As a technology news writer following Android, I’ve lost count of the number of Android tablets. It’s simply impossible to keep up with all of them when manufacturers like Samsung introduces five tablets within a few months. We’ve discussed the negative effects of this in our post on the Galaxy Tab 2: it’s creating consumer confusion, making things difficult for manufacturers to keep all of their lineup updated to the latest version of Android and, as a consequence, making your average Joe just pick up an iPad. Sure, the Kindle Fire and ASUS Transformer tablets are selling well relative to other Android tablets, but the iPad is simply smoking them.
Now Google is reportedly looking to produce their own 7” Android Experience Tablet that will play the same role as the Nexus series of smartphones: a standard that developers, manufacturers can follow and build on. Check it out after the jump.
The report comes from CNET – a popular technology website – in which they discuss comments given by analyst Richard Shim from DisplaySearch who claims that a Google-branded tablet is in the pipeline. Production will begin in April and the initial run will between 1.5-2 million units.
It will have a high-resolution (1280×800) 7” display, be based on the latest version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and be priced at $199 to compete directly with Amazon’s Kindle Fire.
The analyst hasn’t cited any “insider” or person “familiar with the matter” which has us thinking this is a little hard to believe, so take it with a pinch of Sodium Fluoride.
Once Google acquires Motorola, it will gain three tablets: the 10.1” Xoom/Xyboard and 8.2 Xyboard. This 7” one would, then, technically be Google’s 4th tablet.
According to one report, Apple is also looking to get into the small tablet market with a 7.85” iPad. This iPad, if ever released, will be separate from the upcoming iPad 3 which is set to be unveiled in the first week of March.
To be very frank, we aren’t too excited about this. Android tablets, such as the Transformer Prime and Galaxy Tab 10.1, aren’t as OEM-customized such as smartphones, so Google will need to really game-changing features to make its tablet unique from the already crowded market.
(via CNET)
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