What you need to know
- Google announced that its Fast Pair technology will work with Windows PCs by the end of 2022.
- Fast Pair allows people to set up Bluetooth devices, sync text messages, and share files.
- Google will work with Acer, HP, and Intel to bring the feature to select Windows PCs.
Microsoft has worked for years to bring Windows PCs and Android devices closer together. Now, it's Google's turn. At CES 2022, Google announced that Android phones will be able to connect to Windows PCs through Fast Pair. This will make it easier to set up Bluetooth devices, sync text messages, and share files through Nearby Share.
Google will work with Acer, HP, and Intel to support Fast Pair between Android and Windows sometime in 2022.
This week's announcement comes on the heels of the news that Google Play games will be available on Windows PCs this year.
"For the first time with Android, we're also focused on building for other platforms, like Windows, whether it's in gaming, productivity or other areas," said Google's VP of multi-device experience, Erik Kay.
The majority of Kay's blog post focuses on efforts to connect Android devices to other pieces of hardware, such as Chromebooks, headphones, and TVs. Our friends over at Android Central cover the non-Windows side of Fast Pair in more depth. Google's section about Windows PCs is relatively short, but it shows a continued interest by Google to integrate Android hardware with Windows PCs.
Microsoft's Your Phone includes some of the same functionality as Google's Fast Pair. Samsung, Dell, and other manufacturers have also released solutions for connecting Android and Windows devices. With Google working with big names in the PC industry, we should have yet another way to connect devices by the end of this year.
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Google states that Fast Pair will work with "select Windows PCs," though the company did not clarify how exclusive the feature will be.
