I’m sure most know there is an abundance of Android based tablets available out there, but if you haven’t quite made up your mind on which Android slate captures your attention, perhaps holding off for a while might prove beneficial, as the latest word on the tablet front is that the Google guys, the same that built Android will be delivering a Google branded tablet sometime this year.

According to the guys over at Slash Gear by way of the Wall Street Journal, according to ‘people familiar with the matter,” Google will offer co-branded slates directly to customers via an online store, in a bid to turn around the sluggish sales of Android powered tablets and to capture some of the tablet market share from the Apple iPad of course.

I’m sure you’ll remember that back in 2010 Google went the same route with smartphones, delivering the first Google branded smartphone, the Google Nexus One, which was made by HTC; however after a couple of months scrapped the idea due to other Android smartphones taking off, so perhaps the same will happen in the tablet space,or maybe not.

According to those people familiar with the matter, Google will not be manufacturing the Google branded tablet but will rather rely on their current partners such as Asus and Samsung, and one Google branded slate that could be sold in the online store is expected to be released later in the year by Asus.

However it remains unclear when the Google guys will unveil the online store, and currently there are no details on just what the Google branded tablet will offer, but the people familiar with the matter have said that Google’s next Android operating system, currently referred to as Jelly Bean is set to arrive in the middle of this year, so perhaps we could see a Google branded tablet then packing Android Jelly Bean…who knows! More as and when we hear.