Considering the amount of tablets flooding onto the market from numerous manufacturers it seems rather strange that up until now Google hasn’t got in on the act with a branded tablet of its own. However that could be set to change and it seems that a Google-branded 7-inch tablet is on its way to woo customers.
The 7-inch display of this Google tablet would have a resolution of 1280×800 and that would certainly go down well with prospective buyers, many of whom would love to get their hands on a Google tablet device. The tablet would run on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the price would be around $199 to make it a viable choice against the 7-inch Kindle Fire from Amazon. It’s also reported that an initial production run will begin in April and produce between 1.5 and 2 million units.
This news comes from DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim who spoke to Cnet about Google’s tablet plans. Google’s marketing tactics for the tablet are not yet clear though with Shim saying, “I don’t know how they plan on marketing it. If it’s going to be a premium device, or if it’s going to be a Kindle Fire type competitor.” It’s worth pointing out that rumors of an iPad Mini with an 8-inch screen are also circulating so the Google tablet might also find itself up against major competition if this actually appears.
Google is currently in the process of acquiring Motorola and on completion would then have three tablets under its umbrella, the Motorola Xoom (10.1-inches), the Xyboard (10.1-inches) and the Xyboard (8.2-inches) so it sort of makes sense for its first own brand tablet to be a different size from these. On top of that of course, the success of the 7-inch Kindle Fire has certainly proved that there’s a real market for a smaller tablet, something that hasn’t escaped Google’s notice.
It’s not thought that the iPad 3, due in March, will be a smaller version so if Apple really is developing a smaller iPad it’s not likely to be out until much later in the year, maybe just in time for the holiday season. We’d say it makes sense for Google to release it’s 7-inch tablet as soon as possible in that case, in order to gain a foothold in the smaller-sized tablet market before an iPad Mini appears.
Would you be interested in a Google branded tablet device? If so, would you prefer a larger tablet or would you be happy with a 7-inch version? Let us know with your comments.