LG's G Pad 8.3 offers Google Play Edition with Android 4.4

Google is giving you a reason to take a second look at the LG G Pad 8.3. Google and LG on Tuesday unveiled a Google Play Edition of the G Pad 8.3, complete with Android 4.4, or KitKat.

It's the first tablet to be given the designation of Google Play Edition. (Last year's Samsung Nexus 10 was a Nexus device.) Earlier this year, Google released a Google Play Edition of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One.

Like the two phones, the G Pad will come with a pure Android experience.

The G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition is just the latest device sold directly by Google through the Google Play store. Where it once had a single product -- the Nexus One -- Google now offers an intriguing range of tablets, phones, Chromebooks, and media dongles, moving beyond its roots as a search-and-display, ad-driven company.

The Google Play Edition of the G Pad 8.3 will retail in the US for $349 and is available in glossy "indigo black." The companies haven't announced its availability outside of the US.

As with the previous G Pad 8.3, the latest tablet comes with a 1,900x1,200 full, HD IPS display; a 1.7 quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor; a 4,600mAh battery; 2GB of RAM; a rear 5MP camera and a front-facing 1.3MP camera; and 16GB of storage.