Nintendo submits FCC filing for mysterious new wireless device

Fans have come across a new Nintendo wireless device that was filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This was put into the records over the weekend, but there’s not much to go on currently.

Right now the filing points out that the device has the CLO-001 model number. However, this indicated that it’s something entirely new –  Switch used HAC-001 for instance while DS was NTR-001.

Additionally, the filing is categorized as a “wireless device” rather than a “wireless game console” or controller. It lacks 5GHz and 6GHz Wi-Fi radio, plus there’s no Bluetooth. However, it features a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio and a 24GHz mmWave sensor. No body-worn accessory was involved with the testing. Since there’s no battery, it only works when plugged in.

As relayed by The Verge, the site speculates that the mmWave sensor could suggest that it’s a radar sensor to track movement. It could potentially act similarly to the 60GHz sensors found in the likes of Pixel 4 and Aqara’s smart home presence sensor.

You can check out a diagram included in the filing below. It shows an outline of where the FCC label will be “displayed in a depression area on the bottom” of something that looks kind of like a square and rounded-off corners.

A few years ago, fans found a filing with the FCC for a SNES controller that would go to be announced for Nintendo Switch Online (we covered that here). Again though, this appears to be something different.

Got any guesses as to what this is all about? Let us know in the comments.