Google is testing its own "next generation personal communication device," according to a document submitted to the FCC. Google is seeking the FCC's permission to test the device outside its labs on Bluetooth and WiFi networks in and around the homes of 102 Google employees.

The 102 prototypes will not be evaluated for their own radio frequency characteristics, the filing says, but for the "throughput and stability of the home WiFi networks that will support the device" on a temporary license, valid through July 15. Google is listed as the manufacturer of the device, which will be tested only by Google employees in Los Angeles, CA, Mountain View, CA, New York, NY, and Cambridge, MA. SlashGear speculates that the device could be meant for use in the Google Fiber project in Kansas City.

Like all devices in the testing phase, nothing may ever come into consumers' hands that resembles anything like this. But this past week has been full of Google hardware foreshadowing. There's a future out there where you're sitting on your couch, using your Google home entertainment system connected to your activity-tracking Google router, wearing your Android-powered smart glasses, and typing on the potential Chromeberry the company is testing now. Is this the future you imagined?

Google did not respond immediately to requests for comment on the matter.