Rumor: Google to launch Nexus tablet this year?
With LG tapped as the manufacturer, Google is reportedly working on a pure Android-based Nexus tablet that could debut by midsummer, according to Mobile-Review.
Google and LG are reportedly working on a Nexus tablet that could reach consumers later this year.
According to information picked up by Russian blog site Mobile-Review (Google English Translation), Google is looking to create an Android Nexus tablet following in the footsetps of its Nexus One and Nexus S smartphones. Though LG is said to be handling the actual manufacturing, the tablet would be free of any additional software often thrown in by third-party hardware makers, thus creating a pure Android device.
The new tablet would most likely run a clean version of Android 3.0 Honeycomb and could hit the market by mid-summer or early fall, added Mobile-Review.
But before consumers get too excited, the news is still decidedly in the rumor stage. Boy Genius Report pointed out that the new device could just be an engineering prototype that Google wants to use internally for tablet development.
A Google spokesperson said simply that the company doesn't comment on rumors or speculation.
If the report is true, a pure Android tablet from Google could serve as the type of device that other manufacturers could both emulate and compete against, said CrunchGear, which also has heard rumors of the new tablet.
LG reportedly was not Google's first choice as manufacturer, according to Mobile-Review, but was the only one to agree to Google's terms. LG certainly could use a boost in the tablet market. Rivals such as Samsung and Motorola have already launched their own tablets. But LG is just now getting its feet wet, slated to release its new Optimus Pad tablet, or G Slate as it's known through T-Mobile, sometime this spring.