14 DAY TRIAL // Mountain View-based Internet giant Google is expected to release a long rumored tablet PC in the popular Nexus lineup as soon as May, some of the latest reports around the web suggest.
Apparently, the new device will arrive from Asus, and will be a 7-inch co-branded tablet PC capable of competing with Amazon's Kindle Fire and other devices of the same size.
Nothing has been officially confirmed on the existence of this device until now, but industry sources suggest that it will hit shelves in May or soon afterwards, a recent article on DigiTimes notes.
Moreover, the same sources confirmed that the device would feature a price tag of US$199-249, which would indeed make it highly competitive.
Apparently, although the Nexus tablet PC will arrive from Asus, Google has initially discussed the release of this device with HTC.
The Taiwanese mobile phone maker has previously released Nexus smartphones, which made it a great choice for the new launch.
Apparently, while it had strong design capability, HTC wanted to direct the development of this device, and did not want to come up with a low-end tablet PC.
Finally, Asus’ ODM capability and its good product quality, determined Google to choose it as its launch partner for this device, the aforementioned sources claim.
This will be the first device to come with the newly re-branded Google Play store loaded on it right from the beginning, it seems.
The app storefront has already started to be rolled out on existing devices, and users are able to access it via their desktops’ browsers as well.
As for the said tablet PC, it should enable Google to add more Android users to the list, by making the platform available on larger devices at much lower price points than before. 7-inch tablets are already available on shelves, but the capabilities of this Nexus device should be above them.