Google to launch own-brand tablet

Google is set to reveal a co-branded tablet at its developer conference, according to Bloomberg.

Citing two sources close to the matter, Bloomberg claimed the $199 7in tablet would be co-branded with Asus.

The move echoes Google's earlier smartphones, including the Nexus handsets built by Samsung, and will be powered by an Nvidia processor.

The move comes a week after Microsoft revealed a Windows-branded tablet, with the company today telling TechEd conference attendees that tablet sales will surpass PCs next year.

When you look at the tablet market, you have iPad - and others

According to the sources, the 7in tablet would show off new features in the upcoming Jellybean version of Android, 4.1, with Google trying to make up lost ground in the slate market, where Apple continues to dominate.

The move would pit Google against other manufacturers – such as Samsung and Google’s own Motorola – in a strand of the tablet market that has seen manufacturers struggle for differentiation.

“When you look at the tablet market, you have iPad - and others,” Bloomberg quoted Rhoda Alexander, an analyst at industry researcher IHS iSuppli, as saying. “Everybody is trying to figure out how to compete against the iPad. And I just see it as just one more experiment going down that road.”

Source: Report: Google to launch own-brand tablet | News | PC Pro http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/375517/report-google-to-launch-own-brand-tablet#ixzz1z024b43D