speaker design, but will it ever be made available?

Comcast has been granted a patent for a smart speaker with an unusual design. Instead of the spherical shape found on the Amazon Echo and Apple HomePod Mini, or even the rounded rectangular appearance of the Google Nest Audio device, a sketch depicts what appears to be a speaker with a sloped top and a wide base.

According to online records, Comcast applied for the patent last year, but it wasn’t approved until April 2022. The device appears to have playback controls on the side of the speaker, with an additional button and a small stand on the bottom, as seen in the sketch.

At first glance, this device appears to be more of a router (minus the antennas) than a smart speaker, which makes sense for a company that specializes in connectivity. But after one of our coworkers pointed out the resemblance, we couldn’t help but notice it.

The irony is that Comcast was reportedly considering developing a health-focused speaker that tracked your bathroom habits in 2019. Although it never made it into the hands (or bathrooms) of consumers, it was supposed to include sensors that tracked how frequently people got up to use the restroom and how long they stayed there. Comcast made a point of emphasizing that it was not a smart speaker at the time.